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 Free Space: Envisioning the Low Earth Orbit Metropolis(2021) Mazer, Andrew Joseph; May, Lindsey; Dawkins, Casey; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis posits a permanent, free space settlement and a space-based regional plan as the first step in sustainable and ethical settlement beyond Earth. The settlement paradigm explores modular and redundant construction and planning techniques that could be scaled and replicated to achieve long-range missions of exploration and long-term space settlement. A systems-based strategy within Low Earth Orbit provides the first architectural steppingstone for humans to realize themselves as a multi-planetary species. Space hosts a plethora of untapped and un-realized resources that have yet to be imagined for the betterment of life on Earth. As a result, it is imperative to plan and to think about what the consequences a permanent settlement in outer space could mean for life on Earth. In exploration, this thesis sets forth a strategy to ensure outer space and its resources are used fairly, responsibly, and justly, and access is promoted equitably, ethically, and morally to all who have a hand in a globally collaborative human agenda.Item Disorder, Dissatisfaction with the Neighborhood, and Delinquency(2018) Goodier, Michael; Porter, Lauren; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines the association between neighborhood dissatisfaction and adolescent delinquency. The objectives of this project are to determine (1) whether neighborhood disorder is related to delinquency among adolescents (2) whether adolescents who report increased levels of neighborhood dissatisfaction are relatively more involved in delinquency than their peers, (3) if neighborhood dissatisfaction is especially related to two types of delinquency implicated by strain theory, violence and substance abuse, and (4) if neighborhood dissatisfaction weakens any of the association between neighborhood disorder and crime. Applying stepwise logistical regression, I find little support for the association between disorder and adolescent offending and no association between neighborhood dissatisfaction with either violence or substance abuse when compared to the likelihood of engaging in instrumental crime. These findings raise questions regarding the relationship between disorder and individual levels of delinquency as well as the relationship between disorder and neighborhood dissatisfaction among adolescents.Item BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS OF CHILDREN IN L.A: EXTENDED FAMILY, NEIGHBORHOOD, AND NATIVITY(2017) Kang, Jeehye; Cohen, Philip N.; Sociology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation consists of three papers that examine the association between family living arrangements and internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in children. With increasing immigration and growing heterogeneity in family forms, extended family members are of increasing importance in children’s lives. However, knowledge about extended family living arrangements is lacking. The first paper examines the association between the presence of co-resident extended kin and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Children in the sample were found to be disadvantaged in extended households, especially with regard to internalizing behaviors. This association was found mostly among married-parent extended households. Further, this pattern emerged more clearly among children of documented immigrants, compared to those with native-born parents and those whose parents were undocumented immigrants. These findings suggest a need to revisit previous theories on extended family living arrangements. The second paper examines what kinds of household extension are associated with child behavioral problems. I specify the types of household extension by their relation to the householder—vertical, horizontal, and non-kin. Results from the cross-sectional sample indicate that horizontal extension is associated with higher internalizing behavior problems in children. However, the results from fixed effects models suggest that this pattern may be due to selection effects. Fixed effects estimations show that children moving into vertically extended household increase externalizing behaviors or that children moving out of a vertically extended household decrease externalizing behaviors. I discuss what implications this type of transition represents. The third paper examines the interaction between extended family household structure and neighborhood characteristics on children’s behavioral functioning. Findings suggest that the co-residence with extended kin is associated with both higher internalizing and externalizing behaviors for children. Although the health disadvantage of living with extended kin seems to be independent of the neighborhood income and racial minority concentration levels, extended kin moderate the associations with neighborhood structure. The advantage of living in higher-income neighborhood strengthens for extended families, reducing internalizing behavioral problems in children. Minority concentrated neighborhood functions as an advantage for extended families, decreasing externalizing behavioral problems. I conclude with discussion of future research and policy implications.Item AREA-LEVEL POVERTY AND CARDIOMETABOLIC RISK AMONG UNITED STATES ADOLESCENTS: A HIERARCHICAL ANALYSIS OF PATHWAYS TO DISEASE(2017) Williams, Andrew David; Shenassa, Edmond; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background: In the United States, 26% of deaths are attributable to cardiometabolic diseases. Cardiometabolic risk in adolescence tracks over time and can presage cardiometabolic health during adulthood. Area-level determinants of cardiometabolic risk among adolescents are underexamined. This study contributes evidence regarding the association between area-level poverty and cardiometabolic risk among U.S. adolescents. Methods: 1999-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data was linked via census tract with 2000 Census data and 2005-2009 and 2009-2013 American Community Survey data. The sample included 10,415 adolescents, aged 12-19 years. Area-level poverty was parameterized by percent population living in poverty, grouped into quartiles for analysis. Cardiometabolic risk was parameterized by summing z-scores of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin, waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol. Hierarchical linear models were used to examine the relationship between area-level poverty and cardiometabolic risk. Cotinine levels and physical activity were assessed as mediators. Post-hoc analysis explored associations between area-level poverty and family poverty-to-income ratio. Analyses were conducted for the overall sample and by race/ethnicity. Results: For the overall sample, compared to the first quartile of area-level poverty, residence in second (.218, 95% CI: .012, .424), third (.438, 95% CI: .213, .665), and fourth (.451, 95% CI: .204, .698) quartiles of area-level poverty was associated with increased cardiometabolic risk. Area-level poverty was associated with cardiometabolic risk among non-Hispanic Whites and Mexican Americans, but not among non-Hispanic Blacks. No evidence of mediation was observed. In post-hoc analysis, overall mean family Poverty-income-ratio declined from 3.34 in quartile 1 to 1.42 in quartile 4 (p< .001), however, this differed by race/ethnicity. Discussion: Residence in the highest area-level poverty quartiles was associated with increased cardiometabolic risk. Race/ethnicity specific analyses are consistent with literature on the Hispanic Paradox, and exposure to adversity among non-Hispanic blacks. Evidence suggests specific biomarker choice results in different cardiometabolic profiles within the same racial/ethnic group. Post-hoc analyses suggest the effect of area-level poverty on family PIR is greatest among non-Hispanic whites. Efforts to improve cardiometabolic health and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in cardiometabolic diseases should include targeted community-level investments aimed to improve the social conditions for all residents.Item NEIGHBORHOOD STRUCTURE AND ACADEMIC SELF CONCEPT: A MULTILEVEL MODEL(2011) Pickering, Cyril Emmanuel; Strein, William; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)There is a robust correlation between a student's academic achievement and his/her academic self concept. Various contextual variables, such as the school population's average academic ability, have been shown to have an effect on academic self-concept and on the relationship between self-concept and measured achievement. Community variables can have an effect on a student's academic achievement, though the relationship with academic self-concept is not well established. Urbanicity of the environment is a variable of interest, as there are various ways to describe and measure a neighborhood, though there is still a question about what makes a neighborhood urban. This study seeks to measure urbanicity and uses this urbanicity variable in a multilevel model, estimating the direct effects of the context on academic self-concept and explores the possibility that urbanicity modifies the relationship between self-concept and other student variables. Analysis revealed that neighborhood variables had no significant relationship with self-concept