Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Military veteran entrepreneurs, also known as vetrepreneurs, form a unique entrepreneurial community based in part on their military-related skills and life experiences, the financial endowments derived from their service, and external influences like professional mentors and government-provided training programs. However, a research gap exists in the examination of the degree to which these factors meaningfully influence successful outcomes for military veterans who become small business entrepreneurs. Therefore, the research question for this project was: what experiences, endowments, and external influences impact successful entrepreneurial outcomes for small business vetrepreneurs? This exploratory research consisted of a mixed-methods approach involving a quantitative pilot study that included a survey of 70 veteran small business entrepreneurs (Study 1), and a qualitative case method study that included detailed interviews with 6 additional veteran entrepreneurs (Study 2). Among the findings in Study 1 were that military service is an advantage to vetrepreneurs, but traits such as education, military rank, job held in the military, and financial endowments were not. As discovered in Study 2, however, things like networking, passion for one’s business, and understanding administrative aspects of business are important contributors to successful outcomes. The implications for this research include potential updates to military pre-separation training programs, as well as providing useful data for both researchers and current or future vetrepreneurs. Keywords: Veteran Entrepreneurship, Vetrepreneur, Military Entrepreneurship / Business Administration/Entrepreneurship

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental illness resulting from exposure to a traumatic event. Symptoms of PTSD vary, but those affected commonly experience nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance, and trouble sleeping; they may also avoid people or situations that trigger traumatic memories. It is estimated that PTSD affects about 10-30% of all United States veterans. Additionally, traditional treatment methods have an average dropout rate of 25% among military personnel. Inadequate PTSD symptom management may lead to depression, anxiety, suicidality, isolation, unstable relationships, and substance misuse. The purpose of this review is to examine the current research concerning the use of service dogs as a treatment option for the management of PTSD and its associated symptoms among veterans with PTSD. A database search was done using CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, and MEDLINE. Limited research has been done on the effects service dogs have on American veterans' management of PTSD. A total of eight studies met all inclusion criteria and were analyzed as part of this literature review. The results of this review of the current literature suggest that psychiatric service dogs have a positive influence on the management of PTSD among veterans. The studies analyzed suggest that the acquisition of a service dog contributes to lower PTSD scores and sequelae among veterans.

Veterans’ preference policies in government employment, at all levels, have existed for the intention of providing advantages for veterans who consider employment in public service after military service. While the purpose of these policies is well intended for veterans who have served, there exists the potential that this practice can be perceived as an endorsement to hire from a pool of candidates that consists of mostly white males. From a representation standpoint, for women and minority groups, this creates the potential to undo much of the progress that has been made in terms of better representation within the public workforce. However, overall, veterans have experienced a wage premium in the public sector compared to the private, which creates the challenge that veteran employment can have a negative effect on one area of employment equity while maintaining a positive effect in another. Furthermore, external factors, both market-based and employment-based, may influence these effects as well. This research examines how veteran employment has impacted public-private representation among veteran women and minority groups, overall veteran public-private wage gaps, and the explanatory factors that affect veteran hiring and pay variances. Using public use data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files this research looks to fill in the gap in the literature related to public-private veteran employment representation and wage variances. The findings of this research first indicate that even though veterans are overrepresented in government service, veteran women and minorities have an even higher likelihood of representation in government service compared to the private sector. The explanatory factors that influence this finding are GSP, per capita income, and the unemployment rate, while union membership illustrates mixed results. Second, this research indicates that veterans are paid a wage premium working in the public sector compared to the private sector. The explanatory factors that influence this finding are per capita income, the unemployment rate, and union membership, while GSP does not. The overall contribution of this research builds upon the literature related both the composition and compensation of veterans and the external factors that influence public-private employment equity.

