Matching Items (18)
Filtering by
- Creators: Arizona State University
Description
Female infertility can present a significant challenge to quality of life. To date, few, if any investigations have explored the process by which women adapt to premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), a specific type of infertility, over time. The current investigation proposed a bi-dimensional, multi-factor, model of adjustment characterized by the identification of six latent factors representing personal attributes (resilience resources and vulnerability), coping (adaptive and maladaptive) and outcomes (distress and wellbeing). Measures were collected over the period of one year; personal attributes were assessed at Time 1, coping at Time 2 and outcomes at Time 3. It was hypothesized that coping factors would mediate associations between personal attributes and outcomes. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), simple regressions and single mediator models were utilized to test study hypotheses. Overall, with the exception of coping, the factor structure was consistent with predictions. Two empirically derived coping factors, and a single standalone strategy, avoidance, emerged. The first factor, labeled "approach coping" was comprised of strategies directly addressing the experience of infertility. The second was comprised of strategies indicative of "letting go /moving on." Only avoidance significantly mediated the association between vulnerability and distress.
ContributorsDriscoll, Mary (Author) / Davis, Mary C. (Thesis advisor) / Aiken, Leona S. (Committee member) / Luecken, Linda J. (Committee member) / Zautra, Alex J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
There is a popular notion that creativity is highly valued in our culture. However, those "in the trenches," people in creative endeavors that actually produce the acts of creativity, say this is not so. There is a negative correlation between the value stated and the true value placed on creativity by our contemporary culture. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate that correlation as well as a possible contributing factor to this negative correlation--the fear of risk involved in enacting and accepting creativity. The methods used in this study were literature review and interview. An extensive literature review was done, as much has been written on creativity. The review was done in four parts: 1) the difficulty in defining creativity; 2) fear and the fear of creativity; 3) solutions - ways to be, express, and accept creativity; and 4) the plethora of articles written about creativity. Six one-on-one interviews were conducted with creative individuals from a variety of commercial creative endeavors. Creatives in commercial fields were chosen specifically because of their ability to influence the culture. The results of this study showed that the hypothesis, that there is a negative correlation between the value stated and the true value placed on creativity, is true. The fear of risk involved in enacting and accepting creativity as a factor in this dichotomy was also shown to be true.
ContributorsGelman, Howard P (Author) / Heywood, Wil (Thesis advisor) / Patel, Mookesh (Committee member) / Knox, Gordon (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This study investigated the efficacy of Early Head Start home-based, center-based and mixed-approach programs on cognitive, language and behavioral outcomes at different levels of cumulative environmental risk. Early Head Start is a federal program that provides low-income families and their children from birth to age three with childcare, parenting education, healthcare and other family supports. As part of Early Head Start's initiation, a program evaluation was begun involving 3,001 children from 17 programs around the country. Half of the children were randomly assigned to the control group, who received no Early Head Start services. Data were collected through program application and enrollment forms, interviews of parents and child and family assessments. Almost all of the children's primary caretakers were mothers, ranging in age from 18 to 26. One-third were African American, one-third white, and one-fourth Hispanic. Almost half of the parents did not have a high school diploma at the time of enrollment, and most of the families received public support of some kind. For each child, a multiple environmental risk score was calculated, which was the sum of 10 possible environmental risks. Each of four outcomes was regressed onto the ten risks individually and also as a cumulative risk index along with program type and covariates. There were significant negative relations of accumulated risk to reductions in reasoning, spatial ability and vocabulary and increased behavior problems. Children with at least eight risks scored 1.48 standard deviations lower on reasoning ability and vocabulary, .48 standard deviations lower on spatial ability and .48 standard deviations higher on behavior problems. The home-based program showed significant benefit for reasoning and vocabulary. Versus the control group, home-based programs increased average reasoning scores by .24 of a standard deviation and increased vocabulary by .14 of a standard deviation. There was no significant difference in program benefits at different levels of risk. This suggests that for reasoning and vocabulary, the home-based program is promotive because the degree of benefit Early Head Start appears to provide is consistent across all levels of risk for the set of risks and outcomes examined in this study.
