Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Political Science

This dissertation presents an exploration of anxiety for politics distinct from previous study in political psychology. Previous studies report on anxiety's potential to mobilize the electorate. Anxiety has been shown to bring political activation, to help sustain the collective action needed for civic and political participation, to increase willingness for compromise, to encourage political learning, and to increase trust in experts. But for many, the political world underlies much of their anxiety. Consider members of marginalized groups, many of whom are chronically taxed by politics, which can rewire neural networks in the brain and which leaves them with less available mental bandwidth to conduct themselves civically and politically. Taken together, I predict members of marginalized groups respond differently to anxiety than members of non-marginalized groups. While non-marginalized persons can muster their cognitive resources to channel anxiety into action, the precarious situations of many marginalized people merits devoting their cognitive resources elsewhere, leaving them demobilized by their anxiety. In Chapter 2 I lay bare this theory and annotate specific hypotheses. In Chapter 3 I launch a preregistered survey experiment to test my theory among a sample of Black subjects, White subjects, and Hispanic subjects, on welfare and off. Findings offer support for a heterogeneous understanding of anxiety's effects. Higher levels of anxiety caused the marginalized to be less likely to express an interest in voting than the non-marginalized. Furthermore, the interactive effect of race and welfare status inhibited participation the most among the intersectionally marginalized. In Chapter 4 I offer robustness tests for my hypotheses, testing for moderated mediation in particular. In Chapter 5 I conclude by discussing the broad implications of my findings, how government and politics can foster anxiety among the masses, but in particular the negative consequences i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Thomas Nelson (Committee Chair); William Minozzi (Committee Member); Thomas Wood (Committee Member); Michael Neblo (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Cognitive Psychology; Political Science; Public Policy; Social Psychology; Social Research

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2020, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

A nurturing and engaging environment within the family often leads to enhanced student performance. Nonetheless, the education system continues to struggle to connect with families from racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse groups, particularly parents with limited English proficiency or those who have children in special education programs. Amplified difficulties may arise because children with identified special needs—such as physical impairments, learning deficiencies, or developmental disabilities—require additional support, interventions, parental support, and/or services. As the nation attempts to mainstream children in public education and provide them support, Mexican immigrant families in many cases remain underrepresented, or they fall into greater risk due to financial instability, poor communication, and cultural barriers. This qualitative research utilizes a phenomenological approach to explore the experiences of Mexican immigrant families who have identified special needs children; specifically, the study seeks to draw out information regarding possible added hardship and burden compared to their White counterparts. A review of the literature will bring an awareness of the existing hardships or obstacles, as well as possible future actions of intervention within the special education systems when interacting with these families. This will point to supportive social transformation for those lacking social and economic privileges, as well as modify and possibly identify missing links among the broken chain of services in special education, allowing for new provisions to serve children with identified special needs. This information will also be useful to implement acculturation and empowerment tools to support families of children with identified special needs. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Committee: Allen Bishop PhD. (Committee Chair); Angela DeVita ATR, LMFT, PhD (Committee Member); Amber Walz NCSP, BCBA, PhD-D, ABSNP (Committee Member) Subjects: Education Policy; Educational Psychology; Health Care; Hispanic Americans; Literacy; Multicultural Education; Psychology; Social Work; Special Education; Teacher Education

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Health Education

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the social determinants of major depressive episode among African American and Hispanic adults. Methods: A secondary data analysis of the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was performed in this study. African American adults (n = 4,825) and Hispanic adults (n = 6,199) completed the survey and . Approval to conduct this study was granted by the university's institutional review board. Results: Results indicated 6.2% of African American adults and 7.4% of Hispanic adults reported a major depressive episode. African Americans at highest risk for major depressive episode were female, had a family income of less than $20,000, participated in a government assistance program, had good/fair/poor self-reported health status, and had used alcohol, tobacco and/or marijuana before age 21. Hispanics at highest risk for major depressive episode were female, had some college or more, participated in government assistance programs, had good/fair/poor self-reported health status, and had used alcohol, tobacco and/or marijuana before age 21. Results of this study should be utilized regarding efforts to encourage primary health education efforts with African American adults experiencing major depressive episode.

