Digital Commons Network^™

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Psychological Outcomes Of Mobile Guided Resonant Frequency Breathing In Young Adults With Elevated Stress During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Al Amira Safa Shehab

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Deep breathing practices have shown promise in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in different populations, including young adults. Specifically, resonant frequency breathing can exert an impact on stress response systems through the vagus nerve and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This may induce reductions in stress and improvement in emotion regulation. Young adults, including college students, tend to be at a higher risk for psychological distress, as they face several psychosocial challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed new and unique stressors that resulted in higher levels of stress and emotional symptoms and it has been shown that this may have placed …

Can Racial Disparities In Poor Birth Outcomes Be Partially Attributed To Stress: A Mendellian Randomization Study, Madeline Travers

Dissertations and Theses

In the United States, low birth weight (LBW) is a leading cause of infant death overall, and the leading cause of death for Black infants. Understanding and preventing adverse birth outcomes is a major public health priority. Observationally, there is some evidence to support the hypothesis that maternal stress may be associated with LBW. To clarify the effect of maternal stress exposure on LBW, I conducted three separate-sample instrumental variable analyses with genetic instruments (Mendelian randomization) based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), from genome wide association studies, strongly (p-value < 5 × 10⁻⁶) and independently associated with neuroendocrine, vascular, and immune measures …

Africans Who Arrive In The United States Before 20 Years Of Age Maintain Both Cardiometabolic Health And Cultural Identity: Insight From The Africans In America Study, Elyssa M. Shoup, Thomas Hormenu, Nana H. Osei-Tutu, M.C. Sage Ishimwe, Arielle C. Patterson, Christopher W. Dubose, Annemarie Wentzel, Margrethe F. Horlyck-Romanovsky, Anne E. Sumner

Publications and Research

The overall consensus is that foreign-born adults who come to America age < 20 y achieve economic success but develop adverse behaviors (smoking and drinking) that lead to worse cardiometabolic health than immigrants who arrive age ≥ 20 y. Whether age of immigration affects the health of African-born Blacks living in America is unknown. Our goals were to examine cultural identity, behavior, and socioeconomic factors and determine if differences exist in the cardiometabolic health of Africans who immigrated to America before and after age 20 y. Of the 482 enrollees (age: 38 ± 1 (mean ± SE), range: 20–65 y) in the Africans in America cohort, 23% (111/482) arrived age < 20 y, and 77% (371/482) arrived age ≥ 20 y. Independent of francophone status or African region of origin, Africans who immigrated age < 20 y had similar or better cardiometabolic health than Africans who immigrated age ≥ 20 y. The majority of Africans who immigrated age < 20 y identified as African, had African-born spouses, exercised, did not adopt adverse health behaviors, and actualized early life migration advantages, such as an American university education. Due to maintenance of cultural identity and actualization of opportunities in America, cardiometabolic health may be protected in Africans who immigrate before age 20. In short, immigrant health research must be cognizant of the diversity within the foreign-born community and age of immigration.

The Association Between Depressive Symptoms And Accumulation Of Stress Among Black Men In The Health And Retirement Study, Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., Ryon Cobb, Keyonna King, Marino A. Bruce, Paul Archibald, Harlan P. Jones, Keith C. Norris, Keith E. Whitfield, Darrell Hudson

Publications and Research

Background and Objectives: Among the multiple factors posited to drive the health inequities that black men experience, the fundamental role of stress in the production of poor health is a key component. Allostatic load (AL) is considered to be a byproduct of stressors related to cumulative disadvantage. Exposure to chronic stress is associated with poorer mental health including depressive symptoms. Few studies have investigated how AL contributes to depressive symptoms among black men. The purpose of the cross-sectional study was to examine the association between AL and depressive symptoms among middle- to old age black men.

Research Design and Methods: …

Exercise Behavior And Mood During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Taiwan: Lessons For The Future, Yu-Kai Chang, Chiao-Ling Hung, Sinika Timme, Sanaz Nosrat, Chien-Heng Chu

Publications and Research

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated governmental recommendations and restrictions have influenced many aspects of human life, including exercise and mental health. This study aims to explore the influence of COVID-19 on exercise behavior and its impact on mood states, as well as predict changes in exercise behavior during a similar future pandemic in Taiwan. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between 7 April and 13 May 2020 (n = 1114). Data on exercise behavior pre and during the pandemic and mood states were collected. A cumulative link model was used to predict changes in exercise frequency …

Stress Measured By Allostatic Load Varies By Reason For Immigration, Age At Immigration, And Number Of Children: The Africans In America Study, Thomas Hormenu, Elyssa M. Shoup, Nana H. Osei-Tutu, Arsene F. Hobabagabo, Christopher W. Dubose, Lilian S. Mabundo, Stephanie T. Chung, Margarethe F. . Horlyck-Romanovsky, Anne E. Sumner

