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Assessing the impact of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) protocol and Emotional Resilience Skills Training (ERST) among diverse public safety personnel
No full textPublic safety personnel (PSP; e.g., border services personnel, correctional workers, firefighters, paramedics, police, public safety communicators) are frequently exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events. Such events contribute to substantial and growing challenges from posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSIs), including but not limited to posttraumatic stress disorder.The current study was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR FRN: 171645) and Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) consortium Team Grant for Mental Wellness in Public Safety, with additional financial support from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice and Attorney General. The Study Protocol has undergone full external peer review by CIHR as part of the peer review process. L. M. Lix is supported by a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Methods for Electronic Health Data Quality. T. O. Afifi is supported by a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Childhood Adversity and Resilience. The funding bodies have had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the current manuscript.Facultyye
The Immigrant Mothers' Experience of their Children's Heritage Language Loss
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, University of Regina. 6, 95 p.Through this qualitative research project, I investigated how immigrant mothers experience their children’s heritage language loss; what emotions, feelings, and attitudes they experienced, how they navigated their children’s heritage language loss, what strategies they used, and what were some of the possible consequences of not having a shared language on the maternal relationship between mother and child? Using a case study research methodology and narrative analysis, I interviewed two immigrant mothers about their children’s heritage language experience in Canada. The findings of this study indicate that language is fluid, that it can be learned and lost at any age by any member of the family, online resources are an important resource that parents can utilize to aid in maintaining their children’s heritage language, and the lack of a shared cultural framework and language can create an emotional divide between mother and child.
Key words: Heritage language, identity, guilt, language loss, mother, colonialism, immigration, embarrassment, YouTube, accent, social group/peersStudentye
Mental and Physical Health of Adolescents During the Early Months of COVID-induced Restrictions: A Pilot Study
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Kinesiology & Health Studies, University of Regina. ix, 180 pCOVID-induced restrictions may have detrimental effects on the mental and physical
health of adolescents, a critical period of rapid growth in both these domains. The purpose of the
present study was to assess mental (stress, social isolation) and physical (physical activity,
sedentary and screen time, dietary and sleeping patterns) health of youth in grades 7-12 in the
Regina and Greater Regina area during the early months (March – August 2020) of the COVID-
19 pandemic and associated restrictions, as well as perceptions of remote learning (March-June
2020) and return to in-person school in September 2020. The study used a cross-sectional study
design from data collected between July 25 and September 7, 2020 from an online survey. The
survey included COVID-specific mental health questions, globally used questionnaires for
physical health (International Physical Activity Questionnaire [IPAQ]; Rapid Eating Assessment
for Participants [REAP]; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), and a variety of open-ended
questions. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze closed-ended survey responses and
physical health questionnaires, and multiple linear regression investigated relationships between
mental and physical health. Qualitative thematic analysis of open-ended questions regarding
physical health (e.g., physical activity, sedentary behaviour, dietary habits and sleeping patterns)
was framed using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation Behaviour (COM-B) model of
behaviour change. The sample of 51 participants (age: 14.73±1.72 years) was 64.0% female; six
participants participated in the follow-up interview. Overall, COVID-induced restrictions had a
moderate negative effect on mental health and created “quite a bit” of stress regarding the future.
Physical activity levels and recreational screen time were not in accordance with Canadian
guidelines, and mean dietary patterns and sleep quality were “healthy” and “poor,” respectively.
Individuals with a higher negative impact on mental health were more likely to have unhealthy
dietary patterns and poor sleep quality. Common themes for changes in lifestyle behaviours were
“having more time” during school closures that gave opportunities to either engage in physical
activity or sedentary behaviour, and the capability to “eat healthier and more frequently” and
“make changes to bedtime routines”. Remote school delivery was reportedly “much less
enjoyable” compared to in-person classes and participants were mostly excited to return to inperson
school in September 2020. Findings from the present pilot study indicate that adolescents
in Regina and the Greater Regina area were negatively affected regarding their mental and
physical health in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions.
