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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- Creators: School of International Letters and Cultures
- Creators: Kwan, Virginia
Description
Spousal loss is a common, significant life event that can negatively affect multiple facets of individual health and psychological adjustment. Social support is one factor that is shown to improve adjustment following spousal loss, but much less is known regarding which facet of social support is most predictive of positive adjustment outcomes following spousal loss. This study examined the course of changes in mental health and well-being following spousal loss and which facets of social support are associated with better outcomes following spousal loss. Latent growth curve modeling was applied to data from 265 widowed individuals, ages 65 and older, across four assessments (baseline, and 6-, 18-, and 48- months following spousal loss). I examined the following research questions: (1) adjustment following spousal loss will follow a trajectory of an increase in depressive symptoms and anxiety and decrease in well-being with a leveling-off over time, with between-person differences, and (2) emotional support and instrumental support given will lead to more positive adjustment outcomes over time. Depressive symptoms followed the hypothesized trajectory but anxiety and well-being showed relative stability before and after spousal loss. Instrumental support was the most beneficial facet of social support, such that receiving more instrumental support was associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety 6-months following spousal loss. Giving more instrumental support led to an increase in well-being following spousal loss. Instrumental support given and received led to increases in well-being as a function of spousal loss. The discussion focuses on whether and how these findings can help to identify ways through which support and help can be given to individuals to improve adjustment to spousal loss and fully recover.
ContributorsSullivan, Colleen Elizabeth (Author) / Infurna, Frank (Thesis director) / Luthar, Suniya (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
The literature has consistently established levels of adolescent maladjustment well above national norms for both socioeconomic (SES) extremes (Lyman & Luthar 2014). Yet literature on positive adolescent adjustment, and its protective or even corrective factors is lacking (Eisenberg, Zhou, & Coller, 2001). This study examined the effects of gender and SES on parent attachment in relation to reports of prosocial behavior. Eleventh grade adolescents (N = 397) were recruited from two public high schools for academically-gifted students who were either high or low-level SES (i.e. the extremes). The students provided passive consent and answered questions on their demographics, perceived relationship with their parents, and tendency to behave in a prosocial manner. Multivariate analyses of variance and follow up analyses of variance were run by gender and SES to determine main effects for gender and SES on parent attachment and prosocial behavior. Regressions following preliminary correlations analyzed whether parental attachment predicted higher levels of adolescent prosocial behavior. Results demonstrated that females communicated with their mothers significantly more and reported higher levels of prosocial behavior than their male counterparts. Findings with regard to SES revealed that high SES adolescents reported increased parent attachment, whereas low SES adolescents reported higher levels of community\u2014based prosocial behaviors. Finally, certain dimensions of parent attachment predicted increases and decreases only in specific prosocial behaviors. Because prosocial behaviors change throughout adolescence, future ventures should consider a longitudinal analysis to obtain a more comprehensive picture of adolescent positive adjustment.
ContributorsAli, Hira (Author) / Luthar, Suniya (Thesis director) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
The purpose of this thesis study is to widen the understanding of the effect culture on self-improvement. Past research found that Japanese students, when compared to their North American counterparts, are more likely to strive for self-improvement by persisting when they encounter academic setbacks. In addition to North Americans and Asians, this thesis examines South Asians as well. It is hypothesized that South Asians will have similar levels of self-improvement as East Asians. This thesis also looks at possible explanations for why culture affects self-improvement. Two variables, future self-connectedness and growth mindset, are proposed as these explanations. It is hypothesized that culture affects future self-connectedness and growth mindset, and those two variables in turn influence self-improvement.
For this thesis, 100 undergraduate and recent college graduates completed online self-report measures. Results of independent t-tests showed that there were no significant differences between South and East Asians in self-improvement, which is consistent with what was hypothesized. There were also no differences between South and East Asians in future self-connectedness or growth mindset. The two Asian groups were then combined and compared to North Americans. Further independent t-tests were run, and results found that while the trend was as expected and Asians exhibited higher levels of self-improvement than North Americans, they did not exhibit significantly higher levels. There were also no significant differences between North Americans and Asians in growth mindset, however, North Americans had significantly higher levels of future self-connectedness than Asians, contrary to expectation. Results of mediation regressions found that neither future self-connectedness nor growth mindset significantly explained the effect of culture on self-improvement.
For this thesis, 100 undergraduate and recent college graduates completed online self-report measures. Results of independent t-tests showed that there were no significant differences between South and East Asians in self-improvement, which is consistent with what was hypothesized. There were also no differences between South and East Asians in future self-connectedness or growth mindset. The two Asian groups were then combined and compared to North Americans. Further independent t-tests were run, and results found that while the trend was as expected and Asians exhibited higher levels of self-improvement than North Americans, they did not exhibit significantly higher levels. There were also no significant differences between North Americans and Asians in growth mindset, however, North Americans had significantly higher levels of future self-connectedness than Asians, contrary to expectation. Results of mediation regressions found that neither future self-connectedness nor growth mindset significantly explained the effect of culture on self-improvement.
ContributorsShaikjamaludeen, Shaikhameedha (Author) / Kwan, Virginia (Thesis director) / Shiota, Michelle (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
The goal of this study was to examine whether there is any effect of phonotactic probability during the early phases of novel word recognition. In order to determine this, I performed two experiments. In Experiment 1, 33 adult monolingual English speakers learned 24 novel word-object pairings, half of which were high English phonotactic probability words and the other half were low English phonotactic probability words. I additionally included three conditions that varied the amount of exposures to each novel word-object pairing (i.e. One Exposure Condition, Two Exposures Conditions, and Five Exposures Condition). Experiment 2 was designed to clarify results found in Experiment 1, with improved randomization and fewer conditions (i.e. One Exposure Condition and Five Exposures Condition). The findings from both experiments were statistically significant in accuracy for Training condition, but not statistically significant for phonotactic probability nor for an interaction between phonotactic probability and Training condition. Although participants demonstrated learning across conditions there is no indication of a relationship between high and low phonotactic probability and novel word recognition. Collectively, these findings suggest that future studies will be necessary to determine if there is indeed an effect of phonotactic probability on early novel word recognition.
ContributorsQuinones, Sara Cristina (Co-author) / Quiñones, Sara (Co-author) / Benitez, Viridiana (Thesis director) / Tecedor Cabrero, Marta (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05