ContributorsBudinger, Susan (Author) / Bradley, Robert H (Thesis advisor) / Doane Sampey, Leah D (Committee member) / Valiente, Carlos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Risk and protective factors of peer victimization: the role of preschoolers' affiliations with peers
Description
Studies of peer victimization typically focus on behavioral characteristics of the victims, and frequently overlook the role that peers may play. The current study extended previous research by examining how time spent with two types of peers (externalizing and socially competent) can serve as a risk or protective factor for preschoolers' victimization, and how victimization may differ for boys and girls. In addition, the study explored how affiliating with same-sex and other-sex externalizing and socially competent peers may differentially relate to victimization. Results showed that girls who affiliated with externalizing female peers were significantly more at risk for victimization. In addition, boys and girls who spent time with socially competent male peers (but not female peers) negatively predicted victimization. The results indicate that children's peers, in certain circumstances, may play an important role in victimization. These findings also highlight the importance of considering children's and peers' gender when studying peer processes.
ContributorsClary, Laura (Author) / Hanish, Laura (Thesis advisor) / Martin, Carol (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kimberly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether different types of narcissistic behavior are associated with different kinds of economic risk behavior. The thesis examines five published articles to establish whether the sub-classifications of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are significantly linked to economic risk behavior, broadly defined. The primary hypothesis states that different classifications of narcissistic behavior will be associated with different kinds of economic risk behavior. The paper finds, broadly, that different kinds of narcissistic behavior classifications are indeed associated with different kinds of economic risk behavior. Specifically, grandiose narcissism (GN) is associated with higher rates of risky gambling behavior; however, manifestations of vulnerable narcissism (VN) appear to play an integral role in the relationship. The paper also finds that both GN and VN are associated with higher rates of oniomania where mediating roles of impulsivity, materialism, and emptiness are present. The thesis concludes that addressing the issue of narcissism cannot be viewed through the lens of any unilateral perspective.
ContributorsYoung, Jessica Ann (Author) / Alozie, Nicholas (Thesis advisor) / Thomas, Kathy (Committee member) / Scheall, Scott (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Contemporary renewable energy transitions require the extraction of critical minerals necessary to produce new green technologies. The Stibnite Gold Project located in Valley County, Idaho, is one of many proposed mine sites to supply raw materials for renewable energy infrastructure. A variety of actors including the mine operator, Perpetua Resources, use varying approaches to risk to measure the impacts of potential mine operations. A formal permitting process facilitated by US regulatory bodies assess these risks and proposals for their mitigation. This study examines the permitting process for the proposed mine, the Stibnite Gold Project, in Idaho in order to better understand what risks are considered and how they are conceptualized. Specifically, it examines public discourse from the mine operator Perpetua Resources, key regulators, key NGOs, and the Nez Perce tribal community. A critical discourse analysis reveals the development of distinct risk, economic, restorative, and decision authority narratives among each actor. These narratives shape approaches to risk. However, they also reveal settler colonialism and other intersecting systems of oppression are reinstated and/or resisted in each actors approach to risk. Drawing on existing literature as well as new empirical data from the discourse analysis, this study shows limits to prevailing approaches to risk that need to be addressed so that future efforts to advance sustainability-driven renewable energy transitions do not impose unjust costs on Indigenous peoples.
