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The lived experience of parental stress of fathers of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder
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 Social Work, University of Regina. viii, 139 p.The purpose of this study was to expand the current understanding of father parental stress through an interpretive phenomenological analysis of fathers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder’s lived experience. Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder have been found to experience higher levels of stress than both parents of typically developing children and all other special needs children that have been researched to date. The experience of parental stress for parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder has primarily looked at the experience of mothers, with limited studies exploring the experiences of fathers. The current study interviewed six fathers who have a child between the ages of six and 12 with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Through analyses of the interviews, five superordinate themes were identified: (1) Covid-19 Pandemic, (2) Isolation, (3) Self-Efficacy, (4) Stressors, and (5) Coping. Participants highlighted the breakdown of their limited supports during the global pandemic, and the sense of loss, isolation, and frustration this created. Participants also identified negative perceptions of their self-efficacy, tied to vague perceptions of success as a father. They experienced isolation, due to stigma and ignorance of their child’s needs and feeling that there is a lack of dedicated supports for fathers. Participants discussed high levels of stress due to the chronic nature of their child’s needs and fear of what their future holds as fathers. Lastly, participants discussed limited options for coping due to guilt when trying to utilize strategies and supports, as well as negative perceptions of masculinity that created barriers and stigma to accessing supports.Studentye
Experiences of COVID‐19 pandemic‐related stress among sexual and gender minority emerging adult migrants in the United States
No full textThere is a dearth of research that examines COVID-19-related stress among multiply marginalised individuals who are in the developmental phase of emerging adulthood. This qualitative study investigated how the intersection of emerging adulthood, sexual and gender minority (SGM) identity, and migrant status were reflected in the experiences of SGM individuals (n = 37; ages 20–25 years old) who migrated to various parts of the United States in the last 5 years. Data were collected online using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed that participants' developmental processes (e.g., identity exploration, building financial independence) were shaped by pandemic-related stressors, especially unemployment and financial instability. Participants who were able to maintain employment did so but at the risk of their health and safety. Findings also showed that participants experienced feelings of anxiety and depression due to social isolation, but online communication played an important role in combatting loneliness. Findings highlight the potential for trauma-informed and intersectional approaches to practice with SGM emerging adult migrants and expanded health services and temporary entitlement programs to mitigate the pandemic's effects on this population's psychosocial and financial well-being.This project was funded by a Partnership Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC Grant #895-2018-1000).Facultyye
A potential hierarchy of attention for animacy
No full textA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, University of Regina. 17 p.The animate monitoring hypothesis (AMH) suggests humans are predisposed to respond preferentially to animate entities in their environment. Recent research has raised questions about whether or not a hierarchy exists regarding our selective attention to animate entities, although this research has yet to examine a wide range of animate categories. The present study compared two unexamined types of animate entities – reptiles and birds – using an inattentional blindness task to examine potential differences in attention. I hypothesized that bird identifications would exceed reptile identifications, providing further evidence to support the AMH and a potential hierarchy explaining its functioning. Results indicated there was no significant difference between explicit reptile and bird identifications, but also revealed that participants were unable to implicitly identify both the bird and reptile stimuli as being animate entities. Thus, although the main prediction was not supported, when considered alongside previous findings, there remains evidence that AMH processing operates in a grouped or clustered hierarchy. This research provides a better understanding of AMH functioning, which in turn allows more information to be known about human perception and memory.Studentn
An Intelligent System for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnostics
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 Industrial Systems Engineering, University of Regina. xiii, 103 p.Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that directly affects personal
communications and behavior. This disorder can be diagnosed at any age and gender.
Researchers identify this problem as a developmental disorder due to symptoms which can
appear in the first two years of a new born infant. The symptoms related to ASD are as
follows:
1- Avoidance of eye contact and preference for lonely lifestyle;
2- Difficulties in communications and interaction with others;
3- Having trouble adapting when a routine changes or prefer repetitive behaviors with
restricted interests;
4- People with these symptoms may have difficulty functioning properly at school, at
work and in other areas.
5- Autism Spectrum Disorder can be a lifelong disorder; however, treatments and
assistance can improve person’s symptoms and also the ability to function near to
normal.
In this research the main goal is to apply an Intelligent System method based on an
Artificial Neural Network by using Bayesian Regularization backpropagation that will be
capable of predicting and classifying the Autism Spectrum Disorder in early stages of life.
Early detections and steps taken to conduct the necessary treatments are the most important
factors that should be considered in order to decrease the symptoms of ASD and also to
improve the quality of life for an individual suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Based on research and studies conducted so far, researchers are trying to find a procedure
for the smart detection of autism because symptoms are usually recognized by observation.
