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- All Subjects: Depression
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- Creators: Department of Psychology
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Description
The globalized food system has caused detriments to the environment, to economic justice, and to social and health rights within the food system. Due to an increasing concern over these problems, there has been a popular turn back to a localized food system. Localization's main principle is reconnecting the producer and consumer while advocating for healthy, local, environmentally friendly, and socially just food. I give utilitarian reasons within a Kantian ethical framework to argue that while partaking in a local food system may be morally good, we cannot advocate for localization as a moral obligation. It is true from empirical research that localizing food could solve many of the environmental, economic, social, and health problems that exist today due to the food system. However, many other countries depend upon the import/export system to keep their own poverty rates low and economies thriving. Utilitarian Peter Singer argues that it would be irresponsible to stop our business with those other countries because we would be causing more harm than good. There are reasons to support food localization, and reasons to reject food localization. Food localization is a moral good in respect to the many benefits that it has, yet it is not a moral obligation due to some of the detriments it may itself cause.
ContributorsGulinson, Chelsea Leah (Author) / McGregor, Joan (Thesis director) / Watson, Jeff (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to study the issue of animal agriculture and why people chose to consume sentient beings such as pigs, chickens, and cows yet house equally as sentient and intelligent beings such as dogs and cats. I want to understand people’s reasoning and logic behind discriminating who they love versus who they eat. This thesis intends to help readers become more aware of the cognitive dissonance behind the food choices that most Americans make up to three times a day. Data was collected through Google Form surveys for freshman living in the dorms at Barrett, The Honors College. The results showed that animal intelligence did not factor in people’s decision to consume their parts. Additionally, this study concluded that participants are more likely to feel less guilty when they are under the false belief that the meat they purchased was mislabeled with terms such as ‘humane slaughter.’
ContributorsMcAuliff, Jake Thomas (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Schmidt, Lisa (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of two modes of exercise on depression in adolescents with Down syndrome (DS). Twelve participants randomly completed one of two exercise interventions. The interventions were: 1) Voluntary Cycling (VC), in which participants cycled at their self-selected pedaling rate 2) Assisted Cycling (AC), in which the participants' voluntary pedaling rates were augmented with a motor to ensure the maintenance of 80 rpms. In each intervention, the participant completed three cycling sessions each week for a total of eight weeks. Depression scores did decrease or improved after both AC and VC, but not significantly. There was a greater mean improvement for participants in the AC group than VC when analyzing total score and t-score. Future research will include a greater sample size and control group to reach significant results as well as try and reveal the mechanisms involved in these mental health improvements found after an acute bout of assisted cycling in adolescents with DS.
ContributorsTeslevich, Jennifer Lynn (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Kulinna, Pamela (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
Sport is a widespread phenomenon across human cultures and history. Unfortunately, positive emotions in sport have been long vaguely characterized as happy or pleasant, or ignored altogether. Recent emotion research has taken a differentiated approach, however, suggesting there are distinct positive emotions with diverse implications for behavior. The present study applied this evolutionarily informed approach in the context of sport to examine which positive emotions are associated with play. It was hypothesized that pride, amusement, and enthusiasm, but not contentment or awe, would increase in Ultimate Frisbee players during a practice scrimmage. Further, it was hypothesized that increases in pride and amusement during practice would be differentially associated with sport outcomes, including performance (scores, assists, and defenses), subjective social connectedness, attributions of success, and attitudes toward the importance of practice. It was found that all positive emotions decreased during practice. It was also found that increases in pride were associated with more scores and greater social connectedness, whereas increases in amusement were associated with more assists. The present study was one of the first to examine change in positive emotions during play and to relate them to specific performance outcomes. Future studies should expand to determine which came first: emotion or performance.
ContributorsKuna, Jacob Anthony (Author) / Shiota, Michelle (Thesis director) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Danvers, Alexander (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Social relationships are the single most factor that create joy in human lives. And yet, the ways we are building our cities and structuring our lives reduces our chances of interaction and increases isolation. Creating more public spaces may be a possible solution to this problem of declining social cohesion. Public spaces have been shown to improve rates of social cohesion and social interaction. They have also been show to have positive effects on physical health, local economies, the natural environment, reducing crime rates and psychological health. Creating public spaces in areas that are low-income or have limited amounts of space can be very challenging. This paper profiles options of community created spaces, space public spaces and temporary public spaces. All of which are options for low-income and limited space communities. The paper concludes with the summery of an active project to create a public space in such a community through a joint-use agreement.
ContributorsChampagne, Elizabeth Anne (Author) / Golub, Aaron (Thesis director) / Kelley, Jason (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
As consumers shift their values toward sustainability, environmentalism, and social issues, industries face increased pressure to engage with sustainability and make their sustainable practices transparent to consumers. While luxury fashion has shifted toward sustainable practices, little conclusive research exists to understand how consumers respond to such practices. This research explores whether the use of recycled materials affects a luxury brand more than a mainstream brand. My results indicate that the use of recycled materials is harmful for a luxury brand but has no impact on the mainstream brand.
