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EXPLORING THE ASSOCIATION AMONG PARENTAL MEDIA LITERACY, MEDIATION STRATEGIES AND MIDDLE SCHOOLERS' SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND MENTAL WELL-BEING
Get PDFAbstractNadia Ishrat Alamgir, M.A.Washington State University
DECEMBER 2025
Chair: Erica Austin
This study examines the impact of parental media literacy and mediation strategies on middle schoolers’ social media use patterns and mental well-being. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 174 parents, 21 from a local middle school and 153 from a national Prolific sample. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the study examined associations among parents’ digital literacy, their adoption of mediation strategies (active, restrictive, co-viewing), and children's social media behavior and emotional health outcomes.
Findings revealed that parents with higher media literacy were significantly more likely to use active mediation strategies and report greater confidence in regulating their children’s digital experiences. Media literacy was positively associated with children’s educational or creative engagement on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and negatively associated with indicators of poor mental well-being. While active mediation showed benefits for children's emotional outcomes, excessive restrictive mediation was associated with slightly lower well-being scores. Thematic analysis of open-ended responses further illustrated the roles of cultural values, awareness gaps, and perceived tool complexity in shaping parenting practices.
These findings underscore the need for improved parent-focused media literacy interventions and user-friendly mediation tools. The study contributes to understanding how digital parenting practices shape children’s well-being in the context of social media and offers actionable insights for educators, developers, and policymakers
ESSAYS ON CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES IN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: SUSTAINABILITY AND WORKFORCE DIVERSITY
Get PDFThis dissertation expands the traditional paradigm of operations management (OM)—often focused on firm-level efficiency and profitability—to investigate its broader societal impact. It explores how operational decisions, policies, and workforce composition can generate significant public value. The two essays herein examine critical, yet distinct, societal challenges through an operational lens: fostering environmental sustainability in retail and enhancing public health and safety through gender diversity in regulatory oversight. Together, they demonstrate that operational practices are not merely technical functions but are deeply embedded in societal outcomes.The first essay, ``Strategic Promotions and Discounts for Increasing Customer Engagement in Apparel Take-back Initiatives,'' addresses the environmental challenge of textile waste from the apparel industry. Confronting low consumer participation, this manuscript develops an analytical model that accounts for customer heterogeneity in environmental concern to jointly optimize promotion and discount incentives. The findings reveal that these two levers play distinct, complementary roles and appeal to different customer segments: promotions are most effective at activating sustainable customers (who value environmental concern), while discounts are more effective at motivating conventional customers (who are more price-sensitive). The model shows that consumer ``hassle'' is a primary determinant of success, and in high-hassle markets, it is often more profitable to invest in operational convenience (e.g., drop-off kiosks) than to overspend on incentives. Furthermore, the optimal strategy is contingent on market and operational factors: discounts are most effective for products with a low perceived value, and as back-end salvage value increases, it becomes economically optimal to offer stronger front-end incentives.The second essay, ``Female FDA Investigators and Medical Device Plant Inspections," examines the societal impact of gender diversity in a critical public health function: the regulatory oversight of medical device manufacturing. Using a dataset of 8,989 inspections from 2003 to 2019, this empirical study investigates whether inspector gender influences inspection outcomes and subsequent product quality. The study finds that female investigators are over 90\% more likely to assign the most serious violation, an ``Official Action Indicated'' (OAI), than their male counterparts. Critically, these female-assigned OAIs are linked to superior public health outcomes, reducing the hazard of a serious, quality-related adverse event at the plant by more than 70\%. A post-hoc analysis reveals this difference is partially explained by female investigators spending, on average, 20\% more time on inspections that result in an OAI, suggesting a more thorough inspection process
Social, cultural, and chemical avenues for pear psylla management
Get PDFPear psylla (Cacopsylla pyricola) is the most economically damaging pest of pears in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), with particularly severe impacts in Washington’s Wenatchee Valley. Its phloem-feeding nymphs produce honeydew, which damages fruit, stresses trees, and complicates orchard management. Integrated pest management (IPM) strategies that combine selective insecticides with cultural controls can effectively suppress populations while conserving natural enemies, yet adoption has been limited in the Wenatchee Valley. This dissertation examines ecological, behavioral, social, and outreach factors influencing pear psylla management and IPM adoption. Semi-structured interviews with Wenatchee Valley-based early adopters and stakeholders from other PNW pear-growing regions revealed structural, social, and cultural barriers to IPM, including risk perceptions, monoculture landscapes, a complex decision-making network, and limited Extension support. Follow-up interviews indicated gradual adoption driven by peer communication and economic pressures. Multi-year stakeholder surveys evaluating a phenology-based IPM program with diverse outreach strategies, including newsletters, field days, discussion groups, and grower