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Biophilia: the close relationship between architecture and nature. In my thesis, I look to embrace that relationship by designing housing for homeless veterans. For veterans, this connection helps the space become a place of healing and reconnection to nature, which is proven to have a positive impact in our health and wellness. The building becomes a container of nature, where the presence of green features and natural elements are present from the moment you come into the building, the choice of materials, the different activities and position of the spaces to welcome the most amount of natural elements into the building. This creates an indoor/outdoor environment where the resident feels secure by the walls but also welcome by nature. The building captures nature through different activities and moments, where both nature and architecture work together to create a space of healing and peace, a place of freedom, but at the same time a place of security and stability. An oasis in the city, which helps homeless veterans start over and create a space they can call home. The building is equipped to offer different activities and purposes not only for the residents, but also for the employees and visitors. The building becomes a welcoming space for the neighbors but also for nature. The building welcomes different species and promotes the creation of different habitats that can serve the growth of the ecosystem. / Master of Architecture / How can Architecture and Nature work together to create healing spaces? The purpose of this thesis was to study the relationship between nature and architecture. Today, rapid growth in cities and urbanization has cause these two to be seen as separate or different, creating spaces that do not promote human well-being and healthy spaces. When in fact, when both nature and architecture work together, it creates the best and healthiest spaces for human health, performance and well-being. In this project, I focused on creating healing spaces for homeless veterans; a group that is increasing in number in large cities such as Washington D.C. Veterans are falling into homelessness due to Post-traumatic stress disorder, making it hard for them to adapt back into their normal life. Many of them live in poor conditions on the street, shelters and cars; spaces that are not suitable for people living with this disorder. Instead, I am proposing a transitional housing project where they will be trained, offered job opportunities, and a space where they will in constant presence of nature from the moment they walk into the building until they get to their room. This is because biophilic design has proven to improve the perfomance, quality of life, and health of humans. The residents of this project will have an efficient building with communal spaces, spaces for active and passive recreation, and different connections to nature to improve and expedite their healing.

The present qualitative study explored the beliefs that military service members hold in regards to their physical activity participation. Additionally, service members (N=9) were asked about their perceptions of a potential physical activity based therapy program that incorporates psychological skill training. This study took a phenomenological approach and utilized a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were initially recorded and then transcribed by the researcher. Qualitative analysis revealed nine domains throughout the interviews: 1) deployment and military influence, 2) methods of stress relief, 3) perceived barriers to physical activity, 4) physical activity participation and preferences, 5) motivation to be physically active, 6) impact of physical activity, 7) psychological skills, 8) program expectations, and 9) program preferences. These domains were used to code the interviews. Of these domains, 5 themes emerged: 1) participants indicated positive benefits resulting from physical activity participation and negative consequences resulting from inactivity, 2) serving in the military and being on deployment significantly influenced physical activity participation, 3) participants expressed interest in a potential physical activity program, 4) participants anticipated some initial resistance from service members in regards to participating in a potential physical activity program, and 5) most participants indicated a preference for a mixed model program that would allow them to choose between individual or group activities. Overall, results from this study indicate that service members positively view their physical activity participation and recognize the potentials of a physical activity program that incorporates psychological skills training. Designing physical activity programs to meet the unique needs of service members remains relatively unexplored. Important implications and evidence-based recommendations were discussed. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine undergraduate military veteran students’ self-determination and academic effort in relation to their nonveteran college peers. A total of 734 undergraduates attending 4-year institutions in Texas completed a survey, including: 76 veterans (63% males, 37% females); and 658 non-veterans (26% males, 74% females). This research created a more holistic survey of self-determination by adding the 8-item New General Self-Efficacy Scale to the 10-item Self-determination Scale. The survey also included 13-items drawn from the National Survey of Student Engagement. A factor analysis with a varimax rotation of the items identified six factors: competence, autonomy, relatedness, reflection, learning strategies, and quantitative reasoning resulting in a significant Bartlett’s test of sphericity (2 (465) = 12324.53, p < .001). The first hierarchical ordinary least squares (HOLS) analysis results showed that undergraduate veteran students have statistically significant higher levels of self-determination than students without military experience with a small effect size (R2 = .022%, p < .001); however, a meta-analysis of self-determination revealed a large effect size of d = 1.33 between veterans (M = .81, SD = .12) and freshmen undergraduates (M = .65, SD = .12). The second HOLS analysis revealed that self-determination is a positively related, statistically significant factor in academic effort potentially adding 6.8% variance explained to the multi-factored general causal model of college impact (GCMCI).

Class of 2006 Abstract / Objectives: To assess predictors of systolic blood pressure control in the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Methods: 6185 patients were followed over a 2 year period and predictors of blood pressure control were examined using univariate and multivariate analyses. Primary independent variables assessed were age, gender, race, antihypertensive medication class, and comorbidities. The primary dependent variable was systolic blood pressure. Results: Sixty percent of patients studied had controlled hypertension. Significant predictors of better blood pressure control were the presence of coronary artery disease, use of loop diuretics, not using miscellaneous antihypertensive agents, lower age, and not of Hispanic descent or not an African-American. Conclusions: Frequency of systolic blood pressure control was found to be higher than previously reported. In contrast, age, sex, and race were significant predictors of control as reported elsewhere. Lastly, coronary artery disease, loop diuretics, and miscellaneous antihypertensive agents were found to be the only other significant predictors of systolic blood pressure control. These results suggest that there is largely no difference between the major antihypertensive medications class with respect to blood pressure control.