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- Creators: Arizona State University
- Creators: Roberts, Nicole A.
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
ABSTRACT The major hypothesis tested in this research is that the psychological well-being and life satisfaction of elderly adult individuals can be predicted from religiosity (organizational and non-organizational religious beliefs and behaviors). The sample consisted of 142 adults between the ages of 65-90, with the majority in the 65-70 age group (48%) (SD = 1.176). The entire sample resides in the state of Arizona, in both urban and rural communities. Participants were administered a questionnaire which requested demographic information, and three instruments: the Duke University Religion Index (the DUREL), and the Affect Balance Scale and the Life Satisfaction Index - Z (LSIZ). Correlational and Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relation between these adults' psychological well-being, life satisfaction and their religiosity. Independent t-tests were also used to examine possible sex, ethnic and religiosity effects on psychological well-being and life satisfaction. Findings revealed that psychological well-being and life satisfaction are higher when religiosity is higher, regardless of sex or ethnicity. These findings are consistent with those of previous research in this field.
ContributorsMoreno-Weinert, Inez (Author) / Moore, Elsie (Thesis advisor) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / Ladd, Becky (Committee member) / Cohen, Adam (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Introduction: Several faith-based or faith-placed programs have focused on the physical dimension of wellness in efforts to improve health by increasing physical activity and improving diet behaviors. However, these programs were not designed to intervene on the mental dimension of wellness which is critical for stress reduction and health behavior change. Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of a spirituality-based stress reduction and health behavior change intervention using the Spiritual Framework of Coping (SFC) model. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental one group pretest posttest design. The study was a total of eight weeks conducted at a non-denominational Christian church. Participants were recruited from the church through announcements and flyers. The Optimal Health program met once a week for 1.5 hours with weekly phone calls during an additional four week follow-up period. Feasibility was assessed by the acceptability, demand, implementation, practicality, integration, and limited efficacy of the program. Analysis: Frequencies for demographics were assessed. Statistical analyses of feasibility objectives were assessed by frequencies and distribution of responses to feasibility evaluations. Limited efficacy of pretest and posttest measures were conducted using paired t-test (p <.05). Results: The Optimal Health Program was positively accepted by participants. The demand for the program was shown with average attendance of 78.7%. The program was successfully implemented as shown by meeting session objectives and 88% homework completion. The program was both practical for the intended participants and was successfully integrated within the existing environment. Limited efficacy changes within the program were mostly non-significant. Conclusion: This study tested the feasibility of implementing the Optimal Health program that specifically targeted the structural components of the Spiritual Framework of Coping Model identified to create meaning making and enhance well-being. This program may ultimately be used to help individuals improve and balance the spiritual, mental, and physical dimensions of wellness. However, length of study and limited efficacy measures will need to be reevaluated for program success.
ContributorsWalker, Jenelle R (Author) / Swan, Pamela (Thesis advisor) / Ainsworth, Barbara (Committee member) / Chisum, Jack (Committee member) / Fleury, Julie (Committee member) / Hooker, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Life satisfaction in people with physical disabilities is on average lower than people without disabilities. This reduction in life satisfaction may be due to a reduction in domain control. This study examines how domain control predicts life satisfaction when added to a model of other salient life satisfaction predictors. Using email survey methodology, five separate scales where used on two separate populations; people with (n= 44) and without (n= 43) a physical disability to determine each groups life satisfaction. It was found that when domain control is added to the bottom-up theory of life satisfaction, the independent direct relationships of domain control, domain importance, positive affect, and negative affect are eliminated from a stepwise multiple regression equation with domain satisfaction being the only significant predictor (â = 4.38, p< .001 for people with a physical disabilities and â = 5.48, p< .001 for people without a physical disability) of life satisfaction. The study results demonstrate that life satisfaction is predicted the same way for people with and without disabilities.
ContributorsCasto, Joseph (Author) / Rodriuez, Ariel (Thesis advisor) / Grossman, Gary (Committee member) / Ramella, Kelly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Producing, transforming, distributing, and consuming food requires a multitude of actors, from the microbes in the soil to the truck drivers, from the salesperson to the bacterial life that supports digestion. Yet, the global food system – far from being neutral – unequally provides and extracts resources around the globe to serve and protect the needs of some, while excluding and/or oppressing others and producing trauma in the process. Drawing on feminist scholarship and permaculture research – two fields that discuss the importance of care but only rarely work together – and using social science methods, I explore how to integrate care into food systems, and what are the outcomes of such an integration. I first bring together the voices of 35 everyday experts from Cuba, France, and the United States (Arizona) and perspectives from ethics of care, creation care, indigenous scholars, and permaculture specialists, and I use grounded theory to develop a definition of care in food systems context, and a conceptual map of care that identifies motives for caring, caring practices and their results. I then discuss how caring practices enhance food systems’ adaptive capacity and resilience. Next, I study the relationship between a subset of the identified caring practices – what is recognized as “Earth care” – and their effect on well-being in general, and Food Well-Being more specifically, using three case studies from Arizona based on: (1) interviews of school teachers, (2) interviews of sustainable farmers, (3) a survey with 96 gardeners. There, I also discuss how policies and cultural transformations can better support the integration of Earth care practices in food systems. Then, I examine how urban food autonomy movements are grassroots examples of integration of care in food systems, and how through their care practices – Earth care, “People care” and “Fair share” – they can serve as a catalyst for social change and contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Lastly, I conclude with recommendations to strengthen a culture of care in food systems, as well as limitations to my research, and future research directions.