Further, remote school delivery was “much less enjoyable” compared to in-person school. These
results can be used to design future cross-sectional and longitudinal studies assessing mental and
physical health of adolescents in a larger sample size and across different socio-demographics
that can be useful for developing interventions and policies promoting mental health and lifestyle
behaviours in adolescents. Furthermore, schools should consider modifying remote learning to
increase virtual engagement and connectedness for adolescents.Studentye
Assessment of waste management system efficiencies and waste business characteristics of Canadian provinces
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science in Environmental Systems Engineering, University of Regina. viii, 75 p.Canadians have one of the highest per capita waste disposal and generation rates globally. Canadians went from disposing 768 kg/persons of waste in 2002 to 689 kg/person of waste with in 2018. In the first part of the study, three waste management system (WMS) efficiency indicators are adopted to systematically assess WMSs efficiency in Canada from 1998 to 2016. The key study objectives are to examine the temporal changes in waste diversion activities and rank the performance of the jurisdictions using a qualitative analytical framework. Increasing Waste-Management-Output-Index trends are identified in all jurisdictions, and more government subsidiaries and incentive packages are recommended. With the exception of Nova Scotia, statistically significant decreasing Diversion-Gross-Domestic-Product-ratio trends are observed. It appears that the increases in GDP from Sector 562 were not contributing to waste diversion. On average, Canada spent about 1,276 million annually, or about 40.7% of the total government waste spending. BC only spent an average of 2.5% of the budget on operation of recycling facilities, but has the highest waste diversion rate. Expenditure distribution alone is unable to explain BC’s superior waste diversion performance. Capital expenditures have been increasing from 26.2/tonne. In this study, a business with more full-time employees correlates well with higher operating revenues. Part time workers were more predominant in SK, and may be responsible for the subpar diversion rate and operating revenue. More research is needed to determine waste business characteristics given increasing interest in circular economy and WMS efficiency.Studentye
Juror narratives and verdict justifications: race and the insanity defense
No full textA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 48 p.This study extends on the research of Maeder et al. (2020) – an investigation of how defendant race (Black, White) and mental disorder (schizophrenia, major depression) influence mock jurors' verdict justifications in a clear-cut Not Guilty by Reasons of Insanity (NGRI) trial. Participants were 216 jury-eligible Mechanical Turk workers. Maeder and colleagues' findings that a Black defendant with schizophrenia was significantly more likely to be considered guilty than other race and mental disorder combinations led us to propose two hypotheses. First, we expected the level of stigma for a Black defendant with schizophrenia would be greater than other race and mental disorder combinations. Second, because of this high stigma associated with being Black and having schizophrenia, we expected that a combination of the two would elicit perceptions of the defendant as 'doubly dangerous.' Contrary to our hypothesis, results revealed stigma was higher for the depression group. At the same time, there was no difference between race and mental disorder combinations when analyzing perceptions of dangerousness. Deductive coding of mock jurors' verdict justifications, based on Pennington and Hastie's (1986) cognitive story model of jury decision-making, was also employed; however, low base rates prevented meaningful analysis. Instead, we inductively coded this open-ended data attempting to understand how mock jurors rationalize information provided in the case fact pattern to land on a final verdict decision.Studentn
Spatiotemporal heterogeneity in precipitation and moisture transport over China and their connections with anthropogenic emissions and natural variability
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Systems Engineering, University of Regina. xxxi, 236 p.In this dissertation research, the following scientific questions are explored: (i) Has the probability distribution of precipitation over China undergone variations since the midtwentieth century? (ii) How are the above changes related to the modes of climate variability? (iii) Can these changes be attributed to anthropogenic behaviors? (iv) What are the mechanisms for these changes in terms of moisture transport and recycling? Specifically, through quantile regression, the quantile trends in monthly precipitation anomalies over China, as well as the individual and combined quantile effects of teleconnection patterns, are examined. The results show that the quantile trends exhibit apparent seasonal variations, with a greater number of stations showing trends in winter, and larger average magnitudes of trends at nearly all quantile levels in summer. The effects of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) exhibit evident variations with respect to the quantile level. Spatial clusters are subsequently identified based on the quantile trends, and the individual and combined effects from the teleconnection patterns are further investigated from the perspective of moisture budget. Seven spatial clusters with distinct seasonal quantile trends can be identified; three of them are located in southeastern China and are characterized by increasing trends in summer and winter precipitation. Summer precipitation over this region is positively influenced by ENSO and negatively influenced by NAO, with the former affecting both the dynamic and thermodynamic components of vertically integrated moisture divergence and the latter affecting only the dynamic component. The interaction effect of ENSO and NAO on summer precipitation anomalies in extremely-wetter-than-normal months is statistically significant. The influences of anthropogenic greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions on the probability distribution of daily precipitation over China are explored through a formal detection and attribution analysis. It is found that the increasing trends in winter precipitation at high and extremely high quantile levels, as well as that in spring precipitation at all quantile levels, can be attributed to the effects of historical (ALL) or anthropogenic (ANT) forcing. The effect of anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing (GHG) is evident over the domain, to which the increasing precipitation trends at all quantile levels in all seasons can be attributed; this effect can be separated from that of anthropogenic aerosol forcing (AER) for winter precipitation trends at high and extremely high quantile levels, and for spring, summer, and autumn trends at low quantile levels.
