Improvements in the medical field have given many cancer patients and survivors better odds of long-term survival. As more patients become survivors, the demand for psychological treatment becomes greater. The most prevalent concern of survivors is getting help with a psychosocial condition known as fear of recurrence (FOR). Prior to this study, few researchers had explored how having a more aggressive cancer influences the development of FOR. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether cancer stage and type (a measurement of severity) are predictive of FOR development in the high-risk cancer groups lung and bronchus and female breast. The theoretical framework guiding this research was based on Mishel's theory of uncertainty in illness, which states that uncertainties about illness recurrence can cause survivors to experience breakdown in their lives (whether psychological and/or physical). The fear of cancer recurrence inventory (FCRI) survey was administered to 97 lung and bronchus and female breast cancer survivors; the survivors were asked to rate their level of discomfort about the possibility of a cancer recurrence. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The results indicated that cancer type and severity both impacted the development and severity of FOR in lung and bronchus and female breast cancer survivors. Furthermore, regardless of the cancer type, stage of cancer, age of the survivor, or years in remission, survivors reported clinical levels of FOR in all areas of concern. Practitioners can use the current findings to work towards developing better intervention and treatment programs that promote quality survivorship and reduce the risk and rate of FOR in high risk cancer populations.

Quilting is a self-chosen leisure activity for millions of women in the United States. Previous research on quilting suggested that quilting is influenced by the emotional state of the quilter. However, the emotional experiences generated during quilting have not been fully explored. The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to explore quilters' perceptions of what quilting as a leisure activity does to enhance their well-being and increase flourishing. Positive psychology well-being theory was the theoretical foundation for the study. Semistructured interviews with 12 adult women who quilt as a leisure activity were the basis of the narrative inquiry. Data were recorded through in-person and telephone interviews that were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis to develop overarching themes. Findings revealed that quilting contributed to participants' well-being and built flourishing through three primary avenues: creativity, relationships, and positive emotion. Quilting provided an opportunity for creative expression and growth as artists. Quilt-making activity was centered around relationships with other quilters and with the larger community, and quilting was linked with positive emotion as participants experienced great joy in their quilting activities. This study has implications for increasing well-being and building flourishing in women through the adoption of quilting as a leisure activity.

Researchers have found that law enforcement officers often experience stress. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the size of the law enforcement agency (small, medium, or large) had any significant influence on how police officers perceive stress in their profession from a cognitive appraisal perspective with regards to Administrative/Organizational Pressure, Physical/Psychological Threats, and Lack of Support. Members of law enforcement (N = 144) from Utah and New York were surveyed utilizing Spielberger et al.'s Police Stress Survey. Archival data were provided by the National Police Suicide Foundation. Stress index scores were calculated manually for each survey completed, and then 3 separate ANOVAs were conducted to test the hypothesis. The results showed that officers from medium-sized departments perceive greater amounts of stress than those in large or small departments in the area of administrative/organizational pressure, while officers from large police departments perceived greater amounts of stress than their counterparts in small and medium-sized agencies in the areas of physical/psychological threats and lack of support. This study has implications for positive social change: understanding the stressors that police officer's face each day can help forensic psychologists understand the methods necessary to repair the strained relationship between the community and members of law enforcement; understanding the stressors can also open a pathway for researchers to begin the process of developing more a productive dialogue between police officers, their departmental leaders, and the communities they protect, which should begin during the early phases of academy training.

Numerous researchers have addressed the impact of individual religiosity or spirituality on psychological well-being. However, studies addressing the possible relationship between religiosity and sexuality, specifically in the form of deterrence of certain sexual thoughts or behaviors based upon religious dictates, remain sparse. Individual religiosity may be related to individual sexual self-expression. Built on the framework of cognitive-dissonance theory and self-determination theory, this quantitative, correlational study was designed to examine the relationships between religiosity and sexual attitudes and behaviors of both theist and nontheist population samples comprised of approximately 400 subjects throughout the United States. Study participants completed the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory in addition to a demographic questionnaire designed specifically for the research. A 2-step hierarchical binary logistic regression was performed to address the research questions for this study. Significance was found in the regression model for 3 selected variables--age, drive, and fantasy; research questions 1 and 2 were supported with the model findings. The results also offered support for the 2 aforementioned theoretical frameworks selected for this study. The implications for positive social change include a clearer understanding of the possible relationship between religiosity and sexuality and any differences in sexual behaviors between theists and nontheists. These implications are important in that the findings may result in healthier sex lives for individuals, increased communication among couples, enhanced acceptance of different sexual orientations, and decreased cognitive dissonance among those individuals contemplating or struggling with sexual behaviors that negate the teachings of their religious tenets.

College student persistence has been the focus of much research for over 40 years, but there has been little progress in increasing the rate of student persistence. Many scholars have focused on specific student populations in particular institutional types. While the fastest growing institutional type has been the 2-year for-profit college serving primarily underserved communities, the experience of persistence among students of this population has not been studied. Accordingly, this study was conducted to explore, through a social cognitive lens, the persistence experiences of students from minority urban communities attending 2-year for-profit colleges. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the data from interviews with 4 students from various schools around the country. Four common themes were found: social support, independence, growth, and conflict. All the students cited family as relevant but also as a source of conflict. All the students also expressed the importance of faculty for academic success, engagement, and fun. Participants did not mention any engagement or concern around financial policies, and social integration outside the classroom was valued more than the in-classroom experience. The results of this study will be shared to enhance understanding of persistence in 2-year schools. Insights from this study can help administrators, advisors, and instructors design and implement programs to be more closely aligned with the needs of this important student population.