Committee: Keith King Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Ashley Merianos Ph.D. (Committee Member); Rebecca Vidourek Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Education

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2018, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

The occurrence of specific types of mental health problems could be influenced by several factors. Immigration experiences can bring additional distress to the individual. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to expand current knowledge of the experience of Latinas immigrating to the United States during their adolescence in hopes to get a deeper understanding of possible mental health concerns of this specific population. This study included an extensive review of literature regarding adolescent development, Latino immigration into the United States, cultural identity, gender issues, racism, xenophobia, and mental health concerns. A phenomenological methodology approach was used for this study to understand the messages and common themes from interviews directly from individuals who have experienced this phenomenon. The criteria for this study included a sample of eight participants. These participants screened met the criteria; adult women immigrating as adolescents to the United States from any Latin American country. Participants shared their testimonies and provided meaningful information regarding the significance of their immigration experiences as adolescents. Themes identified were participant's experiences of leaving their country, arriving in the United States, and adjustment during the first year after immigration. Interviews lasted for approximately 60 minutes with each participant who answered 11 open-ended questions about their experiences. The interviews conducted were in the participants' language of choice (Spanish/English). The data obtained from the interviews was translated as necessary, transcribed and analyzed using Dedoose Software using qualitative methodology. In this study, six meaning themes emerged. Data results revealed adolescent Latina immigrants might experience family distress, parenting, separation/reunification, emotional process of adjustment, cultural/social issues, socioeconomic matters, and psychological (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ronald Pilato PsyD (Committee Chair); Salvador Trevino PhD (Committee Member); Oksana Yakushko PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Psychology; Families and Family Life; Gender; Hispanic Americans; Latin American Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2016, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

This is a study to evaluate cross-sectional and longitudinal genetic associations among Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) risk factors and a select set of candidate genes involved in inflammatory, vasoconstrictive, and coagulation processes at the vascular epithelium in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Cohort. We conducted a candidate gene association analysis of multiple clinical measures for each component trait of MetS in a group of HIV-positive and -negative women of the WIHS. Thirty-two candidate genes were selected based on their pro-inflammatory, pro-vasoconstrictive, and pro-coagulative functions and expression in the vascular endothelium. The association was modeled with mixed effects model with both random slope and random intercepts. We have identified genetic variants in CKD14 and NFKB1 with longitudinal effects on MetS risk factors in African Americans and Hispanics. We provide evidence that the genetic architecture of MetS includes genes previously implicated in inflammation (NFKB1) and vessel repair (CDK14) and that HIV may mediate the magnitude of the some genetic associations.

Committee: Xiaofeng Zhu Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Robert Elston Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nathan Morris Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nora Nock Ph.D. (Committee Member); Barbara Gripshover M.D. (Committee Member); Bradely Aoiuzerat Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Epidemiology; Genetics

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2013, Sociology

The present study draws on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) Waves I and II to examine self-reported gang membership among Hispanic youths of different immigrant generations in the United States. Although research on gangs has historically assumed immigrants to be more involved in gangs than their native peers, there has been scant research on the individual propensity to gang membership comparing immigrant and non-immigrant youth. The current empirical research integrates prior theory and research from the gang literature and the immigration-crime literature, to examine this relationship as well as potential mediating and moderating factors including family, school, institutional legitimacy, and contextual measures. The results of the current research challenge the previously assumed relationship between immigration and gang membership. The results suggest that more recent Hispanic male immigrants are less likely to join gangs than immigrants who have been in the United States longer and for more generations, predominantly working through one's level of neighborhood immigrant concentration.

