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 The Role of Provider-Role Ideology and Consistency in Couple Communication(2010) Brenneman, Jessica Lynn; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated how problem solving and conflict in couples' communication is affected by their beliefs about provider role ideology, and the consistency between their beliefs and their actions. It was predicted that couples who have the same provider-role ideology and couples who are consistent in their behavior and beliefs will use more problem solving and less hostile conflict behaviors than couples who are unmatched in their beliefs or inconsistent in beliefs and behavior. Contrary to predictions, no relationship between ideology, consistency, and communication was found. However, the results did show a significant relationship between women earning a large portion of the household income and greater amounts of hostile conflict in the couple communication. The implications for future research and clinical applications are discussed.Item The Association of Certified Rehabilitation Counselors' Attitudes Toward Counseling Individuals with Substance Use Disorders with Their Frequency and Perceived Confidence of Providing Substance Abuse Screenings and Referrals(2010) Rodgers, Roe Ann; Fabian, Ellen S.; MacDonald-Wilson, Kim; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to assess the nature and extent of a nationally representative random sample of Certified Rehabilitation Counselors' (CRCs') attitudes toward counseling individuals with SUDs and their frequency and perceived confidence of providing substance abuse screenings and referrals. The study (a) explores attitudes of CRCs regarding counseling individuals with substance abuse disorders (SUDs); (b) examines whether CRCs' attitudes toward counseling individuals with SUDs are associated with their frequency in providing substance abuse screenings and referrals for individuals with SUDs; (c) determines if CRCs' attitudes toward counseling individuals with SUDs are associated with their perceived confidence in providing substance abuse screenings and referrals for individuals with SUDs. The independent variables were subscales of the Drug and Drug Problems Perceptions Questionnaire (DDPPQ) used to investigate CRCs' attitudes toward counseling individuals who have problems with drug use and the Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Perceptions Questionnaire-Revised (AAPPQ-R) used to explore attitudes toward counseling individuals who have problems with alcohol use. The dependent variables were frequency questions and perceived confidence statements from the Alcohol and Other Drugs Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Survey (AOD-VRC) used to measure the frequency and perceived confidence of providing substance abuse screenings and referrals. The study participants were 764 CRCs who were direct service providers from multiple employment settings. Participants were recruited from an online survey sent to a national random selection of CRCs obtained from Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) database. Results indicated that this sample of CRCs have somewhat positive attitudes toward counseling individuals with SUDs. Results from this sample of CRCs show that there are associations between CRCs' attitudes toward counseling individuals with drug use problems and alcohol use problems with perceived confidence in providing substance abuse screenings and referrals, but not with frequency of providing substance abuse interventions. Applied implications, limitations of the study, and future research suggestions were discussed.Item The Influence of Inhibited Expression of Anger, Perceived Control by Partner, and Withdrawal Cognitions on the Association between Conflict and Relationship Dissolution(2010) Jimerson, Kirsten Elizabeth; Epstein, Dr. Norman; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Although there has been a large amount of attention on partners' behavior during conflict and its connection with relationship dissolution, little is known about the individuals' internal experiences during conflict that are associated with relationship instability. The current study investigated whether three internal experiences, the suppression of anger, perceived control by partner, and thoughts about withdrawal, play roles in the relation between conflict and dissolution of couple relationships. The study used assessment data from 69 couples who sought therapy at an outpatient therapy clinic, serving an ethnically and socio-economically diverse population. Analyses tested the main effects of the internal experience variables and their interactions with level of relationship conflict as predictors of steps taken toward relationship dissolution. Findings indicated that the internal experience variables did not play the anticipated moderating role, but they were found to be partial mediators in the relation between conflict and relationship dissolution.Item Parenting Style as a Moderator between Maternal Trauma Symptoms and Child Psychological Distress(2010) Cook, Emily; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Current research suggests parents who experience symptoms of trauma transfer distress to their children. The purpose of this study was to understand the possible moderating effect of mothers' parenting style on this relationship. The level of maternal trauma, use of parenting styles, and child psychological distress was examined for a clinical sample (n=113) of mother and child dyads. Results indicated that mothers who experience