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 THE ROLE OF SIBLINGS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL RACIAL SOCIALIZATION AND OUTCOMES IN TRANSRACIAL ADOLESCENT ADOPTEES(2020) Lee, Jennifer Grace; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Siblings are the longest relationship many people have in their lives, yet are often overlooked in research. Transracial adoptees, who may struggle with forming a sense of racial identity and experiencing low self-esteem, may benefit from the presence of a sibling of color. The research questions posed by this study are 1) What is the independent effect of having a sibling of color for transracial adolescent adoptees' racial identity and self-esteem? 2) Does having a sibling of color moderate the well-established relationship between parental racial socialization and outcomes of racial identity and self-esteem in transracial adoptees? Results of the present study indicated that having a sibling of color was negatively associated with a transracial adolescent adoptees’ self-esteem and having a sibling of color moderated the relationship between racial socialization and self-esteem. Higher racial socialization was associated with lower self-esteem for adoptees with no sibling of color.Item Using behavior change and social-ecological frameworks to inform riparian forest buffer outreach in the Maryland Upper Potomac watershed(2019) Boone, Hannah; Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitchell; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Land in the Maryland Upper Potomac watershed is predominantly privately held. Watershed restoration efforts seek to improve water quality through the implementation of riparian forest buffers. However, those efforts rely on aggregated actions of the individuals within the watershed, and adoption rates for the past decade have been below annual targets. An understanding of outreach strategies that promote riparian forest buffer adoption in a complex social-ecological system is needed. Employing qualitative methods, we integrated social-ecological and behavior change frameworks to better understand riparian forest buffer outreach and adoption in the Maryland Upper Potomac watershed. We conducted nineteen interviews with key stakeholders, followed by a quantification of main findings through landowner and practitioner questionnaires. Findings demonstrate that there is no “one size fits all” strategy. Rather, riparian forest buffer outreach needs interpersonal connections between landowners and practitioners to build trust and account for context-specific ecological feedbacks. There is opportunity to further reinforce riparian forest buffers through activities that demonstrate and leverage norms, impacting adoption through social feedbacks.Item The Influence of Parental Racial Awareness on Transracially Adopted Children's Self-Esteem: A Mediation Model of Racial Socialization and Racial Identity(2013) Ott, Elizabeth Marie; Leslie, Leigh; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Recent years have seen an increased empirical focus on factors that affect the health and well–being of transracially adopted children. While there is significant research on the links between parental racial socialization and racial identity, racial identity and self–esteem of children, and self–esteem of transracially adopted children, there is less research on the links between all of these variables as a holistic model. The current study explores whether parental racial awareness impacts transracially adopted children’s self–esteem through a mediation of parental racial socialization and child racial identity. Seventy–one adoptive parents and their transracially adopted adolescents completed on–line self–reports of the study variables. Findings indicate no relationship between any of the independent, dependent, or mediating variables. Subsequently, a test of moderation was completed to determine if parental racial socialization moderated the relationship between parental racial awareness and child racial identity. This also had no significant results. The possible explanations for the lack of relationships in this sample are discussed.Item Does Adoption Therapy Work?: Evaluating a Therapy Program for Adopted Children and Their Families(2013) Wydra, Maria; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which participation in an integrated therapeutic intervention for adopted children and their families related to positive psychological outcomes. Fifty children and their parents receiving adoption-competent therapy at a community mental health center specializing in the treatment of adoptive families were assessed prior to and at the conclusion of treatment on indices of child and family functioning. At post-test, children exhibited fewer emotional and behavioral problems than they did at pre-test. No differences in family functioning were found. Higher levels of therapist adherence to the treatment model were associated with fewer emotional problems, greater parental satisfaction with adoption, and greater satisfaction with treatment. Implications for practitioners, directions for future research, and the limitations of this study are discussed.Item Predictors of White Adoptive Parents' Cultural and Racial Socialization Behaviors with Their Asian Adopted Children(2010) Berbery, Maria Luz; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined predictors of White adoptive parents' (N = 200) cultural and racial socialization behaviors with their Asian adopted children. Specifically, the study investigated White Racial Identity statuses, cultural and racial socialization beliefs, cultural socialization self-efficacy, and racial socialization self-efficacy as predictors of cultural and racial socialization behaviors. This study also tested a model which linked cultural and racial socialization beliefs to cultural and racial socialization behaviors through their respective types of self-efficacy. Findings revealed that parents' cultural and racial socialization beliefs were most important in predicting their socialization practices. There was not support for cultural socialization self-efficacy or racial socialization self-efficacy as moderators.Item The Predictors of Family Cohesion and Conflict in Transracially Adoptive Families(2010) Jackson, Dawnyea Dominique; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Transracial adoption in the United States has a short, but controversial history. Between 1971 and 2001, U.S. citizens adopted 265, 677 children from other countries. The increased prevalence and controversial history of transracial adoption makes it very important to learn more about the well being of transracially adoptive families. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the extent to which the diversity of the community in which a family lives and the parent's multiethnic experiences are predictors of family cohesion and conflict in transracially adoptive families. This relationship was examined for a sample (N=47) of Asian (n=24) Black (n=12) and Latino (n=11) participants. Results yielded no significant results, except for one interesting finding for the Latino racial/ethnic group. The results indicated that for the Latino racial/ethnic group the higher the parent's multiethnic experiences the lower the level of family cohesion, which was not in the predicted direction. The empirical implications of these findings are discussed.Item Information Technology and Its Transformational Effect on the Health Care Industry(2007-04-25) Angst, Corey M; Agarwal, Ritu; Business and Management: Decision & Information Technologies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines the adoption of health IT by addressing the barriers to adoption from the perspective of multiple stakeholders. I examine three different phenomena using alternative methodologies and theoretical lenses. Essay 1: The Impact of Firm Characteristics and Spatial Proximity on the Diffusion of Electronic Medical Records: A Hazard Modeling Analysis. This study, positioned at the inter-organizational level, draws upon adoption and diffusion literature to predict the likelihood of EMR adoption by hospitals. I theorize that adoption is driven by factors such as the concentration and experience with complementary HIT and an environmental factor, spatial proximity. Using a hazard model fitted to data from a sample drawn from almost 4,000 hospitals, I find support for a positive relationship between IT concentration and likelihood of adoption. I also find that spatial proximity explains variance in adoption and that its effect diminishes as distance increases. Essay 2: Isolating the Effects of IT on Performance: An Empirical Test of Complementarities and Learning. An issue at the organizational level is whether benefits result from investment in HIT. I apply a knowledge-based lens to the examination of IT adoption and process-level value, incorporating the effects of learning occurring through complementary IT adoption. I test hypotheses using data from almost 400 nationally-representative hospitals matched with quality and financial performance data and find that learning associated with more experience with IT leads to superior performance. Essay 3: Adoption of Electronic Medical Records in the Presence of Privacy Concerns: The Elaboration Likelihood Model and Individual Persuasion. At the individual level, privacy concerns can inhibit the adoption of EMRs. I draw from literature on attitude change to develop hypotheses that individuals can be persuaded to support the use, and ultimately opt-in to EMRs, even in the presence of significant privacy concerns if compelling arguments about the value of EMRs are presented. Using a quasi-experimental methodology, I find that privacy concerns interact with argument framing and issue involvement to affect attitudes toward the use of EMRs. In addition, results suggest that attitude towards EMR use and CFIP directly impact the likelihood of adoption of EMR technology.