Despite advances gained by LGBTQIA+ people the issue of discrimination against the queer population continues. Recent events surrounding comments made by alt-right leaders have continued the conversation regarding homophobia and transphobia. The followed study built on previous understandings of moral disengagement theory and communication. 15 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with queer students were conducted in order to explore the role of self-cognitive mechanisms and their potential justifications for anti-queer communication. Findings suggested that not only were mechanisms of moral disengagement present in incidents surrounding anti-queer communication, but the carried with them a range of personal and societal implications. This study offered new understandings in moral disengagement theory, its application to interpersonal communication and its possible explanation for discriminatory behavior.

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the associations among social support, gender, relationship quality, and self-care behaviors in patients with heart failure (HF). Specific aims were to: 1) compare the psychometric properties of the 12-item and the 9-item European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale (EHFScBS) when used to measure self-care behaviors in patients with HF in the United States; 2) determine whether gender moderated the association between perceived social support and daily sodium intake in patients with HF; and 3) determine whether a patient’s gender and relationship with the primary family caregiver (spousal or non-spousal) moderated the association between relationship quality and HF self-care. For the first specific aim, reliability and validity of the 12-item and the 9-item EHFScBS were compared by measures of internal consistency of reliability, item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and hypothesis testing. The 12-item and the 9-item EHFScBS were valid and reliable when used to measure self-care behaviors in the United States. The 9-item EHFScBS was more homogenous with dimensions closer to the originally proposed dimensions when compared to the 12-item EHFScBS. The second specific aim was addressed by secondary analysis of data from The RICH Heart Program HF Registry. A hierarchical multiple regression model was used to determine whether gender moderated the association between social support and daily sodium intake. In our study, gender did not moderate the association between social support and daily sodium intake. The third specific aim was addressed using hierarchical multiple regression analyses to determine whether gender or relationship type moderated the association between relationship quality and HF self-care. Baseline data from an ongoing longitudinal, randomized controlled trial of a patient-caregiver dyadic intervention program were used in the analysis. Relationship quality was measured using the patient version of the Dyadic Relationship Scale, which consists of two subscales: positive dyadic interaction and negative dyadic strain. Heart failure self-care was measured using the 9-item EHFScBS. Positive dyadic interaction was associated with better HF self-care in female patients or patients with a non-spousal relationship with their family caregiver. This dissertation has fulfilled important gaps in the evidence base for the self-care of patients with HF. The findings from this dissertation provided evidence for the validity and reliability of the 9-item EHFScBS when used to measure HF self-care behaviors. It also provided recommendations for future research to measure directed social support to adopt a specific behavior, such as eating low sodium diet, instead of measuring the social support in general. It also emphasized the importance of examining the quality of the relationship between patients and their family caregivers. The findings also pointed to the need for interventions targeting the relationship quality to be tailored according to the patients’ gender or their relationship type with their family caregiver (spousal or non-spousal). A better understanding of how social factors can impact self-care behaviors in patients with HF is essential, as it gives researchers and healthcare providers the prospect of developing effective interventions to improve HF self-care.

This study bridges the gap in the literature about the association between smartphone use and emotional intelligence on romantic relationship satisfaction. A sample of 161 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 26 at the University of Kentucky were recruited to complete an online survey about their smartphone usage, emotional intelligence, and romantic relationship satisfaction. Associations between smartphone usage and emotional intelligence, smartphone usage and romantic relationship satisfaction, and emotional intelligence and romantic relationship satisfaction were found. Specifically, productive smartphone usage was found to be positively associated with romantic relationship satisfaction, while problem smartphone usage was found to be negatively associated with romantic relationship satisfaction. Emotional intelligence was found to be positively associated with both productive smartphone usage and romantic relationship satisfaction. These findings suggest that both smartphone usage and emotional intelligence can impact romantic relationship satisfaction. This study provides important implications for therapists working with couples to help improve their romantic relationship satisfaction.

This dissertation builds on existing scholarship in political science and political sociology to explore the influence of interest groups in legislative action networks. The primary theoretical insight is that as the number of interest group affiliations between two members of Congress increases, so does the frequency with which they forge other sorts of social ties necessary to advance the interests of their interest group constituencies. In particular, the analysis looks at interest group donation strategies, legislative co-sponsorships, and roll-call votes during the 111th Congress (2009-2010). The analysis uses social network analysis methods to create network models of 19 different policy domains, as well as an aggregate model, for both the House and Senate. Legislator ideology, state, committee assignments, and experience have a generally significant impact on the number of interest group affiliations shared by each pair of legislators, whereas gender, race/ethnicity, office location and occupational history do not. The results show that interest groups do have consistent impact over co-sponsorships in the House, but somewhat more mixed influence in the Senate. In some instances, groups in the policy domain encourage policy change, and in other instances, status quo protection. The theory did not anticipate the latter effect, though it does make sense in context of other research findings. For roll-call votes, interest groups have a significant influence over some House policy domains but not many Senate policy domains. The increased polarization of the Senate, necessity of minority party discipline to maximize their leverage through use of the filibuster, and staggered nature of Senate elections makes interest group influence tougher to muster in the upper chamber of Congress.

