Access to abstract restricted until 07/2015. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of education on the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of breast self-examination (BSE) among adolescent females. The tool used to measure the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of BSE was based on the Health Belief Model. The design was a two group pretest, post-test, quasi-experimental design. Using 2X2 repeated measures revealed there was no significant difference between the control and experimental groups in attitudes and beliefs. However, there was a significant increase in the knowledge level of BSE for the group who received BSE instruction when compared to the group who did not receive BSE instruction. The researcher recommended that research be continued using a larger, heterogeneous sample. / School of Nursing

Coming to the United States, international students face numerous cross-cultural adjustment difficulties. Asian international students have had the most cross-cultural difficulties among all international students. Helping Asian international students deal with their life stress has become a challenge for American counselors and psychologists.Studies on the attitude toward seeking professional psychological help have been done primarily with African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans. As the population of Asian international students increases, it becomes important that the attitudes of Asian international students toward seeking professional psychological help be examined. The present study examined the relationship between Asian international students' levels of acculturation and their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. In addition, this study explored the relationships between Asian international students' levels of acculturation and their recognition of need for psychotherapeutic help, their stigma tolerance, their interpersonal openness, and their confidence in mental health practitioners.One hundred and seventy Asian international students from one Midwestern university and one Northeastern university participated in this study. Participants completed two questionnaires and a demographic profile sheet: (1) the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale-International (SL-ASIA-I); (2) the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS); and (3) the demographic sheet which included country of origin, religious beliefs, plans/intentions to stay in U.S., the length of time in the U.S., previous therapy experiences, age, gender, education, major, marital status, and children. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) There was a significant relationship between Asian international students' acculturation levels and their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help; (2) The higher levels of acculturation the Asian international students had, the more positive their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict Asian international students' attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help.As was expected, a significant relationship between Asian international students' levels of acculturation and their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help was observed. In addition, significant correlations were perceived between Asian international students' levels of acculturation and their stigma tolerance and their confidence in mental health practitioners. Discussions of these findings and limitations and recommendations for future research were presented. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

Metatheoretical constructs are believed to be philosophical commitments that affect a variety of areas in an individual's life. This study was designed to investigate two questions. First, do individuals subscribe to personal definitions of health and illness because they are committed to different philosophical and epistemological positions. Second, does an individual's personal definition of health and illness predict the frequency of health and illness related behaviors.Two studies were conducted to investigate these questions. In the first, 102 undergraduate subjects expressed a preference for one of three possible definitions of health and illness. Further, these definitions were shown to predict rates of health and illness behaviors. In the second, 72 nursing professionals also selected one of the three definitions of health and illness. A combination of health and illness definition, and personal worldview were shown to strongly predict an individual's frequency of engaging in health and illness behaviors.These data suggest that individuals have personal preferences for defining health and illness. - Further, their health and illness definition, plus personal worldview, reliably predicts health and illness behavior frequency. These results have implications for health psychology research and practice. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

In recent years, research has shed light on the nature of singer perception in the choral setting; however, only a few studies have explored the nature of singer placement and its impact on members of the ensemble, and little research has been conducted on gender-specific ensembles. Fifty participants from two male choral ensembles took part in an experiment to assess the choristers’ perceptions of and preferences for four choral formations based on individual singer placement within sections and placement of sections within the ensemble. Participants’ perceptions and preferences were assessed in response to four overall choral formations based on criteria derived from factors relating to the Self-to-Other Ratio (SOR) – a singer’s perception of his sound within his section and the chorus. The study also sought to determine whether Voice Part and Musical Experience Level are significant factors in participants’ perceptions of and preferences for four different formations featuring a combination of placements within section (Acoustic and Experience placements) and sectional formations (Block and Column Sectional formations). Participants rated their perceptual experience of the four immediately after having sung in each and then indicated preference for specific placements based on their perceptual experience. Participants’ responses were analyzed for significance through ANOVA and chi-square testing of all pertinent variables. In terms of Voice Part, tenor singers indicated preference for Block Sectional formation, while bass singers indicated preference for Column Sectional formation. It was also determined that singers’ musical experience was significant in determining their preferences for formations, with singers of higher musical experience preferring Block Sectional formation and singers of lower musical experience preferring Column Sectional formation. Singers’ preference for placement within sections was not found to be significant, possibly indicating that this type of placement does not impact singer perception in the choral setting as much as has been thought by many choral conductors and pedagogues. Continued research exploring the nature of individual singer perception in the choral setting will provide a better understanding of the nature of singers’ individual vocal production when combined in ensemble, thus enabling conductors to foster more fulfilling musical experiences in their choirs. / School of Music

