Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
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Development and evaluation of the sex positivity inventory for counselors
No full textSexuality is highly stigmatized and typically accompanied with shame-inducing attitudes, misinformation, and behaviors which make seeking sexual wellness a daunting task (Iantaffi, 2016). Despite the challenges of accessing sexual wellness, research shows several mental health correlations to sexual wellbeing that contribute to happiness, socioemotional development, and overall wellness (Anderson, 2013; Blanchflower & Oswald, 2004; Pariera, 2018). Unfortunately, sexuality is not addressed in many counselor preparation programs which leaves counselors underprepared and potentially apprehensive of addressing sexual issues with clients (Burnes et al., 2017a; Sanabria & Murray, 2018; Talley, 2020). Instead, researchers and advocates are now calling for a new approach to counselor education called sex positivity (Cruz et al., 2017; Mosher, 2017; Phillips, 2022). Sex positivity is an approach for addressing sexual issues in counseling that includes an emphasis on strengths and wellbeing, acknowledges individuality and embraces multiple ways of knowing, upholds professional ethics, promotes open, honest, humanizing, and peacemaking communication, and explores the impact of sexuality across multiple levels of the social structure (Williams et al., 2015). Incorporating this type of approach in counseling is important because it reflects the counseling professional and ethical values and prepares counselors to address sexual issues with clients in a useful and humanizing way (Burnes et al., 2017b; Cruz et al., 2017). However, research on sex positivity is limited and mainly conceptual in nature (Bloom et al., 2019; Litam & Speciale, 2021; Neuer Colburn & Upton, 2019). This means that definitions of sex positivity and approaches for implementing sex positivity are lacking in empirical evidence (Ivanski & Kohut, 2017). To address these issues, I developed and analyzed the Sex Positivity Inventory for Counselors (SPI-C) using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The goal of this study was to clarify the definition of sex positivity and illuminate sex-positive attitudes, knowledge, and skills. The EFA results supported a six factor, 34-item scale of sex positivity that accounted for 32.9% of the variance. The factors included Procedural Sex Positivity, Comfortability with Sexuality, Perceived Sex Positivity, Fundamental Sex Education, Sexological Worldview, and Unconditional Positive Sexual Regard. The SPI-C had an excellent internal consistency of 0.96 meaning it is suitable for future research. The findings of the SPI-C support Williams and colleagues’ (2015) conceptualization of sex positivity. Additionally, the SPI-C illuminates basic educational needs (Abbott et al., 2015; Reissing & DiGuilio, 2010; Zeglin et al., 2018), the need for comfortability to discuss sexual issues (Kelsey et al., 2013; Mercer & Dermer, 2020; Miller & Byers, 2012), and useful practices to establish competency in sexuality counseling (Cruz et al., 2017; Sanabria & Murray, 2018). The SPI-C will be a useful measure for inclusion in counselor education, improving counselor self-awareness and competency, and increasing empirically based research on sexuality counseling.Counseling & Educational PsychologyCollege of Education and Human Developmen
Examining personal self-concept, social self-concept, and external validation seeking as predictors of problematic social media use in 18 to 22 year olds
No full textA dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in COUNSELOR EDUCATION from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas.Since 2005, social media use has grown tremendously from 5% of U.S. adults engaging on social media sites to 72% of U.S. adults in 2021, with even higher usage in young adults (Pew Research Center, 2021). Despite its purpose of creating interconnectedness amongst people, researchers have discovered harmful effects when users engage in problematic social media use (Primack et al., 2017; Stapelton et al., 2017). Problematic social media use is conceptualized as a behavioral addiction through a biopsychosocial framework in which a person becomes fixated on social media, has difficulty withdrawing from it, and suffers consequences interpersonally (Andreassen et al., 2017; Griffiths, 2005). Previous research has explored aspects of the self in relation to social media as well as the motivation to receive validation from others on social media. This quantitative study examines the relationship between personal self-concept, social self-concept, and external validation seeking as predictors of problematic social media use in 18 to 22 year old’s. In order to better grasp how to address problematic social media use in counseling, it is imperative to understand the characteristics of this issue. A demographic questionnaire, The Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (Andreassen et al., 2012), two subscales, personal self-concept and social self-concept, from the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale 2nd edition (Fitts & Warren, 1996), and one subscale approval from other’s from the Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale (Crocker et al., 2012). Because of a low alpha score using the approval from other’s subscale, two items were used to create “Revised Researcher Created: Approval from Other’s.� Results from this study revealed a significant relationship between personal self-concept, social self-concept, and external validation with problematic social media use. The results of a hierarchical regression analysis indicated that external validation, as measured by “Revised Researcher Created: Approval from Other’s� accounted for a significant proportion of the variance. These findings support practical implications for parents of children and adolescents, counselors, school counselors, and counselor educators. Counselors and school counselors can use these findings to better understand how to address problematic social media use. Future researcher can expand on the results of this study by conducting more qualitative research on the motivations behind social media use and seeking validation from others on social media.Counseling & Educational PsychologyCollege of Education and Human Developmen
Primary Water Level Time Series - Sabine Neches 1
No full textSabine Neches 1 primary water level measurements (PWL). Raw data as received at CBI in CSV format. Time stamp following ISO 8601. PWL in meters referenced to station datum. Time series span: 2012-07-25 16:30 GMT through 2012-11-06 11:48 GMT.US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Texas General Land Office (GLO), Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and in collaboration and following the standards of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Photograph of Reagan McCaugnan with Conrad Blucher
No full textPhotograph of Reagan McCaugnan with Conrad Bluche
William Frances Baumgartner in Victoria
No full textA Picture of William Frances Baumgartner in Victoria as he pours something to drin
Ann Armstrong giving a Speech
No full textAnn Armstrong giving a speech standing at a podium with men in the backgroun