Problem alcohol use has far-reaching economic, intra-, and interpersonal consequences. One particularly hazardous form of drinking pertains to the consumption of alcohol as a means of regulating stress, or drinking to cope. As such, it is critical to identify pathways through which stress-related alcohol use occurs, as well as protective factors which may mitigate the aforementioned consequences. To achieve this, I conducted three studies examining these topics at multiple levels of analysis among two at risk populations for engaging in problematic drinking: College students and military service members. Study 1 is a published manuscript examining the association between personality, a known vulnerability factor, and daily alcohol use among college students. This study tested whether these associations were mediated by the utilization of daily coping behaviors. Study 2 is an exploration of the association between of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and alcohol involvement among employed service members. I conducted conditional process analysis to determine whether the indirect association of PTSS on alcohol involvement through coping motivations was conditional on one's perceived level of social support. Finally, Study 3 examined how daily experiences of occupational stressors influence alcohol consumption using a subsample of married and cohabiting participants from Study 2. I tested the moderating roles of coping motives and more adaptive, support-based coping strategies on work stress-daily drinking associations. Together, these studies help elucidate why individuals typically drink when stressed, who may be more apt to do so, and under what conditions these effects hold true.

The link between employment and well-being is well-documented. However, limited research is available examining how employment affects the well-being of military spouses. Using data from the 2003 Air Force Community Assessment Survey, this study examines the impact of employment characteristics on depression levels, satisfaction with emotional well-being, and life satisfaction for military spouses. Results indicate that being unemployed and looking for employment outside of the home is detrimental to well-being for this group. Other personal, familial, and military factors are also discussed in relationship to employment and well-being of military spouses. Practical implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

The majority of mental illness on college campuses remains untreated, and mental illness stigma is the most cited explanation for not seeking mental health treatment. Working-class college students are not only at greater risk of mental illness, but also are less likely to seek mental health treatment and hold more stigmatized views toward people with mental illness compared to affluent college students. Research on college culture suggests that elite college contexts may be associated with greater stigmatization of mental illness. This study bridges the social status and college culture literatures by asking—does social status and college context together predict students’ mental health attitudes? By surveying 757 undergraduates at an Ivy League university and a Non-Ivy League university, I found that 1) elite college students had greater mental illness stigma than non-elite students, 2) social status was positively related to personal stigma and negatively related to perceived stigma, and 3) low social status students at the Ivy League university had greater personal mental illness stigma compared to their counterparts at the Non-Ivy League university. Low social status students’ perceptions of themselves as social status minorities may be responsible for their greater stigmatization of mental illness in the elite college context. These findings suggest that increasing socioeconomic diversity on college campuses may improve lower social status students’ mental health attitudes.

Historically, the Jewish faith has used alcohol in rituals and religious holidays in which adolescents are permitted to fully participate and this exposure to alcohol may influence attitudes and beliefs about underage drinking among Jewish adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between the Jewish religion and attitudes toward alcohol among Jewish adolescents. The theoretical frameworks, on which this study was based, were the social bond theory and the social development theory. Each of these theories indicates that community is important to the individual. Using a cross sectional study design, 160 adolescents participated in a survey that was administered by paper during a free period or lunchtime. ANOVA and linear regression were used to determine if there was a relationship between religion, gender, age, and attitudes toward alcohol. According to study findings, there was no significant relationship between religious affiliation or religious service attendance and attitudes towards the use of alcohol. However, there was a significant relationship between gender and attitudes against drinking and between age and the positive attitudes for drinking. These findings may spur positive social change at the community level. Yeshivas may review with Jewish adolescents the distinction between using alcohol for rituals/ceremonies and using alcohol socially, and the consequences of underage drinking. Future studies should include more participants in the different sects and denominations to get a more complete picture of the Jewish community.

The Story and Song Centered Pedagogy (SSCP) is a workshop that uses songs, stories and reflective questioning to increase empathy. This preliminary study tested the prediction that being exposed to the SSCP would increase empathy using, the Emotional Concern (EC) and Perspective Taking (PT) subscales of the renowned Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) (Davis, 1990). Subjects self-reported their answers to the IRI before and after undergoing the SSCP intervention. Comparing their pre and post intervention results, no statistically significant changes were noticed for the EC and PT scales (p-value = 0.7093 for EC; p-value = 0.6328 for PT). These results stand in direct tension with the anecdotal evidence gathered from 10 years of action research that shows that the SSCP impacts audiences' ability to empathize. This opens the door for additional research with more rigorous methodology and a larger sample size which will allow for more interpretative analysis. These results also probe the concern about whether the IRI is the most suitable tool to quantitatively measure the empathetic responses caused by the SSCP and evidenced by action research.

This creative personal essay examines the long-term effects of surviving a friend's adolescent suicide. The piece begins with the story of the narrator's suicide loss, and subsequently follows her on a quest to understand her grief. She explores cultural perceptions of suicide in America, such as the dialogue around suicide, suicide prevention objectives, the suicide survivor experience, suicide tourism, and media responses to suicide--all reflecting her relationship to the subject. In the end, the narrator returns to the place where her quest began, carrying the wisdom she has gleaned from her inquiries.