Critical incidents (CI) have increased over the last several decades, with police officers experiencing more trauma and a rise in psychological problems. Stress inoculation training (SIT) could possibly lower symptoms of posttraumatic stress experienced by the police officers who have responded to CIs. To date, little research exists specific to using SIT to lower symptomatic effects of CIs in police officers. The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto study was to examine and compare symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety for police officers who have or have not received SIT prior to a CI. The theoretical foundation was Selye's general adaptation system, a 3-stage response to a stressor: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion. Survey data from a convenience sample of 85 police officers were collected using a demographic survey and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist--Civilian version. A Cronbach's Alpha test and a multivariate analysis of variance were used to determine whether SIT has affected anxiety and depression. According to study findings, police officers who received SIT showed no statistical significance for anxiety and depression compared to police officers who did not receive SIT. This study promotes positive social change by contributing knowledge and awareness to the law enforcement field who may find these results important to consider when planning training courses for their personnel.

Female offenders are distinctly different from male offenders, and present with their own gender-specific needs and issues both in and out of the correctional setting. Most approaches to treatment and programming for female offenders are currently based on research involving males and approaches designed for males. Inquiry regarding the gender-specific needs of female inmates as they pertain to treatment and reentry programs is necessary so professionals can better understand how to serve this population. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 8 women who were formerly incarcerated in the United States, this phenomenological study was used to examine the perceptions of successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated women before, during, and after incarceration that influenced their successful reentry into the community. Coping mechanisms or traits that were important to their successful reentry to the community were also explored. Feminist theory was used to illustrate the differences between male and female offenders, and to highlight the potential benefits of designing treatments and programming that are specifically aimed at the needs of female offenders. Data were analyzed via descriptive and pattern coding, which then allowed for identification of themes, and then cross-interview analysis. Six themes emerged that related to factors that influenced their successful reentry into the community, and 5 themes emerged related to coping mechanisms or personal traits that were important to their successful reentry. Recommendations include implementation of programs and services for incarcerated and newly released women that are gender-specific. These findings could contribute to social change by improving treatment outcomes, reducing recidivism, and improving functioning in the community for female offenders.

There has been a significant amount of research on the impact of stress and job satisfaction amongst employees in a multitude of professional settings, including the criminal justice and higher education field. Yet, information on criminal justice professionals who work in more untraditional types of higher education institutions, such as career colleges, was lacking. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine whether there is a significant relationship between stress, job satisfaction, and being employed as a criminal justice department head within a career college institution and compare whether heads of other departments within career college institutions differ in terms of these relationships. Selye's stress model and Spector's model of job satisfaction were used as the theoretical framework. Nonexperimental quantitative survey data were collected from 77 department heads and instructors who worked in career college institutions. Participants were selected using a nonprobability convenience sampling procedure. The data were evaluated using discriminant analysis. The overall results showed no significant differences in the relationship of stress and job satisfaction between criminal justice department heads and instructors and their counterparts in other academic departments. Further in-depth research regarding the individual work-related experiences of these professionals could be beneficial in gaining a holistic understanding of criminal justice professionals who transition to higher education. With more knowledge, employers within this sector of higher education may be able to better evaluate institutional practices and develop more effective intervention and training programs aimed at improving retention and job satisfaction, as well as, igniting a change in the negative image that is often times associated with career college institutions.

Individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities occasionally exhibit challenging behaviors through forms of aggression. Interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, and applied behavioral analysis, have all been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of aggression. This quantitative study used a secondary analysis of clinical records from an agency that provides day treatment services for adults with intellectual disabilities. To assess the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program in reducing aggression in this population, 18 individuals with various levels of intellectual disabilities participated in an 8-week MBSR while an additional 18 participants served as the wait list control group and received the same intervention soon after the study was completed. The study examined whether a mindfulness-based intervention can reduce aggression based on the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS) and also increase participants' awareness of meditation based on the Child Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). A 2x2 ANOVA was used to determine differences between measures, pretest and posttest. Results indicated no differences in aggression before and after the administration of the mindfulness-based intervention for either the experimental or control group. However, CAMM scores indicated that participants came to understand the concept of mindfulness, even though this did not yield measurable changes in their behavioral outcomes. This study will inform clinicians about mindfulness in programs for adults with disabilities and research indicates that MBSR is a program which is beneficial for adults with developmental disabilities and may serve as an additional coping mechanism in dealing with aggression.

This study investigated whether the percentage of time that weekly employees spend in virtual workspaces is related to job satisfaction (JS), organizational commitment (OC), perceived supervisor support (PSS) and perceived coworker support (PCS). One hundred thirty-five virtual workers employed by 1 of 5 large, privately owned companies reported the percentage of their work time spent performing virtual work and completed 4 instruments to measure JS, OC, PSS, and PCS. Data were analyzed using multivariate linear regression, multivariate multiple regression, and multivariate analysis of variance. Results showed that virtual workers who spent 75% or more of their time engaged in virtual work had higher JS, OC, and PSS than virtual workers who spent 25% or less of their work time working virtually. No relationship was found between the percentage of time spent working virtually and PCS. Results were also examined to determine whether gender or age moderated any of the relationships found between the percentage of time working virtually and organizational outcomes. Neither gender nor age moderated the relationships observed. The study results showed that as employee time performing virtual work increases, employee and corporate benefits also increase in large, privately owned companies. The results of the study have several potential implications for positive social change for organizations, employees, and society as a whole by providing information to organizations considering increasing the percentage of time employees spend engaging in virtual work, helping society determine how performing virtual work affects an employee's well-being, potentially providing insight to employees regarding the pros and cons of virtual work.