high levels of trauma symptoms are more likely to parent using authoritarian or permissive behaviors. Mothers experiencing high levels of trauma symptoms who parent with a high use of authoritarian behaviors have children who experience more depression than those whose mothers use fewer authoritarian behaviors. However, mothers experiencing high levels of trauma symptoms who parent with a high use of permissive behaviors have children who experience less depression than those whose mothers use fewer permissive behaviors. The empirical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.Item Negotiation of Health Risks and Risk Management for Young Adult BRCA1/2-Positive Women: Implications for Partnering and Family Formation(2010) Hoskins, Lindsey Megan; Roy, Kevin M; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the mid-1990s, genetic testing was introduced for two breast and ovarian cancer predisposition genes: BRCA1 and BRCA2. For mutation carriers, lifetime risks of breast and ovarian cancer approach 90%, and 54%, respectively, versus general population risks of 12% and 2%. Women testing positive for mutations during young adulthood face numerous challenges related to navigating basic life course tasks, including establishing permanent couple relationships, family formation, and risk-management decision-making. These complex choices require young carriers to balance personal and family desires and provider recommendations for health maintenance and disease avoidance against their own desires/plans for personal, relationship, and family fulfillment. How they accomplish these tasks is significantly influenced by their experiences with cancer in close relatives, personal cancer risk assessment, and partner presence and support. Although the experience of older carriers and cancer survivors has been thoughtfully explored, little attention has been paid to the experiences of younger women. Using qualitative methods and grounded theory, I analyzed in-depth interviews with forty women aged 18-35 who knew themselves to be BRCA1/2-positive. Participants were recruited from: 1) an ongoing NCI Clinical Genetics Branch Breast Imaging Study; 2) the membership of FORCE, an online support network for mutation-positive individuals; and 3) snowball sampling, whereby participants referred others whom they knew to be mutation-positive. Using a semi-structured, open-ended interview format, participants were asked about family relationships and background; couple relationships; experiences and perceptions regarding family formation; and experiences and perceptions related to utilization of risk management strategies over time (i.e., surveillance, chemoprevention, risk-reducing surgery). Questions were developed using sensitizing concepts from the biopsychosocial perspective on health and illness and life course perspective, as well as attachment and feminist theories. Interviews were conducted by telephone, digitally recorded and transcribed, and analyzed using QSR N-Vivo software, version 8. The data-driven model indicates that risk perception and management decisions are closely tied to family and couple relationship experiences. Young mutation carriers aggressively and courageously utilize agency to alter their life trajectories while minimizing sacrifice to their family and relationship ideals, thereby freeing themselves from mutation-related emotional and physical constraints, and regaining control over their genetic destiny.Item Whose Story Is It Anyway?: Constructing the Stories and Pathology of Madness/Mental Illness in the Contemporary U.S.(2009) Rector, Claudia; Caughey, John L; American Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Personal stories are always told in the context of broader cultural narratives. Thus, in the contemporary U.S., stories of personal experience of illness and disability are usually informed by Western notions of health and illness, and a binary classification system of normative/non-normative bodies and behaviors. The emerging field of disability studies represents a socially progressive attempt to interrogate and reconfigure discourses that pathologize and medicalize non-normative bodies, challenging medical discourses with an alternate framework of evidence that emphasizes the personal experiences of individuals who have experienced disability or illness and who conceive of these experiences in different ways. Whose Story Is It Anyway? is an interdisciplinary examination of how the cultural authority of medicine compresses a range of individual experiences into narrow, standardized narratives of the experience of depression, for instance, or other phenomena classified as illness. Specifically, my study makes a three-part argument: first, that biological psychiatry has eclipsed psychoanalysis and that medical definitions of mental illness have become the culturally dominant way of determining what kinds of physical or psychological phenomena are classified as bad, e.g., pathological. Second, these definitions then inform and shape stories of personal experience with such phenomena, enough so that standard narrative formats emerge for describing "individual" experiences of both physical disability and madness/mental illness. The personal stories of madness/mental illness then become, in essence, universalized narratives of illness and recovery that reinforce notions of pathology. Third, this standardization of the personal story often aligns with medical narratives in a way that reflects the storytellers' disempowered position in the medical industry, in that telling the "right" story positions