Implicit Attitudes of Counselor Trainees toward Black-White Couples Inter-racial couples developed as soon as European men landed on the coast of North America. Historically, these relationships were considered deviant and unacceptable. The attitudes towards interracial marriages are improving, however, the incidence of interracial dating and marriage, especially among Blacks and Whites, remains low in the United States (White & White, 2000). As the acceptance of interracial marriages increases, the rate of interracial marriages also increases. With the increasing number of inter-racial couples in the United States the probability that counselors will have contact with a Black-White couple increases also. It is important for the counselors to have accepting attitudes towards these couples to be effective in the treatment of these couples. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measured the implicit attitudes of the participants toward black-white couples. This study included a comparison of attitudes based on demographic factors such as sex, age, education, region of the US, socioeconomic status, home setting, and multicultural awareness and knowledge as measured by the Multicultural Knowledge and Awareness Scale (MCKAS). In addition, a multiple linear regression will determine which of these variables is best able to predict the participants’ attitudes. The results showed there is a significant difference in attitudes toward interracial couples between demographic subgroups of the variable age. However, there were no significant differences in attitudes between the subgroups of the variables education, socioeconomic status, sex, race, region of the country, community type and size. The regression analyses found MCKAS was the one variable that could predict scores on the IAT. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Spirituality and environmental friendliness (i.e., nature connectedness, environmental attitudes and behaviours) are inextricably linked. They share the common basis of transcendence (Grouzet, 2011; Grouzet et al., 2005). However, the relationship between the two lacks empirical support. The current study employed experimental and daily diary methods to investigate the influence of spirituality upon environmental friendliness. Spirituality was marginally, but not significantly, increased through guided daily reflection among religious participants and slightly decreased among non-religious participants. This, subsequently, led to greater sense of connection to nature, but no other changes in environmental friendliness. These findings provide preliminary evidence of the relation between spirituality and environmental friendliness. / Graduate / 0623 / 0451 / esl@uvic.ca

Bakgrund: Koloskopi utförs i diagnostiskt syfte, vid uppföljningar av olika tarmsjukdomar och i behandlande syfte. I och med ökad livslängd, fler cancerfall och utökad screeningsverksamhet kommer antalet koloskopiundersökningar att öka. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att belysa faktorer som påverkar patientens situation vid koloskopiundersökning. Metod: I denna litteraturstudie har nio kvantitativa och en två-fas studie granskats och analyserats. Sökningarna av artiklarna genomfördes i databaserna CINAHL och PubMed. Även manuell sökning genomfördes. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i tre kategorier och fyra underliggande subkategorier. Fysiska och psykiska faktorer; Smärta och obehag, Oro. Psykologiska faktorer; Skam och genans. Sociala faktorer; Bemötande och samspel mellan patient och vårdpersonal. Resultatet visade  att ovanstående faktorer påverkar patienten negativt inför och under koloskopiundersökningen. Resultatet visade även att det fanns könsskillnader som påverkar situationen vid koloskopiundersökningen. Konklusion: Behov finns att lyfta fram och belysa de faktorer som påverkar patientens situation vid koloskopiundersökning. För sjuksköterskan är det viktigt att ha kunskap om dessa faktorer för att kunna bemöta och ha ett samspel med patienten och få en djupare förståelse av vad det innebär för patienten att genomgå en koloskopiundersökning. Nyckelord: colonoscopy, experience, anxiety, attitudes, patient

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