ContributorsGiraud, Esteve Gaelle (Author) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Thesis advisor) / Cloutier, Scott (Thesis advisor) / Samuelson, Hava (Committee member) / Chhetri, Netra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
This dissertation focuses on the endogenous conceptualization of development and sustainability emerging from settled non-native indigenous communities in the transborder region of Baja California, México. The study is comprised of interview data collected from a sample of 19 (n=19) self-identifying non-native indigenous community members and three key informants residing in various municipalities of the state. The purpose of this research is twofold, on the one hand, it aims to highlight the ways global north conceptualizations and praxis of development and sustainability in México have failed to include indigenous communities and fall short of creating feasible or appropriate practices of development and sustainability for marginalized communities. On the other, it focuses on the future perspectives of non-native indigenous communities to understand what development and sustainability look like for marginalized indigenous communities in México. The research finds that non-native indigenous communities’ settled in Baja California align more closely with the notion of Buen Vivir than development, in efforts to implement holistic approaches to progress and the conservation of their ethnic identity, culture and funds of knowledge. Additionally, the data reveals the bordering processes within ethnic and cultural scapes in Baja California’s society incentivizes merging funds of knowledge to achieve community recognition and progress. In essence, the experience and mobilization of settled non-native indigenous communities in Baja California break the perceived dichotomy between rural and urban, traditional and modern. The research also has some auxiliary findings: (1) indicating that in the state of Baja California the proliferation of development and sustainability discourses are polarized and relatively neglected in public discourses, despite its close transborder relationship with the US and growing concerns of development and sustainability in the northern nation. Second, indigenous women have been and continue to be important catalysts in community formation and representation.
ContributorsMora-Castillo, Brenda (Author) / Cruz-Torres, Maria l (Thesis advisor) / Wutich, Amber (Committee member) / Manuel-Navarrete, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
New teachers quit the profession at high levels, particularly in rural and urban schools. These high rates of turnover create staffing issues, particularly in high-needs areas like math and special education. High levels of stress and dissatisfaction with the profession have been cited as common reasons teachers exit the profession within the first few years. However, positive interventions from the field of positive psychology as well as mindfulness have been used in the workplace and have been found to support increasing wellbeing as well as reducing stress. This study defines workplace wellbeing as a construct of positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning/purpose, achievement and health within the workplace. In this mixed methods quasi-experimental study, 26 new teachers within a large suburban schools were sorted into experimental (n=13) and a control (n=13) groups. The experimental group was provided with a mindfulness training (in-person or virtually) as well as was asked to journal twice a week about three things that went well during the week, why those things went well, and what impact that had on students. The experimental group was invited to share their journals with their Teacher Induction and Support Program (TISP) coach in-person during their weekly confidential meetings. The control group was asked to write down any three things that occurred over the week (positive, negative, or neutral) and was also invited to share this with their TISP coach. Participants completed journals for the months of November, December, and January. All participants took a workplace wellbeing survey (developed by Peggy Kern and used with permission of Dr. Kern) at October, December, March and June. Additionally, five participants from the control group and five participants from the control group were interviewed about their experiences as new teachers and their experiences using the interventions. Participants in the control group experienced decreases in their workplace wellbeing throughout the year whereas participants in the control group experiences steady or increases to their workplace wellbeing, particularly in the areas of positive emotions, relationships, meaning, and self-efficacy. Participants in the experimental group also reported mindfulness practices increased their confidence and promoted positive emotional regulation that supported a positive classroom, despite challenging student behaviors. While this study uses a small sample size, these findings were confirmed in qualitative data, quantitative data, and are consistent with findings in related literature. While the findings are consistent with findings in related studies utilizing positive interventions and mindfulness within the workplace, these findings run counter to studies on the emotional experiences of teachers which assert that teacher’s (particularly new teachers) experience high levels of negative emotions and stress, particularly during the middle of the year. The findings from this dissertation suggest positive interventions and mindfulness may bolster new teacher’s workplace wellbeing and self-efficacy during the first year.
