Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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Description
In rehabilitation settings, activity limitation can be a significant barrier to recovery. This study sought to examine the effects of state and trait level benefit finding, positive affect, and catastrophizing on activity limitation among individuals with a physician-confirmed diagnosis of either Osteoarthritis (OA), Fibromyalgia (FM), or a dual diagnosis of OA/FM. Participants (106 OA, 53 FM, and 101 OA/FM) who had no diagnosed autoimmune disorder, a pain rating above 20 on a 0-100 scale, and no involvement in litigation regarding their condition were recruited in the Phoenix metropolitan area for inclusion in the current study. After initial questionnaires were completed, participants were trained to complete daily diaries on a laptop computer and instructed to do so a half an hour before bed each night for 30 days. In each diary, participants rated their average daily pain, benefit finding, positive affect, catastrophizing, and activity limitation. A single item, "I thought about some of the good things that have come from living with my pain" was used to examine the broader construct of benefit finding. It was hypothesized that state and trait level benefit finding would have a direct relation with activity limitation and a partially mediated relationship, through positive affect. Multilevel modeling with SAS PROC MIXED revealed that benefit finding was not directly related to activity limitation. Increases in benefit finding were associated, however, with decreases in activity limitation through a significant mediated relationship with positive affect. Individuals who benefit find had a higher level of positive affect which was associated with decreased activity limitation. A suppression effect involving pain and benefit finding at the trait level was also found. Pain appeared to increase the predictive validity of the relation of benefit finding to activity limitation. These findings have important implications for rehabilitation psychologists and should embolden clinicians to encourage patients to increase positive affect by employing active approach-oriented coping strategies like benefit finding to reduce activity limitation.
ContributorsKinderdietz, Jeffrey Scott (Author) / Zautra, Alex (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Barrera, Manuel (Committee member) / Okun, Morris (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This paper presents a system to deliver automated, noninvasive, and effective fine motor rehabilitation through a rhythm-based game using a Leap Motion Controller. The system is a rhythm game where hand gestures are used as input and must match the rhythm and gestures shown on screen, thus allowing a physical therapist to represent an exercise session involving the user's hand and finger joints as a series of patterns. Fine motor rehabilitation plays an important role in the recovery and improvement of the effects of stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and more. Individuals with these conditions possess a wide range of impairment in terms of fine motor movement. The serious game developed takes this into account and is designed to work with individuals with different levels of impairment. In a pilot study, under partnership with South West Advanced Neurological Rehabilitation (SWAN Rehab) in Phoenix, Arizona, we compared the performance of individuals with fine motor impairment to individuals without this impairment to determine whether a human-centered approach and adapting to an user's range of motion can allow an individual with fine motor impairment to perform at a similar level as a non-impaired user.
ContributorsShah, Vatsal Nimishkumar (Author) / McDaniel, Troy (Thesis director) / Tadayon, Ramin (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05