ContributorsStempel, Khampha (Author) / Calhoun, Craig (Thesis advisor) / Carralero, Pamela (Committee member) / Klinsky, Sonja (Committee member) / Nelson, Melissa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Marijuana legalization will likely result in increased marijuana consumption with uncertain social and health impacts. This thesis looks to share user perspectives on marijuana, specifically addressing how users represent marijuana risks, benefits, and uncertain or unknown dangers. Data were collected from an online social-media forum that initiated the discussion by prompting readers to reflect on marijuana risks in a context of growing accolades concerning its benefits. Grounded theory and thematic analysis were both utilized to identify consistent themes or patterns across user comments. It was found that users identified both benefits and risks of marijuana, while some users had disputes about certain known risks (such as impaired driving) or uncertain or unknown dangers (such as reduced dream activity). Despite disagreements about the degree of risk associated with a particular activity (such as driving and dreaming), this thesis found risks and benefits were discussed in relatively narrow ways that suggest more education is needed around the full spectrum of the effects of various strains, including benefits, risks, and uncertainties.
ContributorsVannoy, Joshua (Author) / Nadesan, Majia H (Thesis advisor) / Walker, Michael (Committee member) / Ramsey, Ramsey E (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This study examined whether the New Beginnings Program (NBP), a preventive parenting intervention, led to changes in coping strategies and coping efficacy in emerging adults whose families had participated in the program 15 years earlier. Gender and baseline risk were examined as moderators of these relations. Participants (M = 25.6 years; 50% female) were from 240 families that had participated in an experimental trial (NBP [mother-only, mother-child] vs. literature control). Data from the pretest and 15-year follow-up were used. Multiple regression analyses revealed that pretest risk interacted with program participation in the mother-only condition of the NBP such that offspring entering the program with higher pretest risk reported significantly less avoidant coping 15 years later. There was a marginal effect of participation in the NBP on problem-focused coping; emerging adults who had participated in the NBP had marginally higher levels of problem-focused coping. There were no significant main effects nor interactive program by risk or program by gender effects on support coping or coping efficacy. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for implementation of preventive interventions and research on pathways of coping.
ContributorsRhodes, Charla Aubrey (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene A (Thesis advisor) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Leucken, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
There has been an ongoing debate between the relative deterrent power of certainty and severity on deceptive and criminal activity, certainty being the likelihood of capture and severity being the magnitude of the potential punishment. This paper is a review of the current body of research regarding risk assessment and deception in games, specifically regarding certainty and severity. The topics of game theoretical foundations, balance, and design were covered, as were heuristics and individual differences in deceptive behavior. Using this background knowledge, this study implemented a methodology through which the risk assessments of certainty and severity can be compared behaviorally in a repeated conflict context. It was found that certainty had a significant effect on a person’s likelihood to lie, while severity did not. Exploratory data was collected using the dark triad personality quiz, though it did not ultimately show a pattern.
ContributorsDay, Nicholas C (Author) / Chiou, Erin (Thesis advisor) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Becker, Vaughn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Increasingly, wildfires are threatening communities, forcing evacuations, damaging property, and causing loss of life. This is in part due to a century of wildfire policy and an influx of people moving to the wildland urban interface (WUI). National programs have identified and promoted effective wildfire mitigation actions to reduce wildfire risk; yet, many homeowners do not perform these actions. Based on previous literature and using the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study proposes an integrated wildfire mitigation behavioral model to assess and identify the factors that influence homeowners’ wildfire mitigation behaviors. Specifically, the study tests the validity of the theory of planned behavior as a foundational model in exploring wildfire mitigation behaviors, develops and empirically tests a wildfire mitigation behavioral model, and explores the role of homeowner associations (HOA) on wildfire mitigation behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used on data collected from homeowners with property in the WUI in Prescott, Arizona. Results suggest TPB provides an acceptable model in describing homeowner wildfire mitigation behavior. For HOA residents, attitudes toward wildfire mitigation behaviors play an important role in predicting intentions to perform these behaviors. Additionally, perceived constraints directly influenced actual mitigation actions. For non-HOA residents, subjective norms influenced intentions to mitigate. Implications for research and local wildfire mitigation programs and policy are discussed.
ContributorsSteffey, Eric Clifford (Author) / Budruk, Megha (Thesis advisor) / Vogt, Christine (Committee member) / Virden, Randy (Committee member) / Larson, Kelli (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016