The relationship between children's emotion decoding ability and their social acceptance was examined, with a major focus on potential nonlinear components. Based on the display rules literature, the prediction was tested that social acceptance and emotion decoding skills can be best described as an inverted U-shaped function. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade (113 girls and 123 boys) completed measures of postural and facial decoding accuracy (FACES and TALK) and their social acceptance was assessed using child and teacher reports (SPPC or PSPC). The results showed only a statistically significant quadratic relationship for girls and a statistically significant linear relationship for boys in the link between postural decoding and teacher-rated social acceptance.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy that includes exposure, or intentionally and systematically confronting feared situations, is the gold standard psychological treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, less than half of those who begin this treatment are considered to have recovered from their disorder at the end of treatment, and this number is even smaller in the months following the end of treatment. Leading theories regarding how treatment changes occur focus on reducing fear, and they do not include “voluntary” (i.e., operant) behaviors, such as avoidance, that are key features of the disorder. Acceptance-based approaches to exposure do not focus on fear reduction, but directly focus on changing “voluntary” behaviors. Combining these two perspectives could lead to a better understanding of how exposure works and, ultimately, lead to more effective and long-lasting psychological treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The current study investigated whether accepting distress or attempting to reduce distress during exposure for intrusive thoughts led to different outcomes and whether they led to these outcomes in different ways. Participants with intrusive thoughts were randomized to three groups, Acceptance (n = 23), Regulation (n = 20), and Control (n = 21), and completed two sessions 1week apart. Participants in the Acceptance and Regulation groups completed a 30-minute exposure at session 1 and 6 days of 10-minute exposures at home; Control participants watched videos of the same lengths. Self-report questionnaires, measures of behavior, self-ratings, and physiological data were collected at both sessions. Results showed that Acceptance and Regulation groups decreased on measures of obsessive-compulsive symptom severity, rituals performed, self-rated distress, and skin conductance levels. Acceptance showed lower skin conductance and a statistical trend toward greater self-rated willingness to experience distress than Regulation, as well as greater psychological flexibility than Control. There were no between group differences in the number of exposure tasks completed during a behavioral test, psychological inflexibility, valued living, or heart rate. This study suggests that psychological flexibility and willingness to experience distress may paradoxically lead to decreased physiological arousal, findings which may inform future research and treatment approaches.

In this article, I draw on secondary interview data with LatinX immigrants in Cache Valley, Utah, an emerging new destination site in the Inter-Mountain West. While immigrants are drawn to new destinations by employment opportunities, quality of life, or low cost of living, they face many challenges in integrating socially into fairly homogenous communities, which can be particularly challenging for immigrant women. This thesis analyzes the ways in which gender affects social integration in the specific cultural and demographic context of Cache Valley. Using interviews with 16 men and women, I examine gender differences in perceptions of the community, experiences of discrimination, and plans to continue to reside within the community. I find high levels of integration among both men and women. Although discrimination and racism are common experiences, many of the respondents were quick to downplay these experiences and focused instead on their overall positive assessment of the community. Women were more attuned to the experience of racism and less willing to downplay it. They also were less likely to have a long-term plan to remain in the community, but this appeared to be more related to their consideration of other family members’ long-term plans, rather than due to their experiences of discrimination. Women’s integration in Cache Valley seems less problematic than in other new destinations, which may be related to demographic, geographic, and cultural factors.

The Republic of Moldova is losing many of its citizens to more lucrative economic opportunities abroad.  Remittances from emigrants, in many various forms, have become vital agents in the Moldovan economy.  This thesis investigated whether remittance activity among immigrants from Moldova in the United States and Canada might be used as a model for an effective strategy to spread public health information amongst Moldovans.  Specifically, two studies examined whether remittance behavior among Moldovans living in The United States and Canada predicted their perceptions that a "knowledge remittance" strategy for public health information would be effective and their interest in participating in a knowledge remittance effort.  Grounded in the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2), two studies evaluated the remittance relationship. Study 1, an exploratory online survey (n = 15), indicated that Moldovan immigrants living in the United States and Canada that have a generally positive attitude towards capital and knowledge remittances will tend to perceive the transmission of knowledge remittances as useful. There was tentative support for the correlation of perceived usefulness with the intention to remit knowledge.  Study 2 (n = 5) consisted of qualitative interviews and found that Moldovan immigrants living in the United States and Canada have access to the Internet and frequently use the technology to contact family in Moldova at home. Interviewees had a generally positive view of both capital and knowledge remittances, though they were in disagreement on the major health risks facing Moldova. The findings of these studies suggest that a remittance propagated health campaign is a possible resolution to poor health knowledge in Moldova. / Master of Arts

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Many advanced cancer patients struggle with distress including depressive symptoms, anxiety, anger about cancer, and anger toward God. Cancer patients may perceive their illness as an injustice (i.e., appraise their illness as unfair, severe, and irreparable or blame others for their illness), and this may be a risk factor for distress. To date, illness-related perceptions of injustice have not been examined in cancer patients. Based on prior research and theory (i.e., Just World Theory, Park’s Meaning Making Model, and Loneliness Theory), there are multiple ways to conceptualize the relationship between perceived injustice related to the cancer experience and distress. The purpose of this project was to compare two theory-based conceptualizations of the relationships between perceived injustice and distress symptoms in advanced lung and prostate cancer patients. Aims were to (1) examine the direct effects of perceived injustice on distress symptoms; (2) examine the indirect effects of perceived injustice on distress symptoms through meaning making and acceptance of cancer (my conceptual model), examine the indirect effects of perceived injustice on psychological outcomes (i.e., distress symptoms and acceptance of cancer) through meaning making (Park’s Meaning Making Model), and compare the two models; (3) examine loneliness as a potential moderator of the mediations based on my conceptual model; and (4) explore whether the associations based on my conceptual model differed between advanced lung and prostate cancer patients. Cross-sectional data from advanced lung (n = 102) and prostate (n = 99) cancer patients were examined. Seven models were tested using path analyses. Results partially supported my conceptual model; perceived injustice was directly and indirectly associated with distress symptoms through acceptance of cancer but not through meaning making. Findings did not support Park’s Meaning Making Model, as meaning making did not help account for the associations between perceived injustice and psychological outcomes. Path analyses also indicated that loneliness was not a significant moderator of the mediations based on my conceptual model. Furthermore, associations based on my conceptual model did not differ between advanced lung and prostate cancer patients. Given mixed support for my conceptual model, supplemental path analyses were conducted that included loneliness as an exploratory mediator of associations between perceived injustice and distress symptoms. Findings suggested that perceived injustice was indirectly associated with distress symptoms through loneliness and acceptance of cancer. Findings support testing acceptance-based interventions to address distress related to perceived injustice in advanced cancer patients.

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