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Latinx/é individuals are disproportionately affected by lack of access to healthcare which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These barriers have resulted in worse health outcomes, especially for Latinx/é immigrants. The present study used a mixed-methods design to determine what barriers exist for the Latinx/é community when accessing healthcare in a post-COVID-19 era, where telehealth services have changed the way individuals receive healthcare. A convergent mixed-methods design that includes qualitative interviews and published surveys that assess healthcare access with Latinx/é individuals with experience in the healthcare system was employed to assess this question. Results of this study showed that there are still several barriers that exist for the Latinx/é immigrant population when accessing healthcare. Barriers included: insurance, cost, accessing specialist care, wait times/availability, lack of information/education and technology. However, results also highlighted facilitators to accessing healthcare as well, some of which, depending on context, overlapped as a barrier as well. Facilitators included: Community, insurance, information/education and technology. Implications from this study are discussed for healthcare providers to improve healthcare practice, to better inform immigration policy and to ultimately reduce the barriers that have hindered Latinx/é immigrant community’s access to healthcare.

This three-part mixed methods study uses a parallel-databases convergent design to explore self-efficacy as an outcome of an integrated reading and anxiety intervention. Study 1 presents a qualitative analysis of teacher perspectives on effective components of the intervention, with particular attention to teacher and student self-efficacy. Study 2 is a psychometric evaluation of a brief instrument measuring the sources of reading self-efficacy in children. Study 3 employs the revised reading self-efficacy scale to collect data before and after students complete one year of the integrated intervention. Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed together for a more complete understanding of intervention effects on reading self-efficacy. Results contribute to discussion on the self-efficacy of struggling readers. / 2026-08-27T00:00:00Z

This research project endeavored to assess the effectiveness of a new model of group intervention in initiating a peer self-help support group among high risk community college students. It additionally investigated the correlation between participation in the support group and academic performance (as demonstrated both by course completion rate and quality point average), retention, (as indicated by continuation at the college), self concept (as measured on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale), and focus of support seeking behavior (school or non-school focused). High risk students were identified on the basis of non-satisfactory academic performance during the Spring Semester 1980. Participants in the research were actively recruited during the following summer months. Through a convoluted process dependent upon volunteers a final N of 28 was achieved. Difficulties in scheduling group members brought about a loss in randomnization and subsequent expansion of the project to be both quantitative and qualitative (inclusive of a group case study chapter). The project sought to utilize the growing body of information arising from self-help groups, peer counseling models and group psychotherapy to bring about personal change which would enable members to focus more clearly upon their academic goals and the academic milieu. An extensive review of the literature became the foundation of the Students Helping Students Succeed model. The model intervention initially was structured and leader focused and later was unstructured and group focused. A basic format was instituted involving five major components, (1) success recognition, (2) support reporting, (3) didactic instruction, (4) sharing and solving individual concerns, and (5) goal setting. The statistical and case study data generated found no general correlation between participation and improved academic performance, or increased retention. However, among students with adequate reading skills significant improvement did occur. Findings concerning self concept levels found significant improvement on six of the eight subscales studied. Members' self concepts scores showed a marked improvement on scales measuring personal identity, self-satisfaction, and personal behavior as well as perception of moral-ethical self, personal self and family self. Additionally, the global self concept score also increased notably. Though not backed by statistical data, the amount of support activity focused on the college community increased through the course of the group intervention and is observed in Chapter V. Additionally, the direction of support activity changed significantly. Members experienced a significant increase in the amount of support they received from others as the group proceeded. The project was successful in the initiation of a peer self-help support group which positively impacted self concept and support activity of experimental group members. It further succeeded in improving the academic performance of members with adequate basic skills. Additional research in the field of self-help support systems with high risk students is strongly encouraged.

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Much work is being done to optimize the developmental environments responsible for nurturing their physical, technical, tactical, and psychological growth. However, recent empirical evidence suggests that the academies housing youth fall short of their holistic development aspirations, and are failing to prepare many youth for the challenges of pursuing a career in professional football. For example, research has shown that some youth are experiencing psychological distress, inferior academic outcomes, academic disengagement, foreclosed identities, and impaired social and emotional development (Blakelock, Chen, & Prescott, 2016; Brown & Potrac, 2009; Gouttebar, Aoki, & Kerkhoffs, 2016; Platts, 2012). This dissertation explores the goals of current developmental programming within elite youth football development environments, the experience of the elite youth footballers enrolled in these environments, and subsequently, offers an assessment tool that permits professional football academies to evaluate the extent to which they integrate programming that promotes holistic, positive youth development. It is hoped that engagement in this self-assessment will provide a foundation for professional football academies to engage in dialogue as to programming features that can be modified and/or introduced to promote optimal performance, psychological and emotional well-being, and future-readiness concurrently. Put more simply, this research is interested in optimizing the developmental environments of elite youth footballers in order to foster key attributes that enable them to navigate the inevitable performance, life, and career challenges that await them both within and beyond their experience in academy and/or professional football. This dissertation consists of 3 distinct, but interrelated components. Initial attention will be focused on the mission statements of the organizations (i.e., Premier League, English Football League, League Football Education) and individual clubs (i.e., academies) responsible for the development of elite youth footballers in England. Qualitative analysis of these statements will provide insight into the aspirations of these organizations (i.e., their developmental goals). Focus will then shift to elucidating the experiences of former professional academy youth, and their perceptions of academy programming. At this stage, exploring and understanding the lived experiences of individuals who have progressed through the system is of paramount importance. Thus, interviews with former elite youth footballers were conducted and analyzed. Within these interviews, participants will also be invited to comment on how developmental programming can be optimized. That is, participants were asked to offer recommendations on how developmental environments can better meet the holistic needs of this population. The next stage involved the author leveraging the conclusions and recommendations drawn from this analysis with the current evidence base on positive youth development practices to construct a self-assessment tool for professional football academies. This tool will function to evaluate the extent to which academy programming promotes holistic/positive youth development (i.e., psychological, educational, and vocational well-being within and beyond their time in the academy system). Finally, individuals with experience within professional academies evaluated the utility of the proposed self-assessment tool.