ContributorsSangha, Pooja B (Author) / Lisjak, Monika (Thesis director) / Eaton, Kathryn Karnos (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In this creative thesis, I traveled to India and used my month long summer vacation back home to interview people about mental health in India. I talked to a therapist and four students about depression to find out what the situation is in India, contributing factors, experiences and stigma unique to depression among students in India, what the government is doing, and possible solutions or steps that can be taken to help students struggling with mental health problems. I also went to mainstream and special schools to meet special educators who work with differently abled children, occupational therapists, parents of differently abled children, and a student with Asperger’s in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to find out about the stigma surrounding differently abled children and their education path.
My efforts have culminated in the creation of the website mentalhealthinindia.com that can be used as a resource both by people in India as well as those abroad who are curious to learn about the stigma surrounding depression and differently abled children in India.
My efforts have culminated in the creation of the website mentalhealthinindia.com that can be used as a resource both by people in India as well as those abroad who are curious to learn about the stigma surrounding depression and differently abled children in India.
ContributorsVenkatakrishnan, Ranjani (Author) / Koester, Nicole (Thesis director) / Pruitt, Rhonda (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The ability to regulate emotions, attention, and behavior develops early in life and impacts future academic success, social competency, behavioral problems, and psychopathology. An impairment in regulation is known as dysregulation. Past research shows that children of mothers with postpartum depression are more likely to show impairment in regulatory abilities. There is an established link in the literature between family support and maternal depression, which in turn can impact child behavior. However, further research is needed to explore the impact of family support on early childhood dysregulation in the context of maternal depression. Using a sample of 322 Mexican-American, mother-child dyads, two models were examined. Model one hypothesized family support would buffer the effects of maternal depression on child dysregulation at 24 months. Model 2 hypothesized that family support is related to child dysregulation through its effect on maternal depression. Results showed that increased family support was related to more child dysregulation when there were high levels of maternal depression. There was no evidence to support the hypothesis that maternal depression mediated the relationship between family support and child dysregulation.
ContributorsRodrigues, Samantha Jean (Author) / Luecken, Linda (Thesis director) / Benitez, Viridiana (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts or actions are on the rise in adolescents (National Institute of Mental Health, 2015; Bridge, Asti, & Horowitz, 2015). Parents, school administrators, and therapists are searching for resiliency factors with in at-risk groups to aid students in need. In previous work, Luthar and Zigler (1992) reported that intelligent youth are more resilient than less intelligent youth under low stress conditions but they lose their advantage under high stress conditions. This study examined whether intelligence (reflected in grade point average; GPA) and maladaptive (internalizing and externalizing symptoms) behaviors are negatively related in adolescents, and tested whether level of stress, reflected in emotion regulation and friendship quality, moderated that association. It also probed whether the relationships differ by gender. Sixth-graders (N=506) were recruited with active parental consent from three middle schools. Adolescents completed self-report questionnaires Regarding demo graphics, maladaptive behaviors, emotion regulation, and friendship quality, and GPA data were collected from the school. Regression analyses found that GPA was negatively related to externalizing symptoms. Girls with poor friendship communication report significantly higher maladaptive behaviors. This relation was more pronounced for girls with high GPAs, as predicted. Results support the theory that intelligent female adolescents are more reactive under adverse circumstances. Future efforts should follow students through middle school into high school to evaluate whether friendships remain important to adjustment, hold for boys as well as girls, and have implications for relationship interventions.
ContributorsGonzales, Ashlyn Carol (Author) / Luthar, Suniya (Thesis director) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Investment and interest in mental health on a global scale is increasing. This interest creates a need to gain an in depth understanding about how mental illness is conceptualized and treated in different cultures. This article aims to explore the views of maternal mental health in Kenya's sub-counties. Maternal mental health has a significant impact on child development outcomes, so the topic has cross-generational importance. Ten focus group discussions with a variety of participants were conducted to understand the health care system. The participants were from four Kenya sub-counties: Rachuonyo N., Wagwe, Okiki Amayo, Nyative and they were either members of either SCHMT (Sub-county health management team), CHEW (community health extension worker), facility/staff of the county hospital, HHCDO (Homa Hills Community Development Organization), THRIVE II staff (Catholic Relief Service's early childhood development program) or mothers and fathers with children under two years of age. The qualitative data were translated and transcribed on site and then retranslated and counterchecked. A secondary data analysis using Atlas.ti was performed to identify themes and trends in factors that contribute to maternal wellbeing. Four main categories were identified as having prevalent effects on the Kenyan mothers' mental health: cultural values, broken support system, limitations of resources, and knowledge, behavior and attitudes. The participants were broken up into administrative, clinical, social, maternal and paternal categories to determine specific influence in each of these areas. Further analysis defined participants' involvement in the categories as mediating, moderating and direct effects on maternal depression. Main contributors to depression were identified as a lack of paternal support, poor cultural values, and administrative resistance. Discussion focuses on consequences for the future.
ContributorsAugur, Haley Rose (Author) / Nelson, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Hagaman, Ashley (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12