Special Presentations

“A creative play: How Five Women Make Meaning of Their Temporal Environments While Experiencing Homelessness”

Location: STEM Auditorium
April 16th 3:00pm - 4:30pm

Laurie Knis-Matthews, Department of Occupational Therapy

Karen Hart, Theatre Conservatory

Holly Logue, Theatre Conservatory 

Format – Live Play

This study explored how five women perceived time while experiencing homelessness. By using in-depth interviewing, three main themes emerged from the data; Theme 1: Homelessness is a complex, chaotic experience that changes within blended moments of time as I move from place to place. Theme 2: Outside events influenced how I perceived and structured my time while homeless. Theme 3: Now that I have a permanent place to live, I am taking the time to participate in new occupations and learn how to live a better life. These findings support a more nuanced understanding of this multifaceted construct to inform work with people experiencing homelessness.

Faculty members from the Theatre Conservatory and the Department of Occupational Therapy collaborated to create a play illustrating the three themes that emerged from this qualitative research study.

“Designing the Ideal Chemistry Laboratory”

 Location: STEM Auditorium
April 16th, 9:30am - 10:00am

Presenters: Ashley Massano ‘26, Mildred Alvarado ‘26, Dale Martin’25, Steve Cardona’26, and Kailey Viera ’23 BA of Architecture, MA ‘25

Campus Planning and Facilities

During the 2023 Fall semester, a team of architectural and interior design interns at Campus Planning were tasked to provide a functional layout for a chemistry laboratory that would be constructed for approximately thirty students. With extensive research, the team was able to calculate the necessary square footage per person; the accurate placement of gas, water, ventilation, and electrical hookups; proper means of egress; acceptable materials; equipment and fixtures; and more. After the research process, each intern created their own floor plan based on their findings, and from there, the team communicated which aspect of each layout did and did not work. Everyone on the team updated parts of their layout that did not work, and they each came out with a unique functioning layout for a chemistry laboratory. With the expansion of Kean’s Research Programs, these laboratories would meet the standards and requirements of laboratory design while providing students with a space to learn and research effectively. 

John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research - Research Presentation

Location: STEM Auditorium
April 16th 11:30am - 1:00pm

Presentation Title: “Cumulative Impacts and an Environmental Justice Climate Change Mitigation Policy”

Presenters: • Nicky Sheats, Ph.D., Esq., Director, Center for the Urban Environment • Thomas Ikeda, M.A., Research and Policy Development Fellow, Center for the Urban Environment

Abstract: This presentation will discuss an environmental justice (EJ) issue and EJ policy recommendation the Center for the Urban Environment has worked on for years and been linked to on both a state and national level. The issue is cumulative impacts, and it focuses on how to address multiple pollutants emitted by multiple sources of pollution in a community. EJ communities, i.e., communities Of Color and communities with low-income, are disproportionately affected by this issue. The policy recommendation, which the Center for the Urban Environment has been instrumental in developing, has come to be called “mandatory emissions reductions”. It is a climate change mitigation policy developed from an EJ perspective and would mandate that a power plant must reduce its air pollution emissions if it is subject to an existing governmental climate change mitigation policy and is located in an EJ community, or detrimentally affects one. The essential elements of both the issue and policy recommendation will be examined during the presentation.

Presentation Title: "Connecting to the Cultural Wealth of Students"

Presenter: • Ana I. Berdecia, M.Ed. & Certified Coach, Director, Center for the Positive Development of Uran Children John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research

Abstract: The demographics in schools are changing and becoming increasingly more diverse. This fact makes it necessary for teachers to shift from solely academics to an infusion of culturally responsive practices that honor the cultural wealth that students bring to the learning table and use it as a springboard for curricula. This presentation will share the program model and findings from a 16-year evidence-based approach in New Jersey managed by the Center for the Positive Development of Urban Children of the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research.