Committee: Jorge Chavez (Advisor); Stephen Demuth (Committee Member); Danielle Kuhl (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology; Sociology

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Wright State University, 2014, School of Professional Psychology

While group therapy appears to be gaining popularity at University Counseling Centers, scant research has been done on Latino students' group therapy participation. The present study examined the barriers that Latino college students face in considering whether to join group therapy. Participants (N=81) completed three measures. The first measure was a demographic questionnaire. The second measure was a modified version of the Barriers Scale, originally developed by Harris (2012), a 44-item survey in which participants were assessed in terms of: their willingness to consider group therapy, group therapy modality preferences, expectations of group therapy, expectations of group members, expectations of group leaders, coping skills if in distress, and multicultural considerations. The final measure was the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics created by Marin, Otero-Sabogal, & Perez-Stable (1987). Data for this study were analyzed employing descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and Spearman rho correlations. Results found that coping strategies for Latino college students were mainly based around seeking help from family and friends, or facing their problems directly on their own. Group therapy was generally found to be one of the least desirable treatment modalities utilized as a coping method. However, results suggest that a barrier to group therapy for Latino college students may be that they do not know what are the purpose and benefits of group therapy. Moreover, when more information is given about types of groups, Latino college students' interest in group therapy increases. In addition, results indicated that other barriers to group therapy included: the expectation that group therapists should have knowledge about Latino culture, leader experience running groups with Latino members and a number of other important factors. Beyond the scope of this dissertation, further research should be done in the area of barriers to group therapy for this population i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Martyn Whittingham Ph.D., CGP (Committee Chair); Erendira Lopez-Garcia Psy.D. (Committee Member); Leon VandeCreek Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Education : Health Promotion and Education

The purpose of this research study was to determine the sources of health information and the health literacy levels of Latinos in the tri-state area and to determine possible relationships with acculturation levels, country of familial origin, or other demographical characteristics. Variables were observed through focus groups and person-to-person orally-administered surveys with a convenience sample of Latino adults (N = 214) living in a large, metropolitan area (tri-state are") in the Midwest region of the United States. The results of this study may facilitate the ability of health educators and other health professionals to understand preferences and abilities of the Latino community and contribute to their ability to deliver culturally competent communication and health education messages. The 14 hypotheses that the researcher investigated were to see if the sample population's sources of health information varied with their respective health literacy levels (in English and/or Spanish), acculturation, and/or other demographic variables such as country/region of familial origin, length of residence in the U.S., education level, age, or gender. Because the variables mentioned above did not meet the assumption of normality distribution, non-parametric statistical analyses were performed to determine if any statistically significant relationships existed. The results of the analyses showed statistical significance for all of the relationships studied, such that all of the 14 null hypotheses were rejected. Regarding the main source of health information for all of the surveyed participants, almost half chose a medical source as their main source for health information. Two-thirds of the participants that took the S-TOFHLA in Spanish had adequate functional health literacy in Spanish. A little more than three quarters of the participants read at or below the 7th -8th grade level in English as measured by REALM-SF, and less than a quarter at the >=9th grade level in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Liliana Guyler PhD (Committee Chair); Lisa Vaughn PhD (Committee Member); Judy Murnan PhD, MPH (Committee Member); Keith King PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2008, Public Health

