Organizations that employ physically demanding jobs want to ensure their selection procedures distinguish qualified applicants from unqualified applicants. However, such selection tools typically result in adverse impact against various protected groups and often lead to litigation. Various factors influence the court’s decision to rule in favor of the plaintiff or the defendant. The purpose of the present study is to identify those factors. The ADA (1990) created strict guidelines for plaintiffs and defendants to follow to be credible in a discrimination case. This study will specifically determine the impact of the ADA guidelines and three additional factors that influence court decisions including job analysis and test validation procedures, and whether the job involves public safety. Organizations can benefit from knowing factors they can control to decrease legal liability. Cases filed from 1992 to the present were reviewed and coded based on each factor. Z-tests for proportions were conducted to determine the proportions of rulings in favor of the plaintiff and defendant based on each factor of interest. Public safety influences the court decisions in favor of the defendant, such that for jobs in which public safety is of concern, the court is more likely to rule in favor of the defendant. Additional factors were not significantly influential. However, some trends are apparent and discussed in the paper. Implications and limitations also are discussed.

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy can lead to a myriad of poor physical and psychological outcomes for both mother and child. There is a paucity of research examining IPV risk factors for rural pregnant women and on information regarding the course of the specific types of IPV throughout pregnancy. The current project was an investigation of the prevalence of IPV and IPV risk factors for different types of IPV in an Appalachian pregnant sample that contained women from both rural and nonrural locations (Study 1), and was an examination of the occurrence of any IPV and the different types of IPV throughout the course of pregnancy (Study 2). Study 1 included 1,063 pregnant women participating in the Tennessee Intervention for Pregnant Smokers (TIPS) research project. IPV prevalence rates during pregnancy, measured using a modified HITS IPV screen, were approximately 26% for psychological violence, 2% for physical violence, and 1% for sexual violence. Chi-squared analysis indicated that rural pregnant women were not significantly more likely to experience any of the types of IPV compared to nonrural pregnant women. Additionally, logistic regression analysis supported previous literature findings that pregnant women who are unmarried, younger, have an unplanned pregnancy, have high levels of stress, and have low levels of social support are at a greater risk of experiencing any type of IPV during pregnancy compared to pregnant women not possessing those risk factors. However, rural status was not a significant predictor or modifier of IPV. Study 2 participants included a subsample of 337 pregnant women who indicated they had experienced IPV at any time during the course of their pregnancy. Generalized estimating equation logistic models indicated that women who experienced IPV at some point during pregnancy were more likely to experience IPV during the third trimester. Both studies support the importance of screening for specific types of IPV throughout pregnancy. Information obtained from the current research is valuable to health care providers because it is important they are aware of IPV risk factors and that different types of IPV, especially psychological IPV, can occur at any time during pregnancy.

This study examined the relation between stigma and reporting of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a sample of men who have sex with men (MSM). It was hypothesized that enacted stigma would result in lower reporting of IPV and that the type of IPV would moderate the relationship between enacted stigma and reporting. Using an online survey, we measured IPV (physical, psychological, and sexual violence) and stigma (perceived, enacted, and internalized). Participants (N = 46) were asked if they had ever experienced any of those forms of violence, as well as if they had ever reported the violence through an online survey. They were then asked how likely they would be to report the violence if it happened again in the future. Responses were analyzed using logistical regression with moderation to determine if a) enacted stigma was associated with lower reporting of intimate partner violence and if b) type of violence moderated stigma and reporting, such that physical violence would have the strongest relation between stigma and reporting of IPV. Results showed that enacted stigma was associated with more IPV reporting across all types of violence: physical (coefficient: 1.539, p<.0005), sexual (coefficient: .999, p<.05), and psychological (coefficient: 1.203, p<.005). Results of testing the moderating role of violence type on the relationship between enacted stigma and IPV were non-significant for all types of violence. In conclusion, the more enacted stigma that was experienced, the more reporting occurred. In addition, type of violence did not moderate the relation between enacted stigma and reporting of intimate partner violence.

abstract: With improvements in technology, intensive longitudinal studies that permit the investigation of daily and weekly cycles in behavior have increased exponentially over the past few decades. Traditionally, when data have been collected on two variables over time, multivariate time series approaches that remove trends, cycles, and serial dependency have been used. These analyses permit the study of the relationship between random shocks (perturbations) in the presumed causal series and changes in the outcome series, but do not permit the study of the relationships between cycles. Liu and West (2016) proposed a multilevel approach that permitted the study of potential between subject relationships between features of the cycles in two series (e.g., amplitude). However, I show that the application of the Liu and West approach is restricted to a small set of features and types of relationships between the series. Several authors (e.g., Boker & Graham, 1998) proposed a connected mass-spring model that appears to permit modeling of more general cyclic relationships. I showed that the undamped connected mass-spring model is also limited and may be unidentified. To test the severity of the restrictions of the motion trajectories producible by the undamped connected mass-spring model I mathematically derived their connection to the force equations of the undamped connected mass-spring system. The mathematical solution describes the domain of the trajectory pairs that are producible by the undamped connected mass-spring model. The set of producible trajectory pairs is highly restricted, and this restriction sets major limitations on the application of the connected mass-spring model to psychological data. I used a simulation to demonstrate that even if a pair of psychological time-varying variables behaved exactly like two masses in an undamped connected mass-spring system, the connected mass-spring model would not yield adequate parameter estimates. My simulation probed the performance of the connected mass-spring model as a function of several aspects of data quality including number of subjects, series length, sampling rate relative to the cycle, and measurement error in the data. The findings can be extended to damped and nonlinear connected mass-spring systems. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019