Presentation Title: : “Black Entrepreneurship Research Project - Implications for Entrepreneurship Policy and Education”

Presenters: • Alex Rivera, Director, Center for Economic and Workforce Development, Innovation, and Social Entrepreneurship • Dr. Saran Nurse, Assistant Professor, College of Business and Public Management

Abstract: This research project seeks to understand the factors supporting and inhibiting Black entrepreneurs' resilience to chronic and episodic shocks. We will discuss some of our research findings, the implications for entrepreneurship policy and education, and the next stages of our research.

PsyD Dissertation Symposium - Advanced Studies in Psychology

Location: STEM 6th Floor
April 16th 9:30am - 11:00am

“Using Mindfulness-Based Resources to Support Healthcare Professionals in Training: Feasibility Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes”

Presenter: Sulagna Chauhan 

Healthcare training can present some unique and challenging circumstances for students in these fields, so it is imperative to find ways to support student competency and well-being during healthcare education and training. The present study seeks to examine the feasibility and acceptability of providing mindfulness-based resources to healthcare professionals in training at a large northeastern university’s college of health professions. The study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of synchronous and asynchronous modes of mindfulness training, as well as determine preliminary outcomes with regard to psychological flexibility, quality of life, and psychological distress. The synchronous component of the present study will consist of class-based workshops in which participants will be given the opportunity to share their experiences and engage in mindfulness-based and related practices. The asynchronous component of the study will consist of personal practice of mindfulness using a resource manual that will be shared with the participants at the beginning of the study. The study will be conducted over a semester, with three assessment points, including pre-workshop measures, post-workshop measures, and a one-week follow-up. It is predicted that provision of mindfulness-based resources will be both feasible and acceptable to this population. Additionally, we posit that engagement with the workshop, along with practice in-between sessions, will yield increases in quality of life (Quality of Life Scale; Flanagan, 1982), mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form; Baer et al., 2006) and psychological flexibility (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II; Bond et al., 2011), and decreases in stress (stress subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). We also predict that the degree of personal practice of mindfulness will predict receptivity and engagement with the intervention.  Findings will be discussed with regard to implications for trainees’ and healthcare professionals’ well-being. limitations, and future directions.

“Text-Message Based Coaching: Supporting Early Childhood Educators' Implementation of the Pyramid Model”

Presenter: Richard LaTourette

 Social emotional learning has been identified as a key factor in the development of children’s academic and social progress. Exposure to a strong evidence based curriculum structured around fostering social and emotional development is considered helpful throughout the lifespan but is particularly effective when implemented in the preschool classroom. The Pyramid Model (PM) is one such curriculum that is currently in use and backed by empirical research. Teachers are typically provided with training in the model, consisting of a professional development presentation followed by individual or group coaching to ensure adherence and fidelity to the program. While coaching has been proven effective in increasing fidelity to the program, it often requires extensive resources that can become barriers to schools. In order to identify alternatives to in person coaching, this study attempts to offer a technology fueled solution to this issue. Preschool teachers will receive free training in the Pyramid Model. Teachers will then be randomly placed in either a control group who receives no coaching or an experimental group who will receive 6 weeks of text message based coaching. Both groups will be assessed pre and post intervention, and it is hypothesized that the group who received the coaching will adhere closer to the PM framework. This may have implications for preschools, as the proposed intervention will be a cost effective method to ensure fidelity to evidence based practices for preventing and addressing challenging behavior.

“The Impact of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Female Adolescents’  Ratings of Self-Compassion and Trait Mindfulness”

Presenter: Katie Cornet

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) in schools are growing in popularity. Their feasibility and acceptability have been studied, but more research is needed on their effectiveness with adolescents. The present study aims to examine the impact of an eight-week mindfulness-based intervention on ratings of self-compassion and trait mindfulness on adolescent (fifth and sixth grade) females. The intervention provided is a curriculum developed by a non-profit organization called Girls Empowerment through Mindfulness (G.E.M), and it involves a variety of mindfulness-based practices including meditation, journaling, and yoga poses. The intervention also incorporates a physical exercise component. The present study will be conducted as an after-school program within a school that has a student minority enrollment rate of 74%, with the majority of those students identifying as Hispanic/Latinx. The current study will examine the impact of this MBI, including quantitative and qualitative feedback, as well as consider implications and future directions for the G.E.M. program. 