panels, demonstrated adoption among engaged growers, particularly larger operations, and highlighted the importance of peer-driven outreach in promoting awareness, trialability, and perceived benefits of IPM. To further inform IPM strategies and understand pear psylla behavior, egg white protein, SmartWater, and fluorescent powder were evaluated as marking materials for mark-capture and mark-release-recapture applications. Egg white and fluorescent powder showed promise for pear psylla mark-capture studies, with detectability for about two weeks, and limited transfer between individuals; however, egg white was the most practical in an orchard-wide setting. These chapters integrate biological, behavioral, social, and applied perspectives, collectively advancing the understanding of IPM adoption by revealing the hesitancies of Wenatchee decision-makers, and pear psylla behavior, by providing a tool for researching dispersal. This dissertation benefits the PNW pear industry by delineating IPM success stories from other regions and pinpointing areas to target in the Wenatchee stakeholder network to increase IPM adoption, while establishing a research method to address commonly cited barriers to IPM adoption in the Wenatchee Valley
Exhumation and Structural Evolution of the Northwestern Indian Himalaya: Insights from the Tso Morari Nappe and the Tethyan Himalayan Fold-Thrust Belt
Get PDFThe northwestern Indian Himalaya preserves a remarkable record of crustal-scale processes, from deep burial to exhumation within the Himalayan orogenic wedge. This dissertation investigates the structural, thermal, and exhumation history of the Tso Morari nappe and the Tethyan Himalaya in northwestern India using a multi-disciplinary approach, integrating field-based structural mapping, petrographic thermometry, and multi-technique thermochronometry.Chapter 1 focuses on the structural architecture of the Tso Morari nappe, demonstrating that it was emplaced as a large-scale, coherent sheet, with strain localized along discrete ductile shear zones and minor internal deformation. Thermometric data reveal peak metamorphic conditions ranging from amphibolite- to granulite-facies, providing a quantitative framework for reconstructing the nappe’s burial depth.
Chapter 2 reconstructs the post-extrusion exhumation history from mid-crustal depths during the Middle Eocene to Oligocene. Cooling histories derived from zircon and apatite fission track and 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology indicate rapid exhumation rates initially, followed by a period of slower, distributed cooling. These results suggest that underthrusting of the Greater Himalayan sequence, rather than localized faulting or surface erosion, controlled the late-stage exhumation of the nappe.
Chapter 3 concentrates on the Tethyan Himalayan fold-thrust belt further south and places it within a broader Himalayan orogenic context, comparing its structural and thermal evolution with coeval units across the orogen. This synthesis highlights the role of regional tectonic processes in shaping the metamorphic and exhumation patterns of rocks.
Collectively, this work provides new constraints on the burial and exhumation mechanisms of the northwestern Indian Himalaya, offering insights into the dynamic evolution of the Himalayan orogenic wedge and contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of continental collision processes
Observations from Lower Grand Gulch
Get PDFFocused and reconnaissance-level observations in lower Grand Gulch below Collins Spring reveal the components of a dispersed and somewhat isolated settlement thriving during the late Pueblo II period. Ceramic evidence, overwhelmingly representing the Kayenta Pueblo culture with origins south of the San Juan River, contrasts with that over the larger Cedar Mesa uplands where co-dominance and later dominance by the Mesa Verde Pueblo culture prevailed
Media coverage of contaminants in pilot whales in the Faroe Islands
Get PDFThis study examines the portrayal of contaminants in pilot whale in Faroese media from 1977 to 2022. Pilot whale is integral to Faroese culture but has come under scrutiny due to health concerns linked to contaminants. Given the role of media in shaping public understanding of health risks, our research assesses how four main Faroese media outlets have presented the issue to the public. We analysed 227 newspaper articles, radio, and television news stories, focusing on contaminants, mentioning of scientific studies or researchers, the demographic groups identified as at risk, and mentions of government advisories on whale meat consumption. Our findings indicate a predominant portrayal of contaminants as harmful, with a substantial emphasis on the risks to developing foetuses and children. Scientific studies, particularly those led by the Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health in the Faroe Islands, were frequently cited. Despite varying advisories over the years, the narrative consistently highlighted the health risks associated with pilot whale consumption. This study contributes to broader discussions on environmental health communication by illustrating how localised media coverage can shape public risk perception, offering insights relevant to communities facing similar dilemmas between traditional hunting and public health
HR Source Newsletter, August 2025
No full textIn this issue of HR Source (a newsletter for Washington State University employees): Celebrating WSU’s Newest Senior Leaders; CCR Offers Live Instructor-Led Session for EP-15; Human Resource Services Unveils New Leadership and Team Structure
CloverGram, January 2025
No full textIn this issue: Teen Leadership Opportunity: 4-H State Teen Conference; Volunteer Education: Event & Committee Leadership; Country Living Expo; Styrofoam Recycling; MLK Jr. Day; Swine Information Day
History @ Washington State, 2025
No full textIncluded in this issue: A Remarkable Year for the Department of History: 2024–2025 Highlights; Celebrating student success; Whitman Mission National Historic Site and Treaty Rock of 1855Seattle Experience project; Half-scale model of Nisqually activist Billy Frank Jr. on display at Terrell LibraryHosted a Blanket Witnessing Ceremony; Faculty research and recognition; Honors and award
