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Medicine and Health Sciences

University of Vermont

Theses/Dissertations

Mental health

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Effects Of Gender, Physical Activity, Weight Status, And Mental Health Symptomatology On Primary Care Utilization, John W. Carew, Jaime Cotton, Hannah Shoshan, Alex Gevirtz, Thomas Delaney, Donna O'Malley Jan 2022

Effects Of Gender, Physical Activity, Weight Status, And Mental Health Symptomatology On Primary Care Utilization, John W. Carew, Jaime Cotton, Hannah Shoshan, Alex Gevirtz, Thomas Delaney, Donna O'Malley

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objectives. To determine the association between weight status, gender, physical activity, and mental health symptomatology on utilizing primary care in the last year.

Methods. We used data from the 2019 Vermont Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We used multivariate logistic regression and X2 tests of association to assess factors associated with primary care utilization.

Results. Gender and obese or overweight status are significantly associated with one’s likelihood of utilizing healthcare in the past year. For those with 1-13 bad mental health days, the odds of having utilized healthcare in the past year are 1.65 times greater among women than …


Suicide And Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Among Vermont High School Students: An Analysis Of Associated Health-Behavior Variables, Douglas Michael Lebo, Catherine Markesich, Ida Sargent, Mika Smith, Mariana Wingood, Heidi Hales Jan 2021

Suicide And Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Among Vermont High School Students: An Analysis Of Associated Health-Behavior Variables, Douglas Michael Lebo, Catherine Markesich, Ida Sargent, Mika Smith, Mariana Wingood, Heidi Hales

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation (SI) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among Vermont high schoolers and examine their relationship with health-behavior and demographic variables.

Methods: We used responses to the 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance survey from Vermont high schoolers (n = 18 613) to perform bivariate logistic regression analyses of variables thought to predict SI and NSSI.

Results: In 2019, 14.8% of Vermont high schoolers reported SI in the past year, and 18.9% reported NSSI. Lower grade level, LGBT identity, self-perception as over- or underweight, being bullied, alcohol use, smoking, and …


Associations Between Demographic Factors And Suicide Deaths In Vermont: 2015-2019, Isabelle Tomanelli, Lucy Lincoln, Stephanie Stead, Mary Ryan-Eldred, Nick Martin, Sarah Vose Jan 2021

Associations Between Demographic Factors And Suicide Deaths In Vermont: 2015-2019, Isabelle Tomanelli, Lucy Lincoln, Stephanie Stead, Mary Ryan-Eldred, Nick Martin, Sarah Vose

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objectives. To quantify the complex relationships shared between numerous risk factors associated with suicide among Vermont decedents.

Methods. Vermont Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) data from 2015-2019 were examined through binary logistic regression analyses to examine demographic variables’ ability to predict death by suicide.

Results. In the analysis of 26,738 deaths, significant predictors of suicide among the 535 suicide decedents included rurality (odds ratio [OR] = 1.043; 95% CI = 1.016, 1.071; P = 0.002), divorce (OR = 1.785; 95% CI = 1,396, 2.281; P < 0.001), and higher educational attainment including associate degree (OR = 1.472; 95% CI = 1.033, 2.098; P = 0.032), bachelor’s degree (OR = 1.686; 95% CI = 1.266, 2.247; P < 0.001), master’s degree (OR = 1.812; 95% CI = 1.162, 2.826; P …


Quantifying Language Changes Surrounding Mental Health On Twitter, Anne Marie Stupinski Jan 2021

Quantifying Language Changes Surrounding Mental Health On Twitter, Anne Marie Stupinski

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Mental health challenges are thought to afflict around 10% of the global population each year, with many going untreated due to stigma and limited access to services. Here, we explore trends in words and phrases related to mental health through a collection of 1- , 2-, and 3-grams parsed from a data stream of roughly 10% of all English tweets since 2012. We examine temporal dynamics of mental health language, finding that the popularity of the phrase ‘mental health’ increased by nearly two orders of magnitude between 2012 and 2018. We observe that mentions of ‘mental health’ spike annually and …


Physical Activity Levels And Depressive Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Sample Of Vermont Adults, Paige Stefanak, Obichukwu Ezennia, Marley Jurgensmeyer, Jessica Dubetsky, Elise Carlson Jan 2020

Physical Activity Levels And Depressive Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Sample Of Vermont Adults, Paige Stefanak, Obichukwu Ezennia, Marley Jurgensmeyer, Jessica Dubetsky, Elise Carlson

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objective: To investigate the association between meeting physical activity (PA) recommendations and having ever been told of having a depressive disorder in a cross-sectional sample of Vermont adults.

Methods: Study participants (n = 11,429) were Vermont residents that had answered all required questions from 2015 and 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) telephone surveys. Descriptive and binary logistic analyses were run with PA as the exposure variable and depression as the outcome variable.

Results: Study participants were 44.5% males; 93.2% white/non-Hispanic; 67.6% with some college or more; 46% age 60 or over; 45.8% employed for wages and retired. A …


Applications Of Wearable Sensors In Delivering Biologically Relevant Signals, Jordyn Scism Jan 2020

Applications Of Wearable Sensors In Delivering Biologically Relevant Signals, Jordyn Scism

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

With continued advancements in wearable technologies, the applications for their use are growing. Wearable sensors can be found in smart watches, fitness trackers, and even our cellphones. The common applications in everyday life are usually step counting, activity tracking, and heart rate monitoring. However, researchers have developed ways to use these similar sensors for clinically relevant diagnostic measures, as well as, improved athletic training and performance. Two areas of interest for the use of wearable sensors are mental health diagnostics in children and heart rate monitoring during intense physical activity from new locations, which are discussed further in this thesis. …


Referral Patterns And Service Provision In Child Protective Services: Child, Caregiver, And Case Predictors, Hannah Mead Holbrook Jan 2019

Referral Patterns And Service Provision In Child Protective Services: Child, Caregiver, And Case Predictors, Hannah Mead Holbrook

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Child maltreatment, and recurrent maltreatment in particular, occurs at an alarmingly high rate. Frequency of reports to Child Protective Services (CPS) is associated with negative psychological outcomes, and children whose reports are unsubstantiated experience similar risk of behavioral, emotional, and substance use disorders as those whose reports are substantiated. Prior research has demonstrated that children with no CPS reports and children with one CPS report showed no significant differences in rates of maltreatment perpetration or substance use in adulthood, suggesting that prevention efforts after one report may have strong merit in reducing negative outcomes in adulthood. However, patterns and risk …


Walk A Mile In My Shoes: The Social Construction Of Mental Illness Among State Administrators And Consumer-Advocates, Paul Arthur Dragon Jan 2016

Walk A Mile In My Shoes: The Social Construction Of Mental Illness Among State Administrators And Consumer-Advocates, Paul Arthur Dragon

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

From 19th century insane asylums to state sponsored eugenic programs in the 20th century, the state has been an incongruous leader and provider of mental health policy and practice. Current practices that include such treatments as confinement, restraints, forced medication and electro-convulsive therapy continue to raise issues of social justice and humane treatment.

Since the 1970s a diverse group of consumers of mental health services from political and radical emancipatory movements to consumer and family initiatives have emerged to question, inform and influence federal and state policies and services. Today state administrators and consumer-advocates meet in formal settings in which …