In this Thesis, in order to solve the problem, the Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs)
toolbox which is available in MATLAB software is used. To achieve a satisfactory result,
two different datasets with different training conditions are considered. Different structures
for the ANNs are designed for two different datasets such as Adult and Child datasets. For
both datasets, the number of attributes which contribute in the training as the input data are
14 and the output is ASD results (people with ASD or people with No ASD), also the
training function is ‘trainbr’ but these networks are trained by different number of hidden
neurons. Finally, the performances of the different scenarios of the ANNs are compared.
The results demonstrated that the designed ANNs based on the ‘trainbr’ method is able to
achieve satisfying accuracy when the number of features in the input section were reduced
from 20 to 14 features.Studentye
Darke Hall Digital Archives
No full textThis digital exhibit was launched to support the re-opening of Darke Hall in 2022 and promote the archival collection at the Dr. John Archer Libary and Archives. It features a sample of photography, letters, blueprints, and historical documents, all of which are available for research use in the Dr. John Archer Library and Archives.Facultyye
Mental Health Risk Factors Related to COVID-19 among Canadian Public Safety Professionals
No full textPublic safety personnel (PSP) are known to experience difficult and demanding occupational environments, an environment that has been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Firefighters, paramedics, and public safety communicators were among the front-line workers that continued to serve the public throughout the course of the pandemic. The present study considered the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-reported symptoms of mental health challenges in Canadian firefighters, paramedics, and public safety communicators. Participants were firefighters (n = 123), paramedics (n = 246), and public safety communicators (n = 48), who completed an online survey, including demographics, questions related to COVID-19 exposure and worry, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Social Interaction Phobia Scale, and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-5. Results revealed that risk factors for increased mental health symptom reporting were paramedic occupation, self-identified female, younger in age, COVID-19 personal contact, requirement to self-isolate, and self-perception of COVID-19 contraction (without confirmation through testing). The COVID-19 pandemic should be considered a risk factor for increased mental health symptom reporting in PSP.This research was partially funded by Anderson’s CIHR Mental Wellness in Public Safety Team Grant (MWP: 172806) and WorkSafe British Columbia grant (RS2019-SP13).Facultyye
Feature Story: UR Loved Bursary supports 2SLGBTQIA+ students facing homelessness
No full textU of R President & Vice-Chancellor Jeff Keshen has recently announced the forthcoming creation of a bursary for 2SLGBTQIA+ students who have experienced homelessness.
The fundraising target for this bursary fund is $25,000, which would allow the award to be given every semester.
The new bursary is President Keshen's commitment to the August 27 "Walk the Walk"fundraiser, a celebrity drag show featuring well-known Regina personalities, in support of Lulu's Lodge.
The bursary will support U of R students who require - or have required - the services of Lulu's Lodge, a 5-bedroom supportive transitional home for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth aged 16-21 facing homelessness in Regina.Staffn
Experimental and numerical investigations on wind characteristics and wind induced vibrations of bridge structures
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 Industrial Systems Engineering, University of Regina. xvii, 197 p.As more and more flexible structures such as long span bridges and suspension bridges are built in the world, their increased flexibility can cause serious concerns for researchers and engineers. For such structures, wind load has become one of the most important dominant loads under consideration in the analysis and design of structures. Thus, accurate and reliable evaluations of the wind characteristics are critical, as the evaluations may provide a solid foundation for which the design of wind-resistant structures can be relied upon. Therefore, according to the importance and sensitivity of this subject in some special applications, the current research has been presented both analytically and experimentally, which may be utilized as guidance for researchers and engineers around the world in this field.
The wind field measurement system used for this research acquires the high frequency wind speed data for the process of tropical cyclone and monsoon wind. Wind characteristics are studied systematically with wind data collected. Furthermore, the comparative study of stationary and non-stationary models, which is established with a self-adaptive procedure, is conducted. The established non-stationary model presents advantages for measuring the time related wind speed variations. Analytical results obtained in the research expose the difference between the traditional stationary and non-stationary models cannot be ignored, especially over a large time horizon. Moreover, in order to predict the wind speed with higher accuracy, a more accurate prediction method based on wavelet decomposition and chaotic diagnosis is also proposed. The wind speed prediction method considers the frequency domain characteristics of wind speed series for improving prediction accuracy. Wind speed data collected from the long term experiments and downloaded historical data are applied to verify the accuracy and reliability of the proposed prediction method.