abstract: Previous research has shown functional mixed-effects models and traditional mixed-effects models perform similarly when recovering mean and individual trajectories (Fine, Suk, & Grimm, 2019). However, Fine et al. (2019) showed traditional mixed-effects models were able to more accurately recover the underlying mean curves compared to functional mixed-effects models. That project generated data following a parametric structure. This paper extended previous work and aimed to compare nonlinear mixed-effects models and functional mixed-effects models on their ability to recover underlying trajectories which were generated from an inherently nonparametric process. This paper introduces readers to nonlinear mixed-effects models and functional mixed-effects models. A simulation study is then presented where the mean and random effects structure of the simulated data were generated using B-splines. The accuracy of recovered curves was examined under various conditions including sample size, number of time points per curve, and measurement design. Results showed the functional mixed-effects models recovered the underlying mean curve more accurately than the nonlinear mixed-effects models. In general, the functional mixed-effects models recovered the underlying individual curves more accurately than the nonlinear mixed-effects models. Progesterone cycle data from Brumback and Rice (1998) were then analyzed to demonstrate the utility of both models. Both models were shown to perform similarly when analyzing the progesterone data. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2019

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is a common treatment for the neurological autoimmune diseases multiple sclerosis, multifocal motor neuropathy, myasthenia gravis, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. However, there is scant literature regarding the psychological effects of this treatment on quality of life (QOL). Using illness intrusiveness theory and personal control theory, this correlational, cross-sectional study examined the relationship between the IVIG treatment experience and QOL in neurological autoimmune patients. Surveys were employed to collect data from 79 patients at a neurological infusion center in Phoenix, AZ. Quantitative analyses included correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analyses to determine whether (a) IVIG treatment experience predicted QOL measured by 10 Neuro-QOL scales, (b) illness intrusiveness mediated the relationship between IVIG treatment experience and QOL, and (c) personal control mediated the relationship between illness intrusiveness and QOL. IVIG treatment experience predicted QOL in 1 Neuro-QOL subscale; illness intrusiveness mediated 9 of the Neuro-QOL subscales using bias-corrected bootstrapping for statistical significance; and personal control did not mediate the relationship between illness intrusiveness and QOL. These results may affect social change by increasing the understanding of physicians, nurses, and patients regarding the psychosocial impact of IVIG treatment. Results from the study may provide insight for interventions to assist patients in adjusting to this form of treatment.

The study of stress on police task performance is important as this relationship can positively or negatively impact encounters with the public. This study focused on protective factors of positive psychology within the measured construct of dispositional optimism as a possible mediator of stress effects on physical task performance. The cognitive processing models used were the performance efficiency theory and attentional control theory as they apply in perceptual motor skill. Using a mediation model, the research question asked whether dispositional optimism mediated the relationship between stress and a pistol performance accuracy task. This study used a limited data set collected by a law enforcement training center (N = 80). The survey instruments used to measure stress and dispositional optimism were the Perceived Stress Scale and the Life Orientation Test - Revised, respectively. Correlation and multiple regression were used to analyze the significance of the mediation model. Ultimately, the results were unable to detect significance between dispositional optimism (p > .05) and stress (p > .05) on pistol accuracy outcomes. However, a significant relationship was found between dispositional optimism and stress (p < .05). Future research recommendations include an intervention protocol with several levels of pistol shooting difficulty and biological stress measurements. Implications for social change include further understanding of how to better manage stress for increased accuracy in pistol performance tasks along with increased mental processing and increased positive outcomes. Overall, better education and training for the officer will contribute to more positive encounters with the public.

Creating is the highest level of intellectual functioning in the cognitive domain. As standardized testing has increased, U.S. K-12 education has shown a decline in creativity for students. Mindfulness meditation (MM) increases creativity and could serve as a solution to this dilemma. This study's purpose was to enrich findings regarding MM's role in enhanced creativity by conducting an exploration regarding lived experiences of creating for individuals who practice MM. A gap in the literature exploring the topics of MM and creativity together using qualitative methods was identified; therefore, research understanding lived experiences of creating within the experiential context of MM was necessary. The main research question, followed by 3 closely related questions, examined the subjective meaning of the experience of creating for MM practitioners. To provide lived experiences regarding creating, 3 participants colored in a mandala and were interviewed. Descriptive transcendental phenomenology was used to explore the act of creating from the perspectives of these 3 individuals. Participants' described experiences supported Sternberg's theory that creativity developed as a habit and suggested that MM actuated Csikszentmihályi's creative flow. Positive societal implications of bringing MM into U.S. K-12 schools as a conduit for creativity cannot be overrated. MM offers an integrated modality to increased creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, or the 4 Cs. Future studies regarding MM and creativity's relationship are recommended to further enrich current literature and address the existing gap.

Identifying depressive symptoms in community-dwelling elders has been problematic, due to a lack of resources and training for health clinicians. Previous researchers have indicated that older adults who engage in physical activities can prevent, or mitigate depression, but no model has included this variable in conjunction with factors such as lifestyle or sociodemographic characteristics. In this study, a predictive design was used with a regression analysis. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between depressive symptoms and the different factors identified in the literature as significant contributors to its prevalence among older community-dwelling adults. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, Beck's cognitive model of depression, and the learned helplessness model were used as the theoretical foundations to determine whether lifestyle activities, perceived social support, sociodemographic variables, and comorbidities can predict depressive symptoms. The sample consisted of 156 older adults who were 60 years of age and older and living in Northern Louisiana. Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analyses were used to investigate whether (a) daily lifestyle activities, (b) community setting (rural or urban), (c) gender, (d) perceived social support, (e) marital status, and (f) comorbidities can predict depressive symptoms. The 2 primary predictors of depression among older adults were low activity levels and low perceived social support. Positive social implications include improving counselors' and mental health practitioners' knowledge of the ways to lessen the depressive symptoms experienced by the elderly population.