Publications and Research

Stress leads to physiologic dysfunction and cardiometabolic disease. Allostatic load score (ALS) measures stress-induced cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory biomarkers. We estimated the odds of high ALS by reason for and age at immigration, duration of American residence, number of children, and socioeconomic status in 193 African immigrants (male: 65%, age 41 ± 10 y (mean ± Standard Deviation (SD)), range 22–65 y). ALS was calculated with High-ALS defined as ALS ≥ 3.0 and Low-ALS defined as ALS < 3.0. Oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) were performed, the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk estimated, and TNF-α, an inflammatory cytokine, measured. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds of High-ALS. In the High- and Low-ALS groups, ALS were 4.0 ± 1.2 vs. 1.3 ± 0.7, diabetes prevalence: 14% vs. 4%, CVD risk: 23% vs. 8%, TNF-α levels: 15 ± 9 vs. 11 ± 6 pg/mL, respectively (all p ≤ 0.01). Immigrants were more likely to be in the High-ALS group if their reason for immigration was work or asylum/refugee (OR 2.18, p = 0.013), their age at immigration was ≥30 y (OR 3.28, p < 0.001), their duration of residence in United States was ≥10 y (OR 3.16, p = 0.001), or their number of children was ≥3 (OR 2.67, p = 0.019). Education, income, health insurance, marital status, and gender did not affect High-ALS odds. Factors adversely influencing allostatic load and cardiometabolic health in African immigrants were age at and reason for immigration, duration of residence in America, and number of children.

Burnout-Depression Overlap: Nomological Network Examination And Factor-Analytic Approach, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Burnout has been defined as a condition in which individuals are left exhausted by a long-term confrontation with unmanageable job stressors. The question of whether burnout reflects anything other than depressive responses to unresolvable stress remains an object of debate. In this 911-participant study (83% female; mean age: 42.36), we further addressed the issue of burnout-depression overlap. Burnout was assessed with the exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) and depression with the PHQ-8. The relationships of burnout and depression with three jobrelated variables – illegitimate work tasks, work-nonwork interference, and job satisfaction – and three “context-free” variables …

Long Working Hours And Occupational Stress-Related Illness And Injury: Mini Review, Harrynauth Persaud, Shawn Williams

Publications and Research

Workplace injuries and illnesses have been associated with long working hours. In the United States, working overtime has been on the rise. It is estimated that American workers spend an extra 1.5 hours per week at their job, and for those working in manufacturing-overtime has increased by 25% when compared to 10 years ago. Data suggests that working greater than 12 hours in a single day was associated with a 37% (95% CI=1.16–1.59) increase in hazard rate (HR), while working greater than 60 hour per week was associated with a 23% (95% CI=1.05–1.45) increase in HR. For those working overtime, …

Research Methods In Occupational Health Psychology, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Chu-Hsiang Chang

Publications and Research

http://www.springerpub.com/occupational-health-psychology.html

Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field that focuses on the science and practice of psychology in promoting and developing workplace health- and safety-related initiatives. This comprehensive text for undergraduate and graduate survey courses is the first to encompass a wide range of key issues in OHP. It draws from the domains of psychology, public health, preventive medicine,nursing, industrial engineering, law, and epidemiology to focus on the theory and practice of protecting and promoting the health, well-being, and safety of individuals in the workplace and improving the quality of work life.

The text addresses key psychosocial …

Healthy Beginnings: Exploring The Impact Of Parental Stress And Relationship Quality On Birth Outcomes, Anna A. Divney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three studies exploring the effects of maternal and paternal experiences of stress and perceptions of relationship quality on length of gestation and birth weight. The first study assessed the association of parental relationship quality with the baby’s length of gestation and birth weight among 2,072 families in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study. Romantic relationships can be a substantial source of social support as well as stress, and have been shown to influence many health outcomes. Beyond crude relationship characteristics, however, few studies have assessed the association of other dimensions of relationship quality, such as …

Influences Of Maternal Stress During Pregnancy On The Epi/Genome: Comparison Of Placenta And Umbilical Cord Blood, Jia Chen, Qian Li, Alexender Rialdi, Elana Mystal, Jenny Ly, Jackie Finik, Taira Davey, Luca Lambertini, Yoko Nomura

Publications and Research

Background: Maternal stress during pregnancy is one of the major adverse environmental factors in utero that is capable of influencing health outcomes of the offspring throughout life. Both genetic and epigenetic processes are susceptible to environmental insults in utero and are potential biomarkers of the experienced environment including maternal stress.

Methods: We profiled expression level of six genes in hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis functioning (HSD11B2, SLC6A4, NR3C1, NR3C2, CRHR1 and CRHR2), two imprinted genes (IGF2 and H19) and one neurodevelopmental gene (EGR1), from 49 pairs of placenta and umbilical cord blood (UCB) samples from a birth cohort. We also …