Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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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 give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE? CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES ON MUSICAL ENGAGEMENT(2023) Durbin, Allison Hayley Reisinger; Elpus, Kenneth; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model of contextual influences on 7th graders’ musical engagement in school. Inspired by Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development, I devised a conceptual model to represent contextual factors that interact in a person’s world to influence their own music making. I used restricted-use data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth Third Cohort 2015-2016 to determine what personal and familial characteristics were associated with students’ enrollment in different types of school music classes during their 7th grade year in order to test my proposed contextual model.I used a multinomial logit model to conduct the analysis in order to ascertain which individual-level and familial characteristics were associated with 7th graders enrollment in four different categories of music courses: (a) no music courses, (b) non-band/orchestra/choir (BOC) music courses, (c) choir, or (d) band/orchestra. The restricted-use data from the LSAY Third Cohort contained student-produced responses of the types of music courses they were currently enrolled in as well as questions about their musical habits at home. The data set also contained a caregiver questionnaire that contained questions about the caregiver’s musical engagement with their own child. Results of the analysis supported the proposed conceptual model and indicated a multitude of characteristics that are associated with 7th graders’ enrollment in varying types of music courses. Different covariates were significantly associated with different types of music course enrollment. As such, students enrolled in school music courses should not be considered as a collective. The results from this study support previous research that there is not a singular profile of student who enrolls in different types of music classes (Elpus & Abril, 2019).Item WHAT IT MEANS TO CARE: A MEANING-FOCUSED EXPRESSIVE WRITING INTERVENTION FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS(2015) Fuhrmann, Amy Carr; Hoffman, Mary Ann; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Over 67 million adults in the U.S. provide informal or unpaid care to a loved one facing a health challenge, but caregivers often feel underprepared and isolated in this challenging role. There is a dearth of interventions to improve quality of life for caregivers. One hundred caregivers wrote three expressive writing essays about their experience in one of three randomly-assigned conditions: caregiver time-management, emotional expression, and meaning of caregiving. This study had two primary aims: 1) to investigate effects of writing among the three writing conditions on outcomes of depression, caregiver burden, intrusiveness, satisfaction with life, worldview violation, and meaning in life and 2) to assess whether meaning in life serves as a mediator for outcomes. Results indicated that some positive effects of expressive writing can be explained by the discovery of, but not simply the search for, meaning. Implications about understanding of the psychological experience of caregivers are discussed.Item THE ASSOCIATION OF ORPHAN AND VULNERABLE CHILD (OVC) PRIMARY CAREGIVING, HOUSEHOLD WEALTH, AND FEMALE AUTONOMY ON WOMEN'S BODY MASS INDEX IN NAMIBIA, SWAZILAND AND ZAMBIA(2013) Kanamori Nishimura, Mariano Juan; Carter-Pokras, Olivia D; Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background: This dissertation investigates factors associated with orphan and vulnerable child (OVC) caregivers' body mass index (BMI) in Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia. Methods: Secondary analyses were performed using cross-sectional data from Demographic Health Surveys conducted in 2006 and 2007. Manuscript 1 included de facto women from Namibia (n=6,638), Swaziland (n=3,285), and Zambia (n=4,497). Manuscript 2 included de jure women from Namibia (n=6,305), Swaziland (n=2,786), and Zambia (n=4,389). Manuscript 3 included married de jure women from Namibia (n=2,633), Swaziland (n=1,395), and Zambia (n=2,920). Statistical analyses using data from 20-49 year old women included weighted marginal means, logistic regression, and Sobel and Goodman tests. Results: Manuscript 1. OVC caregivers' overweight prevalence ranged from 26.98% (Namibia) to 61.3% (Swaziland). Namibian OVC caregivers were less likely to be overweight than non-OVC caregivers and non-caregivers not living with OVC. Swazi and Zambian OVC caregivers were more likely to be overweight than non-caregivers. In Namibia, women's age modified the effect of the association between OVC caregiving and overweight status. Manuscript 2. Namibian and Swazi OVC caregivers had lower Absolute Wealth Index (AWI) mean scores than non-OVC caregivers and non-caregivers. In Zambia, OVC caregivers had a lower mean AWI score than non-caregivers living with an OVC but a higher mean AWI score than non-OVC caregivers. In all countries, even small increases in household wealth (e.g., being a poorer women - 2 to 3 AWI items) were associated with higher odds for being overweight regardless of women's caregiving status. Manuscript 3. Women's educational attainment increased the odds for being overweight in Swaziland and Zambia, and decreased the odds for being underweight in Namibia. Decision-making autonomy mediated the association between AWI and OVC caregivers' BMI in Zambia (Z=2.13, p=0.03). Conclusions. As Africa is experiencing a nutritional and HIV/AIDS transition, overweight problems among OVC caregivers has emerged and should be addressed. These findings support the World Health Organization's recommendations that African countries should focus on addressing infectious diseases as well as the emergence of chronic diseases. Some African public health systems and OVC programs may face a new overweight epidemic alongside existing ones such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.