Health Science and Exercise Leadership (DHSc)

Woods, Rosanne

Vasomotor symptoms (VMS) are experienced by most women as they transition through menopause, but their etiology is incompletely understood as is their relationship to body composition. While the association of VMS to body fat, body weight, and body mass index has been broadly researched, little is known about the role of lean body mass. The purp...

Association of Lean Body Mass to Menopausal Symptoms in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation: a Dissertation

Anderson, Martha Jane.

A social support network is something people need in difficult times. Athletes may have even more of a need for their social support network. The purpose of this research was to explore National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II athletes' perceived social support networks, which compared friends to teammates, family to coaches, ...
Research Advisor, Linda Meyer.

Comparing NCAA Division II Athletes' Perceptions of Social Support Following Injury, Illness, or Other Identified Life Stressors: a dissertation

Holt, Catherine A.

This research aimed to determine if there was a difference in concussion severity and/or recovery among collegiate female athletes following sports related concussion (SRC) between two groups: those athletes who used synthetic progestins and those who did not use synthetic progestins. A causal comparative design utilized data recorded through th...

Concussion severity and recovery in collegiate female athletes using synthetic progestin :: a dissertation

Gardner, Melody

Although topical, the nature and function of grit remains incompletely understood, leading to improper applications and misutilization. Employing a mixed methods research design, this research examined cognitive flexibility (CF) and mental toughness (MT), two properties closely related to grit. Quantitative inquiry conducted via SurveyMonkey gat...

Correlating Cognitive Flexibility and Mental Toughness While Examining the Connection between Failure, Flexibility, and Change..: a Dissertation

Smith, Patrick J.

Concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are a major health concern, with an average of 2-4 million concussions occurring in the United States each year (Langlois, Rutland-Brown, & Thomas, 2006). Among these injuries, 79.6% required emergency department care, 16.8% required admittance to a hospital, and 3.6% of these cases resulted in deat...

The Effect of Combined Mental Health and Physical Treatment on Clinical Outcomes Following Concussions in Adolescent/Young Adult: a dissertation

Zelanko, Brian

Foam rolling can acutely improve range of motion (ROM) and it’s possible that longer durations of foam rolling can provide more favorable results. The purpose of this research was to explore the effects of different durations and the application area of foam rolling on changes in hamstring flexibility, ease of movement, and muscle tightness in p...
Research Advisor: Thomas F. West.

Effects of Duration and Application Area of Self-Myofascial Release on Flexibility in Physically Active Adults: a dissertation

Hung, Kaman Christopher

Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to enhance well-being through a reduction in stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. They have also been shown to enhance working memory capacity, empathy and compassion among practitioners. The purpose of this study was to examine the mechanisms of infusing mindfulness-based interventions and mi...

Pedagogical Practices Among Public School Health and Physical Education Teachers Implementing Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: a Dissertation

Richey, Richard F.

Certified personal trainers (CPTs) work with many individuals that have difficulty with the motivation to adhere to unsupervised exercise. Attributional retraining (AR) is a method designed to redirect the client’s perceived causal attributions for failure toward controllable factors. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to see if certi...

The Perceptions of Certified Personal Trainers on the Value of Attributional Retraining: a Case Study : a Dissertation

Dostal, Denae Kessel.

The purpose of this study mixed-method study was to explore physical education (PE) based MVPA strategies/interventions used by elementary physical education (EPE) teachers within public schools in Western Massachusetts. Research aims included: (1) are EPE teachers in Hampshire/Hampden County aware of MVPA concepts/strategies/interventions, (2) ...

Physical education (PE) strategies for increasing moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in school aged children :: a dissertation

Barnhart, Ryan B.

Health and wellness have been shown to have direct and indirect impact on academic performance in college students. Perception of health behaviors, as well as access to resources and facilities for student health and wellness are impactful in college student recruitment and retention processes as well. College students are mindful of their healt...

Student Perceptions of Collegiate Health and Wellness Programming, its Impact: on Academic Success, and Motivation to Change Health Behaviors: a Qualitative Study : a dissertation

Cepeda, Clint F.

The aim of this research is to measure the current mindfulness levels public-school teachers as it correlates to individual’s BMI and intensity of exercise activity. The purpose of this study is to associate mindfulness, BMI, and exercise level (EL) in teachers from a public school system. The specific goal is to determine the type and strength ...

Using mindful assessment when comparing exercise levels among public-school teachers' BMI :: a dissertation