them to receive the benefits of working within the medical system, and telling the "wrong" story becomes an act of political activism. Such de facto coercion has substantial implications for intellectual projects, such as disability studies, that rely heavily on the articulation of personal experience as evidence for the need for change. Finally, this study argues for a re-examination of experience-based, identity-focused activism, and for an invigorated humanities project in science studies.Item Exercise and Depression: Causal Sequence Using Cross-Lagged Panel Correlation Analysis(2009) Scott, Virginia Anne; Andrews, David L; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study sought to determine what kind of causal relationship, if any, exists between exercise and depression. A university student population (N = 178) was given the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory-II at two time points separated by approximately one month. Cross-lagged panel correlation was used to make causal inferences based on the strength of the temporal relationships. After meeting the assumptions of synchronicity and stationarity, there was no significant difference between the cross-lagged correlations (ZPF = -0.4599, p = 0.65). Thus, no single causal pathway was dominant. While equal cross-lagged correlations can indicate spuriousness, it can also signify reciprocal causation. Exercise was not clearly the cause of reductions in depression, but neither was depression clearly the cause of physical inactivity. More complex causal pathways, such as reciprocal causation, warrant further investigation.Item An Experimental Evaluation of the Effects of a School-Based, Universal Prevention Program on Parent and Teacher Ratings of Student Behavior(2009) Nebbergall, Allison Joan; Gottfredson, Gary; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Meta-analyses of skills-based prevention interventions show moderate effect sizes for increasing social competencies and decreasing behavior problems. While the literature suggests that prevention programs can be effective, rigorous independent research is lacking regarding the efficacy of many specific programs. The present study is based on a randomized-control experiment evaluating Second Step in 12 Maryland public elementary schools to assess the effects of the program on parent and teacher ratings of student behavior. Ratings using the Social Competency Rating Form had previously been considered as a single global measure of student behavior, and had not been found to be affected by the intervention. Nonetheless, a re-consideration of the psychometric properties of the scale and its sensitivity to skills taught by the Second Step curriculum led to the speculation that separation of the global measure to reflect distinct ratings of social competency and problem behavior might reveal effects on the social competency component. Analyses show no effects on parent or teacher ratings of social competency or on teacher ratings of problem behavior. In some analyses, students in treatment schools had nearly twice the odds of being classified in a "problem" group according to ratings made by their parents than did students in control schools. Results were supported by sensitivity analyses using weights and imputation.Item The Prevalence and Role of Avoidance Coping Methods for Latinos in the United States(2009) Stevenson, Tiffani Debra; Leslie, Leigh A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Current research concerning Latinos in the United States has indicated that they are at a higher risk for mental illness (e.g., PTSD) than other racial/ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to understand the possible function a culturally normative coping style plays in the occurrence of depression for Latinos when compared to other racial/ethnic groups. The prevalence of avoidance coping methods and the relationship of depression and avoidance coping was examined for a sample (N=429) of Latino (n=129) White (n=150) and Black (n=150) clients. Results indicated that the frequency with which Latinos engaged in avoidance coping was no different than other groups. However, Black participants were significantly more likely to use avoidance coping that White participants. Furthermore, the use of defensive avoidance coping was linked to high depression; however there was no race/ethnicity by avoidance coping interaction. The empirical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.Item Stressor Events, Resources, and Depressive Symptoms in Rural, Low-Income Mothers(2008-08-11) Waldman, Joanna; Braun, Bonnie; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study, based on stress theory, sought to understand whether resources moderate the effects of stressors on depressive symptoms over time among a sample of rural, low-income mothers. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized to explain the phenomena under investigation. Results revealed that higher numbers of stressors were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. At time one, resources were found to moderate the effects of stressors on depressive symptoms, with higher levels of resources and higher levels of stress producing the greatest level of depressive symptoms. At time two, resources did not moderate the effects of stressors on depressive symptoms. This study found that resources do not always serve a protective function. One explanation appears to be the "hidden cost" of resources revealed in the mothers' interviews. Recommendations for future research and practical applications are discussed.