Wind induced vibration is another aspect which will affect the safety of the structures. As a typical and commonly seen type of wind induced vibration, vortex induced vibration (VIV) of bridges and the aerodynamic influences of the bridge attachments on the VIV are studied experimentally with a wind tunnel test. The effect of the attachments installed on the bridge deck such as crash barriers, wind barriers and traffic flows on VIV behaviors including lock-in wind speeds and vibration characteristics are systematically investigated. A new method by combing the unscented Kalman Filter with unknown input and simplification of Tylor series expression for studying the loads generated by vortex and VIV is proposed in the research. The governing equation developed is simplified by Taylor expression which can be applied for general bridge decks, unscented Kalman Filter with unknown input (UKF-UI) method is utilized to identify the self-excited and aerodynamic forces in VIV lock in regions. Instead of using fitted mathematical model, such a method can be directly applied on wind tunnel test data of general bridge deck types.
The research findings are valuable for better analyzing and comprehending wind characteristics as well as interactions between wind and structures, and are expected to provide a practically sound guidance for designing wind-resistant structures especially flexible structures subject to wind exertion.Studentye
Implementing aspects of trauma-informed care in psychoeducational groups for psychiatric patients in acute settings: social work perspectives
No full textA Practicum Report Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Work, University of Regina. v, 59 p.This practicum report discusses and analyzes my practicum experience as a social worker at Vernon Jubilee Hospital in Vernon, British Columbia. The focus of this practicum report is on trauma-informed practice and how it can be implemented into health care. My primary goal for the practicum was to gain experience and become familiar with the role of a social worker in an acute psychiatric unit, while designing and implementing a trauma-informed psychoeducational group for patients with a focus on wellness, emotional regulation, relapse prevention, and discharge planning. This practicum report provides an extensive literature review on psychoeducation groupwork, trauma-informed practice, and adverse childhood experiences. It explores how trauma-informed practice can be utilized in health care, and how it can be applied in practice. Further, the report discusses my experiences and the role of the social worker while working in the emergency department, intensive care unit, psychiatric unit, and home health program. Finally, this practicum report will discuss and analyze the ethical considerations and challenges of my experience as a graduate social work student during my practicum placement with Vernon Jubilee Hospital.Studentye
A community based and mixed-methods approach to exploring the Dove Confident Me five-session body image intervention in a holistic school classroom
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 Educational Psychology, University of Regina. viii, 98 p.Purpose: Body dissatisfaction is experienced by many adolescents and is linked to mental, physical, and social consequences. Increasing rates of body dissatisfaction amongst adolescents have led to developing teacher-delivered interventions to alleviate the reliance on external providers and increase the accessibility of such interventions. This paper describes a pilot study which explored the delivery of the Dove Confident Me 5-Session Body Confidence Program through a mixed methods approach. In this study, the researcher worked collaboratively with the students and teacher to determine program adaptations needed to elicit positive body image and self-esteem in a classroom in Saskatchewan.
Method: This study took place at a small private school in Saskatchewan which delivers the Saskatchewan curriculum through a holistic lens with a focus on arts, community, and nature. A classroom teacher received training to deliver the Dove program to their classroom. A small sample of students (n=6) between the ages of 11-13 received sessions one to three of the Dove Confident Me 5-Session Program. Students were measured on body-esteem and self-esteem at baseline and post-intervention. Students also completed session evaluation forms after the delivery of each session and participated in a focus group guided by the researcher at the end of the program. Following the end of the program, the teacher participated in an open-ended interview with the researcher to share their experience and provide feedback about the program.
Results: The quantitative measures were analyzed using SPSS Version 28 while the qualitative interviews were transcribed and coded using NVivo 12. The delivery of sessions four and five were cancelled due to low ratings of enjoyment of sessions and relevance of program for sessions one to three. Students showed no significant differences for self-esteem and body esteem from baseline to post-intervention. Students strongly disliked the binary gender approach to the program and found the program to be both unrelatable and unrealistic. Students suggested making the program more gender inclusive and normalizing conversations surrounding body image and body dissatisfaction. The facilitator of the program (classroom teacher) had mixed reviews of the program and came across several difficulties while delivering the program including delivering the program to a high needs classroom, receiving negative reactions from students, program materials not aligning with the school values and teaching philosophy, and the material not being age appropriate. He suggested that teachers should ensure the program aligns with the school values and classroom dynamic before delivering the program, that the program be adapted to be gender inclusive, and that the program be delivered to older adolescents.
Implications: While previous research has found promising results for the Dove Confident Me: 5-Session Body Confidence Program, this study revealed there are fundamental changes that need to occur to ensure it is well received by students and to increase the effects on body-esteem and self-esteem for adolescents. The main gap identified by this research was the lack of gender inclusivity built into the session materials. As a program designed to increase body confidence in adolescence, the outright exclusion of gender diverse content and representation is problematic for students who identify as non-binary, trans, genderfluid, and any other gender identity outside of male and female. Future body confidence programs implemented in schools must therefore work to be gender inclusive and continuously be evaluated to ensure these programs are addressing the needs of adolescent populations today.
Keywords: body-esteem, self-esteem, body image, body confidence, Dove Confident MeStudentye