Through integrating detection and attribution analysis and moisture tracking into one framework, the anthropogenic influence on the moisture source-receptor relationship over China is investigated. The subdomains of China can be grouped into 3 categories according to the major moisture sources, which are regions mainly dependent on (a) oceanic sources, (b) external terrestrial sources, and (c) local recycling. It is found that the GHG forcing, in general, favor reduced moisture contributions from oceanic sources to the west of the domain in winter and enhanced those from the ones to the east of the domain in both winter and summer for regions in the first category. Under the GHG scenario, moisture contributions from external terrestrial sources are reduced in summer for subdomains in the first category and show a shift from the north to the south for other regions; under the AER scenario, the opposite case can be observed. Local recycling is generally enhanced in summer under both GHG and AER scenarios, with an exception for the regions in the first category, which exhibit reduced local recycling under the GHG forcing.Studentye
Feature Story: Video spotlight: U of R international student athletes
No full textWhether it’s England, the Czech Republic, Germany, or beyond, athletes from around the world are choosing the University of Regina to pursue their post-secondary education while competing with (and against) some of the best university athletes in Canada.Staffn
Release: University of Regina and Canadian School Boards Association (CSBA) sign equity, diversity, and inclusion research agreement
No full textStaffn
Engagement and satisfaction of the I-PPP
No full textA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 32 p.Preoperative anxiety affects up to 65% of children undergoing a day surgery procedure. This anxiety is associated with a host of negative behaviours and experiences pre-and post-surgery. The use of technology as a means to prepare children for surgery and prevent the development of anxiety is not new, but past approaches have not been comprehensive. More recent endeavours have sought to provide comprehensive surgery preparation via the Internet. The Internet-delivered Preoperative Preparation Program (I-PPP) was developed for the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatchewan as an innovation to address the latter (Wright et al., 2017). The I-PPP is an evidence-based, efficacious, interactive Internet-delivered program comprised of five modules designed to help children prepare for their upcoming day surgery and their parents. However, the 'real-world' uptake of the I-PPP is unknown. The current study sought to expand the existing literature by examining 'real-world' uptake (e.g., completed modules), satisfaction with, and effectiveness of the I-PPP in addressing parent-rated child anxiety and parent self-reported anxiety. Parents of seven children undergoing a day surgery procedure were provided access to the I-PPP; however, only four children (mean age = 4.5 years; SD = 1.29) had their surgery completed at the time of writing. In terms of engagement, 75% of children and 100% of parents accessed all five modules. The average length of time spent engaged with the program for the child version was 29.51 minutes and 19.48 minutes for the parent version. 100% of parents indicated satisfaction with the program, and 100% indicated that they would recommend the program to others. In terms of parent-rated child anxiety and parent self-report anxiety, no significant changes were observed. Study findings will help support the I-PPP integration into pediatric surgery clinical practice at the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital.Studentn
The relationship between neurocognitive performance and sport-related musculoskeletal injury
No full textA Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina. x, 79 p.Background: The number of sport-related musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries continues to rise even with an increase in prevention programs. The potential relationship between neurocognitive performance and sport-related MSK injury has begun to emerge in the literature, with results suggesting that athletes with lower baseline neurocognition sustain more injuries compared to those with higher baseline neurocognition. Purpose: This study aims to build on the previous literature by investigating this relationship while controlling for variables that have been well-documented as predisposing factors for injury (i.e., previous MSK and brain injury). Methods: A total of 87 participants from the University of Regina Rams football team were included in the study. Baseline Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) data (Verbal Memory Composite, Visual Memory Composite, Visual Motor Speed Composite, Reaction Time Composite, and Impulse Control Composite), MSK injury history, concussion history, and number of games participated were all gathered. Acute lower extremity (LE) MSK injuries that occurred over the course of the six-game, 11-week season were recorded and included in the analysis. Two statistical analyses were conducted: linear and logistic regression. Both regression analyses used a hierarchical method with step 1 including independent variables of previous LE MSK injury and previous concussion history. Step 2 involved the addition of the number of games played as an independent variable and step 3 involved the addition of all neurocognition measures as independent variables (Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, Visual Motor, Reaction Time, and Impulse Control). The dependent variable for the linear regression was the severity of injury, measured as the number of days from time of injury to full return to sport with no restrictions. The dependent variable for the logistic regression was injury versus no injury. Results: Sixteen (18.4%) of the participants suffered an injury over the course of the season, with the average (standard deviation [SD]) injury severity being 3.77 (10.24) days. Step 2 (number of games played) had the largest impact on both regression models. Having played 1-2 games in the six-game season was the only independent variable to make a statistically significant contribution to predicting injury severity (β = .338, p = .005) and injury occurrence (OR [95%CI] = 19.880 [2.239, 176.477], Wald = 7.202, p = .007). The final logistic regression model correctly classified 18.8% of injured participants and 98.6% of non-injured participants. Conclusion: Playing in 1-2 games in a six-game season was the only statistically significant independent variable at predicting both musculoskeletal injury occurrence and severity. There are several limitations to this study affecting the generalizability of the results. The assumptions of linearity, homoscedasticity, and normality were not met in the data, and there was a small number of injuries due to the small sample size and short follow-up period. More research is needed in this area, particularly involving other populations outside of collegiate level football athletes, longer study periods, and the potential relationship between executive functioning and MSK injury.Studentye