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 UNDERSTANDING CHANGES IN CONTRACEPTIVE INTENTION, KNOWLEDGE, AND ATTITUDES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DELCAN INITIATIVE TO REDUCE UNINTENDED PREGNANCY(2022) Skracic, Izidora; Steinberg, Julia R; Lewin, Amy B; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Unintended pregnancies are consistently linked to a higher risk of negative health, social, and economic outcomes for both mother and child. A Delaware public health initiative sought to expand statewide access to all contraceptive methods, particularly IUDs and implants (also known as long-acting reversible contraception (LARC)), due to their high effectiveness, upfront costs, and provision barriers. This study examined changes in self-reported planned contraceptive use, knowledge, and attitudes prior to and following a visit with a medical provider to better understand the provider role in contraceptive outcomes. A diverse group of women (N=474) were recruited at primary care and women’s health Title-X-funded clinics in Delaware. Pre-visit contraceptive use or plan was assessed with two measures: current method use and a composite of current method use and planned method use. Incorporating women’s contraceptive plans in the pre-visit measure resulted in fewer participants being categorized as switching to LARC (2.3%) after a provider visit, compared to the measure that only accounted for current contraceptive use (8.2%). The strongest predictor of changing to a method of higher effectiveness was pre-visit contraceptive choice. On average, women’s knowledge increased; participants with lower pre-visit knowledge were more likely to improve in knowledge post-visit (p<0.001). On average, positive attitudes about LARC decreased, although some individual items changed in the positive direction while others changed in the negative direction. Those with more versus less positive attitudes before the clinic visit had larger decreases in positive attitudes (p<0.001). The full rollout of the DelCAN initiative was associated with an increase in LARC knowledge, while its association with change in LARC attitudes and effectiveness level of planned method use was mixed. These findings suggest that measuring contraceptive plans as opposed to only current method use before a visit is important when applying a pre-post visit design to evaluations of contraceptive use or plans; broadening the conceptualization and measurement of pre-visit contraceptive use or plans could better capture the sources of change that may manifest in post-visit. Additionally, clinic visits may serve as effective education events, particularly for women with lower contraceptive knowledge, and they may provide a more realistic understanding of different contraceptive methods’ advantages and disadvantages. It is possible that the lack of increase in positive contraceptive attitudes may be attributable to the negativity bias following changes in knowledge and personal experience, but more research is needed to replicate and understand the phenomenon.Item Toward a Theory of Risk Information Processing: The Mediating Effects of Reaction Time, Clarity, Affect, and Vividness(2011) Skubisz, Christine; Turner, Monique M; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This project examined the variables that mediate the relationship between the exogenous variables numerical presentation and numeracy and the endogenous variables risk perception and risk related decisions. Previous research suggested that numerical format and numeracy influence outcomes. The question that remained unanswered was why? The goal of this project was to peer into the proverbial black box to critically examine information processing at work. To examine possible mediating variables, two theoretical models that have emerged in the risk perception literature were tested. The first is an evolutionary theory proposing that over time, individuals have developed an augmented ability to process frequency information. Thus, frequency information should be clearer and people should be faster at forming risk perceptions with information in this format. According to this model, processing speed and evidence clarity mediate the relationship between evidence format and risk perception. A second framework, the affective processing theory, argues that frequency information is more vivid and people derive more affect from information in this format. Therefore, according to this model, affect and vividness mediate the relationship between presentation format and risk perception. In addition to these two perspectives, a third theory was proposed and tested. The integrated theory of risk information processing predicted that reaction time, clarity, affect, and vividness would all influence risk perception. Two experiments were conducted to test the predictions of these three theories. Overall, some support for an integrated model was found. Results indicated that the mediating variables reaction time, clarity, affect, and vividness had direct effects on risk perception. In addition, risk perception had a strong influence on risk related decisions. In Study 2, objective numeracy had a direct effect on reaction time, such that people with high numeracy spent more time forming risk evaluations. Furthermore, people with a preference for numerical information evaluated numerical evidence as clearer and more vivid than people who preferred to receive evidence in nonnumerical formats. Both theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.Item Ethnic Rebellion in Democratic Experiments(2007-11-28) Pate, Amy; Wilkenfeld, Jonathan; Government and Politics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Numerous studies have found that, in general, democracy decreases intensity of ethnic rebellion. However, the recent transition experiences of multinational states problematize the assumption that social peace accompanies democratization. Especially in the post-Communist world, democratization has been followed by increases in ethnic rebellion. This dissertation explores the question of why some ethnic groups maintain or increase levels of rebellion following democratization while others rely on nonviolence or at least decrease the level of violence employed against the state. I conduct a large-N cross-national comparative investigation of these questions, employing Barry Weingast's (1998) reciprocal vulnerability framework, focusing on the impact of conflictual histories, political institutions, form of democratization and uncertainty. The analysis includes 102 ethnic groups in 42 countries that attempted democratization between 1980 and 2000 and employs data from the Minorities at Risk dataset, the Polity dataset and original data on ethnic participation in democratization, autonomy and federalism, and repression. Multiple statistical methods are employed to test 13 hypotheses derived from the reciprocal vulnerability framework. Findings provide only limited support for reciprocal vulnerability as a generalizable explanation of ethnic rebellion. However, findings strongly support grievance-based theories of ethnic rebellion, and provide limited support for collective action theory of ethnic rebellion, particularly in terms of the effects of repression.