“An Exploratory Analysis of the Outcomes of a Booster Session for a Compassion-Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Protocol”

Presenter: Jacob Schrier

 Compassion focused acceptance and commitment therapy (CF-ACT) is a novel intervention synthesizing two previously established evidence based psychological interventions. The current study implemented a 16 session CF-ACT individual therapy manualized treatment followed by a booster session post treatment. Clients’ treatment outcomes were tracked using a pre-intervention baseline period, repeated measures during the treatment, follow up measures at the 1 month mark prior to the booster session, and a set of measures after the booster session. The current study builds on other research findings, highlighting effectiveness and benefits of booster sessions on treatment outcomes. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of transparency and precise definitions of one’s booster intervention, noting that there is a big discrepancy in the lengths of booster interventions being implemented. The current study is a first step towards further utilizing booster sessions for CF-ACT and with other interventions.

Keywords: booster session, compassion-focused therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, maintenance of treatment gains.

“An Examination of the Factors that Predict Attendance Rates in Telehealth Versus In-Person Autism Spectrum Disorder Assessments”

Presenter: Casey Theriault

 Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by early-onset deficits in social communication and interaction and an unusually restricted and repetitive repertoire of behaviors and interests (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). The diagnoses of ASD have been evidenced to be quite stable, even for those diagnosed early in development (Hinnebusch et al., 2017; Zwaigenbaum et al., 2016), though a small, but significant,  percentage will no longer meet criteria.The importance of early diagnosis of ASD for children has been highlighted as integral to ensure appropriate delivery of services with gains related to cognitive functioning and ASD symptoms with children diagnosed early in development (Giserman-Kiss & Carter, 2020) being seen, as well as early diagnosis of ASD being found to be somewhat reliably stable (Towle et al., 2014). However, the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in service delivery, including the transition to virtual appointments and assessments. This presented challenges for clinicians and families, but also offered opportunities to improve patient care and increase flexibility in service provision, which was evidenced through overall no-show rates across diagnoses in outpatient treatment decreasing upon this transition (Muppavarapu et al., 2022; Reese et al., 2015). Due to this finding, it was initially thought that virtual appointments for the assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) would result in a lower no-show rate compared to in-person appointments. However, recent findings at a pediatric hospital in the northeastern United States found the opposite to be true, such that no-show rates for telehealth assessment for ASD were higher than that of in-person appointments. This study aims to identify the factors that may contribute to the higher no-show rate for telehealth evaluations of ASD and to use these factors to predict variables that may impact future no-show rates. The study will use data from approximately 1,000 total in-person and telehealth assessments conducted over two years (June 2020-July 2021; June 2021-July 2022) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data will be analyzed using IBM® SPSS® Statistics 28 software provided through Kean University. Regression analyses will be conducted to examine the impact of personal and familial characteristics on attendance for in-person and telehealth ASD evaluations. It is hypothesized that both personal and familial factors will influence attendance, but that the association of these factors will vary in intensity.

“A CABAS Approach to Establishing Observing Responses in Preschool Students with Disabilities: An Exploratory Study”

Presenter: Gittie Freeman

Observing responses are defined as operant responses that are selected out by consequences. This means that the presence of a stimulus is noted or observed based on its effects on the observer. We choose to attend to stimuli that are reinforcing to us meaning that they produce an effect that strengthens the likelihood that we will attend again (Cooper et. al, 2020). This phenomenon is a prerequisite skill for joint attention which is studied in the broader psychology field. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023),  at the age of two months, babies should already be emitting observing responses or joint attention including tracking parents as they move and gazing at toys for a few seconds at a time. With children who are non-typically developing, observing responses may not develop naturally over time. These responses are important precursors to learning (Keohane et al., 2008).  The Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS) model has created a series of protocols that have been shown to effectively condition stimuli that in turn select out observing responses across 2D and 3D stimuli as well as faces and voices in single case study designs. The present study aims to determine if these protocols impact the presence or absence of observing responses. Approximately 100 preschool-aged students from a CABAS school will be studied to determine if the protocols are effective in inducing the presence of observing responses as compared to the typical CABAS model which includes the implementation of related services including speech therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. It is anticipated that these protocols will be effective which can lead to a gold standard practice for inducing observing responses for those with autism.   