ContributorsHallquist, Rachel Anne (Author) / Henriksen, Danah (Thesis advisor) / Frias, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Zollinger, Rona (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Previous studies about well-being have examined either gratitude’s or social connectedness’ relationship to subjective well-being. The aim of this randomized control trial was to examine the efficacy of a gratitude-based writing micro-intervention in enhancing felt social connectedness and well-being between young adults and their parents. The trial tested the impact of engaging in gratitude-based writing about family members or enhanced caretakers on measures of social connectedness and well-being between grown children and their parents. Data from a pool of social work students in the Southwest (N=148) were used. Results revealed within-subject effects and between subject effects for psychological well-being from pretest to one month follow-up, with the intervention group reporting significantly higher psychological well-being than the control group. Results also revealed slight mean differences from pretest to posttest for perceptions of family relationships, with the intervention group reporting approaching significant better perceptions of family relationships than the control group at posttest. Findings from the study indicate that engaging in gratitude-based writing about family can improve perceptions of psychological well-being and may improve social connectedness to family.
ContributorsKaplan, Tamar (Author) / LeCroy, Craig W. (Thesis advisor) / Williams, Lela R (Committee member) / Brown, Mary Ellen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Art is a form of spiritual expression that is thriving in many Indigenous cultures. It can take many forms, meanings and have a multitude of emotional, mental, physical and spiritual effects on its creator as well as its audience. Amongst American Indians, art has been a method for maintaining holistic well-being intended to heal and cope with traumatic experiences. In this thesis, I examine the western societal and cultural influences that have led to the loss of cultural identity and examine approaches and practices that aim to re-establish a resilient connection to identity and well-being using art as a spiritual catalyst. Literary research and articles were reviewed related to the issue of art as a form of spiritual expression in Indigenous cultures. An autoethnography was conducted with the intent to record and reflect on the well-being of the researcher in relation to her artistic expression. Journaling and vlogging were used as research methods and painting, sketching, and beading was used as artistic methods. Over the course of six months, over 50 videos with 30 hours of raw footage were recorded; averaging 2 hours per day. The results are reflected in the researchers free-flowing and emotionally driven reflection of experiences that have driven her artwork. This thesis supports the establishment of art as a form of spiritual expression for transforming the current western focused health care paradigm to one that recognizes, values and employs Indigenous insight, methodologies, worldviews, culture and spirituality.
ContributorsRobbins, Marlena (Author) / Romero-Little, Eunice (Thesis advisor) / Marley, Tennille L (Committee member) / Meders, Jacob (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This dissertation focuses on the incorporation of twenty first century mixed-status families, living in Phoenix, Arizona and Central Mexico. Using a combination of research methods, chapters illustrate patterns of immigrant incorporation by focusing on well-being, community reception, and national identity. First, results of mixed-method data collected in Phoenix, Arizona from 2009-2010 suggest that life satisfaction varies by integration scores, a holistic measure of how immigrants are integrating into their communities by accounting for individual, household, and contextual factors. Second, findings from qualitative data collected in Mexico during 2010, illustrate that communities receive parents and children differently. Third, a continued analysis of qualitative 2010 data from Mexico, exhibits that both parents and children identify more with the U.S. than with Mexico, regardless of where they were born. Together these chapters contribute to broad concepts of assimilation, well-being, community reception, and national identity.
ContributorsMedina, Dulce (Author) / Menjivar, Cecilia (Thesis advisor) / Glick, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Martin, Nathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Arts and culture function as indispensable parts of humans’ lives. Numerous studies have examined the impact and value of arts and culture, from individual quality of life to overall community health. However, research has been less focused on identifying the influence of crucial dimensions of arts and culture on overall community well-being, and contributing to understanding the intertwining connection between these elements and community well-being. To explore the dimensions of arts and cultural resources and community well-being, and in turn, to present the relationship between them in a community, this dissertation was based on three subsequent studies. A total of 518 counties were included in the analysis. Specifically, this study is unique in that it sought evidence based on county-level data drawn on the Local Arts Index (LAI) from Americans for the Arts (AFA) and County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHRR) variables to provide an arts-community measurement system suggesting critical and meaningful variables among a wide range of existing data. The results revealed the positive impacts of arts and cultural resources on community well-being. Each arts and cultural domain also has critical relationships with community individual, social, and economic well-being. Specifically, the ‘arts business’ domain was considerably associated with community individual well-being and comprehensive community well-being. The ‘arts consumption’ domain showed synthetically significant associations with community’s individual and economic well-being, and by extension, influenced comprehensive community well-being. Lastly, the ‘arts nonprofits’ domain was related to all the components of community well-being. In conclusion, residents’ arts consumption and the existence of arts and cultural/creative industries, including arts nonprofits, are constantly suggested as key to improving county-level community well-being. This study centers on presenting a more realistic vision of how arts and cultural resources are associated with community well-being components. Recognizing the power of arts and cultural resources in society and bolstering them to promote community well-being is a global issue of the utmost pertinence. Thus, research utilizing a longitudinal data-driven approach is likely to continue measuring the impact of arts and culture, and examining how they are related to and can strengthen community well-being.
ContributorsSung, HeeKyung (Author) / Hager, Mark A. (Thesis advisor) / Kushner, Roland (Committee member) / Lee, Woojin (Committee member) / Phillips, Rhonda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016