<p> Problem: The literature suggests that religious orientation and ethnic identity inform the religious coping process, which is better understood in the context of a particular stressor. However, research on this topic is limited, particularly among ethnic minorities. </p><p> Method: A survey was used to collect data on religious orientation, ethnic identity, and religious coping from a sample of 319 adults who had lost a significant other within 36 months of the study. A total of 11 variables were measured using The Means-Ends Spirituality Questionnaire, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised, and the Brief RCOPE. </p><p> Results: A canonical variate labeled "religious engagement" was a predictor for religious coping. Further analyses using multiple regression found that variables associated with traditional religious expressions (Devotional Spiritual Means), spiritual ends with a transcendental focus (Approach-unseen-autonomous Ends, Avoidance-unseen-external Ends), and Ethnic Identity were relevant predictors of Positive Religious Coping while Transcendental Means was a relevant predictor of Negative Religious Coping. </p><p> A stepwise discriminant analysis found that "ethnic identity and conservative religious orientation" discriminated between ethnic groups. Cases with higher levels of ethnic identity and conservative religious orientation were more likely to be classified as Black/African American or Hispanic/Latino/a, while those with lower levels were more likely to be classified as White. </p><p> Conclusions: When coping with bereavement, individuals who engage in traditional expressions of spiritual worship and strive to achieve ordinary and transcendental spiritual goals are more likely to rely on a secure relationship with the sacred, a belief that life has meaning, and a sense of connectedness with their religious community. Also, individuals who place greater value and emotional significance in their sense of belonging to their ethnic group are more likely to engage in positive religious coping. Thus, counseling psychologists should strengthen their multicultural and spiritual competencies in order to provide ethical and effective services to a population that is increasingly diverse.</p>

The purpose of this research was to investigate and report the attitudes of Indiana guidance directors and counselor educators toward the utilization of paraprofessionals as a viable method of improving pupil personnel services in secondary schools. The specific intention of collecting this data was to provide educators with useful information to help formulate ideas relative to paraprofessional training programs.After the review of related literature on paraprofessionals was accomplished, the "University of the Pacific Paraprofessional Study Questionnaire" was selected as the data gathering instrument. The questionnaire contained forty items which included six demographic items, thirteen Likert-type items and twenty-one opinion survey items. The questionnaire was mailed to persons identified as guidance directors and counselor educators in the State of Indiana. Of all questionnaires mailed, eighty per cent were returned of which 390 were from guidance directors and 65 were from counselor educators.The data were reported in a descriptive manner and responses were recorded by number and percentage for each item. Data from the Likert-type items were compared for the guidance directors and counselor educators by discriminant analysis. Responses to each questionnaire item were tabulated to form composite scores for guidance directors, counselor educators, and a total score for all respondents combined.The conclusions drawn from this study included: 1. Guidance directors and counselor educators believe that some parts of the secondary school counselor's work can be performed by paraprofessionals and that this will not diminish the counselor's standing in the profession since he would then be free to do the really central tasks for which he is trained and certified.2. Guidance directors and counselor educators believe that paraprofessionals can work with peer and ethnic groups, score paper-and-pencil tests and maintain cumulative records.3. Guidance directors and counselor educators believe that paraprofessionals should not administer individual intelligence tests, order assessment instruments for their own use in counseling, administer projective tests and counsel on a one-to-one basis.4. Guidance directors and counselor educators believe that the personal interview is most important in terms of paraprofessional selection. They also favor a 10 to 12 month training program which would include instruction in counseling theories, group techniques in empathic relations and school personnel procedures.5. Guidance directors and counselor educators expressed a preference of "counselor aide" as the title for the non-certified, non-secretarial person in pupil personnel services.6. Likert-type items from the questionnaire which best discriminate between guidance directors and counselor educators were those related to (a) the amount of time devoted to activities which do not require professional level training, (b) the attitude of counselors toward certain tasks as functions of their profession, (c) the acceptance by school administrators of professional standing of counselors and how this relates to the need for paraprofessionals, and (d) the assignment of guidance functions to classroom teachers rather than to paraprofessionals.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a time-extended counseling group with a traditional counseling group on the three variables: self-actualization, intimacy, and members' reactions to the group experience.