Objective: To examine 4-year incidence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and to assess relationships between both biologic indicators and barriers to care on the development of DR. Methods: The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES) is a population-based study of primarily Mexican-Americans. Participants were considered at risk for DR if both diabetes was present and they were free of DR at baseline. Definite diabetes was defined as either having 1) a self-reported history and treatment of diabetes, or 2) levels of hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), or 3) random blood glucose of at least 7.0% and 200 mg/100 mL. All participants underwent a standardized ophthalmic examination. DR was detected by grading of stereoscopic fundus photographs using the modified Airlie House classification scheme. Biologic risk factors, such as HbA1c, random blood glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, were assessed to determine its relationship with incidence of DR. Measures impacting barriers to health care, such as insurance status, were also evaluated to determine its relationship to development of DR. Trend tests were done to assess differences in incidence when stratifying by age and duration of diabetes (defined at baseline). Risk variables were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: Of the 893 participants with diabetes who were seen at follow-up, 745 had gradable photographs. Of those, only 412 were free of retinopathy at baseline and were considered to be at-risk for DR at follow-up. The four-year cumulative incidence of DR was 27.9% (115/412). Significant increases in incidence were seen across both increasing age (p=0.04) and increasing duration of diabetes (p<0.001) strata. Biologic risk factors shown to increase risk of DR were smaller waist-hip ratio (OR: 1.4; 95% CI: 0.8, 2.6), longer duration of diabetes (OR: 2.5 to 8.3 for 1-4 years to 15+ years, respectively), higher HbA1c (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.3, 1.7), and an increase in HbA1c level from baseline to follow-up (OR: 2.3; 95% C (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: John Wilkins PhD (Committee Chair); Judith Schwartzbaum PhD (Committee Member); Randi Love PhD (Committee Member); Stanley Azen PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Epidemiology; Ophthalmology; Public Health

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2004, Human Development and Family Science

A study was conducted to determine whether racial differences exist in the relationship between equity and marital quality. Using the nationally representative data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) dataset, sub-samples of equivalent sizes were randomly selected and the same structural equation model was used for: the overall sample, males, females, Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics and then each race by each gender. This resulted in 12 models that tested a predictive relationship between the two latent variables of equity and relationship quality. It was found that the model generally fit the data better for females than for males. There were several racial differences, most notably that the model fit the data best for African American females. Although the strength of the relationship varied significantly, it was found that greater equity in the marital relationship was a significant predictor of higher marital quality in every model. Given these findings, it was cautiously asserted that the relationship between these two variables is causal. Further research needs to be conducted to better specify the model for males and to further examine the racial differences found in this study.

Committee: Julianne Serovich (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2009, Cross-Cultural, International Education

This mixed method study was conducted with formal and nonformal educators and Latino families in Northwest Ohio to discern the educational, social and health needs that are specific to the Latino migrant community in Northwest Ohio. This study examined the perceptions of educational, health and socio-economic factors held by non-formal and formal educators who work with the Latino migrant community. Additionally, the Mexican educational system, the American educational and Latino cultural educational theories are contrasted. Results from this study show that formal and nonformal educators may not have similar perceptions regarding the needs of the Latino migrant community or Latino migrant students who attend public schools. Further, dissimilar cultural variances exist between Latino families in the U.S. and American educators which may hinder Latino student educational performance. Moreover, lack of access to information commonly assessed by the dominant culture in the U.S, including schools and health care may further deter the academic career of Latino students in American schools.

Committee: Patricia Kubow PhD (Advisor); Rachel Vannatta Reinhart PhD (Committee Member); Ruben Viramontez Aguiano PhD (Committee Member); Jose P. Salinas PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Comparative Literature; Education; Hispanic Americans

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2011, College of Education

This qualitative study was conducted in the Midwestern U.S. It examined the resilience stories of Puerto Rican educators in an urban school district. The sample consisted of 12 adult participants who were asked to describe their experiences with resilience in different stages of their personal development. Participants articulated how their meaning of the construct impacted their interactions with students and their beliefs regarding the development of resilience. The findings from this study suggested that resilience is an interactive process involving key personal attributes of the individual and environmental factors within that individual's home, community, school, and culture that results in the human ability to thrive in the face of adversity. Implications and recommendations for further research are discussed.

Committee: Jane Piirto PhD (Committee Chair); Patricia Edwards PhD (Committee Member); Alinde Moore PhD (Committee Member); Rosaire Ifedi EdD (Other) Subjects: Educational Psychology; Ethnic Studies; Hispanic American Studies; Latin American Studies; Multicultural Education; Personality Psychology; Psychology; School Counseling; Spirituality; Teaching