Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Cultural adaptation and preliminary validation of a measure of grief for American Indian and Alaska Native populations(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2021) Gameon, Julie Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Monica SkewesGrief research among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people has been limited to studies focused on unresolved grief associated with historical trauma or epidemiological studies focused on reporting mortality rates among AI/AN people. Grief measures developed and tested in non-Native populations have not been validated for use with AI/ANs and may not reflect a culturally appropriate Native perspective on grief. Additionally, research on adaptive grieving, or how people grow while healing from grief, has not been studied in this population. The current study aimed to: 1) work with AI/AN community members to culturally adapt the Inventory of Complicated Grief and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and 2) test the psychometric properties of the resulting culturally adapted Indigenous Grief Inventory. In Study One, interviews were conducted with AI reservation-based community members (N = 12) to gain insight into Native perspectives on grief. Findings suggested unique cultural considerations related to grieving and healing following the loss of a loved one in Native communities. Some items were revised and new items were developed based on participant feedback, and a pool of 60 items was generated for further testing. In Study Two, a sample of AI/AN community members (n =10) and academics (n = 7) was recruited to provide feedback on the measure items adapted or developed in Study One. Based on participants' ratings and feedback, items with low cultural appropriateness and comprehension scores were removed, and other items were revised, leaving 45 items remaining for psychometric testing. In Study Three, a web-based survey including the culturally adapted Indigenous Grief Inventory and mental and behavioral health measures was administered to 600 AI/AN people who reported experiencing a significant loss in their lifetime. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using separate randomly selected samples from the survey data (ns = 300) were conducted to identify the factor structure of the culturally adapted measure. Items were trimmed following these analyses, resulting in a two-factor Indigenous Grief Inventory. Additional analyses were conducted to examine the convergent and discriminant validity and measurement invariance of the revised measure. Findings suggest that the final 26-item Indigenous Grief Inventory developed in this dissertation is valid, reliable, and suitable for use in health research with AI/AN people.Item Self-compassion, unwanted sexual experiences, and revictimization among college students(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2017) Gameon, Julie Ann; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Monica SkewesSexual assault is a common problem on college campuses and women between the ages of 18 and 24 are at greatest risk, with 20-25% of female college students experiencing a sexual assault in any given year, compared to 5-6% of male college students. When conducting sexual assault research among college students, it is important to consider risk factors that contribute to revictimization and protective factors that buffer against negative outcomes. Although research has shown the effect of self-compassion on many of the negative outcomes associated with sexual victimization, little work has been conducted with a population of sexual assault survivors. In Study 1, participants with a history of unwanted sexual experiences (N = 16) completed a packet of surveys and a semi-structured interview about coping with and healing from their experience. The interview transcripts reflected many of the key domains of self-compassion, suggesting the need for additional research to understand the association between self-compassion and healing from unwanted sexual experiences. In Study 2, introduction to psychology students (N = 231) completed a battery of measurements to assess their sexual victimization history and associated negative outcomes, as well as protective factors including self-compassion. Analyses tested the hypothesis that greater self-compassion would predict less sexual revictimization among those who reported an unwanted sexual experience earlier in life. Although previous unwanted sexual experiences were positively associated with recent unwanted sexual experiences, there was neither a direct nor indirect effect through self-compassion. Findings from Study 1 suggest that different facets of self-compassion represent factors that both help and hinder coping and healing following an unwanted sexual experience. Although Study 2 failed to find a significant relationship between self-compassion and revictimization, self-compassion was associated with other variables previously shown to predict sexual assault and revictimization. More research is needed to understand the role of self-compassion in healing from sexual trauma and preventing revictimization.