Keywords: Observing responses, joint attention, CABAS, autism, related services, preschool-aged children.

“From Past to Present: The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Current Psychological Functioning on Parenting Attitudes and Behaviors Across the Lifespan”

Presenter: Debbie Chung

To ensure children’s well-being and protection, work in the field of psychology requires valid and reliable methods of assessing the potential factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect. Parents and caregivers often provide the most intimate context for the protection and nurturing of children. They are instrumental in supporting children’s development in dimensions such as physical growth, personality identity, and cognitive and emotional functioning. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors contributing to adverse parenting attitudes as they negatively impact children’s development. Factors such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to a higher likelihood of negative health and behavioral outcomes later in life. Parents who had ACEs when they were children have been found to have a decreased likelihood of providing a safe and nurturing environment for themselves and their children. When parents become a force impeding children’s healthy growth, professionals must use methods to identify parents at high risk of engaging in maladaptive parenting, or worse, child maltreatment and abuse. One of the most popular instruments for assessing parenting attitudes and behaviors is the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory, 2nd edition (AAPI-2; Bavolek & Keene, 1999). The AAPI-2 is a tool designed to assess the parenting and child-rearing attitudes of adolescents and adult parent and pre-parent populations. Based on previously studied parenting and child-rearing behaviors of abusive parents, responses to the inventory provide an index of risk for behaviors associated with child abuse and neglect. Due to its ability to capture different dimensions of parenting (e.g., parental empathy, use of corporal punishment, view on child power/independence), the AAPI-2 has been used in different settings to measure the level of risk for parental maltreatment. One example is using the AAPI-2 to assess parenting attitudes and behaviors for parents undergoing custody evaluations. Information regarding the characteristics of parents undergoing custody evaluations is scarce. Such information, including associations between parents’ own early childhood experiences and their current attitudes and behaviors, is potentially helpful in preventing and identifying those at risk for carrying out child abuse and neglect. Therefore, the current study, utilizing information from an existing database of parents undergoing custody evaluations, explores parental ACEs, parental psychological functioning, associated demographic factors, and how they might contribute to parenting attitudes and behaviors as measured by the AAPI-2. The study hopes to garner focus and demonstrate the need for support and interventions for this population of parents.

“Playing Dirty: Anger, Emotion Regulation and Hegemonic Masculinity as Predictors of Aggression Among Collegiate Athletes”

Presenter: Simone Cooper

 Research on human aggression points to the contribution of uncontrolled anger and the overall inability to regulate emotions. Additionally, literature on hegemonic masculinity reveals the overemphasis of hegemonic masculine traits such as strength, competitiveness and aggression that have historically dictated what it means to be an athlete, particularly among male athletes. In sport, uncontrolled emotions, and the societal messaging to conform to a masculine ideal for male and female athletes, can lead to aggressive behavior and negative consequential outcomes both on and off the field of play. Despite what is known about the negative societal ramifications of hegemonic masculinity and aggressive behavior in sport, research exploring this relationship is scant and outdated. This present study aims to investigate the predictive value of anger and emotion regulation on aggressive behavior and the role of hegemonic masculinity to identify how anger and emotion regulation can be useful in predicting future aggressive in-game behavior among collegiate student-athletes and the implications in the larger context of sport and society. Using The Competitive Aggressiveness and Anger Scale (CAAS; Maxwell & Moores, 2007) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004), it is predicted that aggressive behavior worsens as a result of emotion dysregulation. Because literature has suggested that males display more hegemonic masculine beliefs and that hegemonic masculinity is problematic and can result in aggression, it is predicted that male athletes will display more aggression compared to female athletes and that their aggression will worsen based on their inability to regulate emotions. By synthesizing aspects at the intersection of personality, hegemonic masculinity, aggression, and sport psychology through a critical/feminist framework, it is hoped to be able to better understand, address, and reduce the detrimental effects of aggressive behavior among athletes.