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The Ecology Of Mental Health And The Impact Of Barriers On Mental Health Service Utilization, Alisha Aggarwal

Theses & Dissertations

Mental health has emerged as a major public health concern in recent times with several disparities and barriers related to adequate health service utilization. Different age groups experience diverse symptoms and face distinct barriers in accessing and utilizing healthcare. Policies like Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were launched to improve insurance coverage and delivery of mental health services. However, a large gap of unmet needs exists for adequate mental health service utilization in the country. This dissertation aims to describe the financial and non-financial barriers to mental health service utilization …

Effect Of Presence And Absence Of Parents On The Emotional Maturity And Perceived Loneliness In Adolescents, Sana Fatima, Momal Bashir, Kainat Khan, Sheeza Farooq, Sidra Shoaib, Sheeba Farhan

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

The present study was conducted to examine the Emotional Maturity and Perceived Loneliness of adolescents with respect to the presence and absence of parents. It was hypothesized that the absence or presence of parents of adolescents would affect the level of emotional maturity and perceived loneliness among adolescents. The adolescent participants N=250 (males n=125 and females n=125; age range= 13-18; M=16.63; SD=0.87) were approached through purposive convenient sampling technique. Measures included the Emotional Maturity Scale and the UCLA loneliness scale V-III. Results indicated that adolescent who lived with their guardians had greater perceived loneliness than those who lived with their …

Concurrent Reporting Of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Perspectives Of Adolescents And Caregivers., Katie J. Berghuis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The consequences of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) events in youth have predominantly been studied through retrospective studies that assess adults’ first 18 years of life or caregiver report of ACEs in youth. Reliance on only caregiver report to discern ACEs is a limitation amongst prior studies as research has found that caregivers tend to underestimate ACEs among their children, and there is even a greater discrepancy of reporting between caregivers and youth 12 years and older. Therefore, this study investigated concurrent reporting of self-report ACE scores in adolescents – defined in this study as 12 to 20 years old – …

Longitudinal Association Between Parental-To-Child-Maltreatment And Self-Reported Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms In Pakistani Adolescents, Maryam Pyar Ali Lakhdir, Ghazal Peerwani, Salman Muhammad Soomar, Apsara Ali, Salima Farooq, Naureen Akber Ali, Asif Khaliq, Muhammad Masood Kadir, Syed Iqbal Azam

Community Health Sciences

Background: Parent-to-child maltreatment is considered one of the risk factors for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) symptoms, but this hypothesis has not been adequately tested in Pakistani settings.
Aim: This study aimed to examine the association between parent-to-child maltreatment and the risk of developing GAD symptoms among adolescents.
Methods: The association of none to rare, occasionally, and frequently parent-to-child maltreatment with the incidence of GAD symptoms was investigated in a sample of 800 adolescents aged 11-17 years who were followed for two years. Parent-to-child maltreatment was assessed using ICAST-C (International child abuse screening tool). GAD Symptoms were determined by SCARED (Screen …

Intimate Partner Violence Education For High School Students, Morgan Foster

Dissertations

Problem Adolescents are at risk for experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). As early as seventh grade, over half of adolescents have reported being in a romantic relationship. Adolescent screening for and education of IPV is minimal, and only the Healthy Relationships Quiz developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] screens young adolescents across all aspects of IPV, including psychological and sexual violence. The purpose of this project was to develop an IPV education plan for high school students in a health course.

Methods An educational lesson plan for IPV was created for high school teachers.

Results …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Opioid Use For Adolescents At Us Emergency Departments, Michael T. Phan, Daniel M. Tomaszewski, Cody Arbuckle, Sun Yang, Candice D. Donaldson, Michelle A. Fortier, Brooke Jenkins, Erik Linstead, Zeev N. Kain

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Racial/ethnic disparities in the use of opioids to treat pain disorders have been previously reported in the emergency department (ED). Further research is needed to better evaluate the impact race/ethnicity may have on the use of opioids in adolescents for the management of pain disorders in the ED.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study using data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2006 to 2016. Multivariate models were used to evaluate the role of race/ethnicity in the receipt of opioid agonists while in the ED. All ED visits with patients aged 11–21 years old were analyzed. …

Mental Health And The Impact Of Friendship, Ian Adkins

WRIT: Journal of First-Year Writing

Mental health issues are a very large problem in the United States today. For a long time, mental health issues were ignored and not even seen as something worth looking into or studying, let alone being a real medical condition. When they finally started to come to light, they were only associated with adults. In the United States, children’s mental health issues were largely ignored. It has only been recently that mental health in adolescents is being addressed, and phycologist and scientists are finding important information about how friendships can impact the way these at-risk adolescents deal with mental health …

Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavior Therapy: An Implementation To Treat Trauma-Related Symptoms Of A Teenage African American Male, Willie Borkai

Professional Impact Project: Implementation of Evidence Based Practices by Clinical Mental Health Counseling Graduate Students

Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT) is a widely used evidence-based treatment model for trauma-exposed children and adolescents. TF-CBT was implemented to treat a teenager with behavioral issues and lack of communication with family. This client was fit for TF-CBT as his trauma was stemmed from traumatic events from his biological father. The client has undergone some of the components of TF-CBT and has a better understanding of the impact of these traumatic events. No outcomes of the intervention. The client is still undergoing treatment.

Effectiveness Of An Online Intervention Combating Mental Health Stigma On Adolescent Help-Seeking Behaviors, Chelsea Krayecki

Counselor Education Capstones

Mental health stigma has been shown to be a barrier to seeking help for mental health concerns. This is especially true for adolescents due to important developmental characteristics. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2021), depression is one of the major causes of mental health concerns and disability among adolescents. In addition, the WHO (2021) also states that mental health conditions account for 16% of global burden of illness in people ages 10-19-years-old. The current pandemic has only increased these concerns, as social, emotional, and mental well-being has been impacted by the pandemic (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, …

Mental Health Of Children And Adolescents Amidst Covid-19 And Past Pandemics: A Rapid Systematic Review, Salima Meherali, Neelam Punjani, Samantha Louie-Poon, Komal Abdul Rahim, Jai K. Das, Rehana A. Salam, Zohra S. Lassi

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: The COVID‑19 pandemic and associated public health measures have disrupted the lives of people around the world. It is already evident that the direct and indirect psychological and social effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic are insidious and affect the mental health of young children and adolescents now and will in the future. The aim and objectives of this knowledge-synthesis study were to identify the impact of the pandemic on children's and adolescent's mental health and to evaluate the effectiveness of different interventions employed during previous and the current pandemic to promote children's and adolescents' mental health.
Methodology: We conducted …

The Impact Of Mindfulness On Mental And Emotional Health, Physical Fitness, And Academic Performance, Melanie B. Smith

Online Theses and Dissertations

Past research has indicated promising results with mindfulness and mental health. This study examines the relationship between mindfulness and mental health, physical fitness, and academic performance for middle and high school students enrolled in health and physical education courses. The Calm app was utilized in part of the Calm Schools Initiative. (n.d.) as part of the intervention. The treatment group took part in mindfulness activities twice per week for the duration of the study. Measurers were recorded using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale – Adolescents (Brown, West, Loverich, & Biegel, 2011), Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Karmarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), Patient …

Effects Of A Physical Activity Intervention On The Stress Reduction Of Underserved Adolescent Youth, Gwenyth C. Asbury

Senior Theses

Stress levels of American teenagers are rising. Studies show that teens are reporting higher stress levels than what they perceive to be healthy and that these levels are higher than the levels of perceived stress reported by adults (APA, 2013). In addition to reporting unhealthy levels of stress, adolescents are reporting feeling overwhelmed and depressed due to their stress (APA, 2013). These findings are especially true for underserved adolescents who are more likely to have exposure to violence, discrimination, racism and conditions of poverty in addition to experiencing the typical stressors associated with adolescence (American Academy of Child and Adolescent …

Assessing Test Anxiety And Resilience Among Greek Adolescents During Covid-19 Pandemic, Sofia Sakka, Vasiliki Aliki Nikopoulou, Eleni Bonti, Paraskevi Tatsiopoulou, Panayiota Karamouzi, Aikaterini Giazkoulidou, Virginia Tsipropoulou, Eleni Parlapani, Vasiliki Holeva, Ioannis Diakogiannis

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of school year’s extension due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) by addressing test anxiety and by studying the coping strategies adolescents used to overcome it. For the majority of the adolescents the final exams can be a powerful source of stress, since the entrance examinations are required for admission into higher education and further reflect the transition to adulthood. The sample consisted of 67 High School students and the data collection was conducted online due to the imposed measures by the Greek government. Results showed normal or average levels …

Mechanisms Study: Using Game Theory To Assess The Effects Of Social Norms And Social Networks On Adolescent Smoking In Schools—Study Protocol, Ruth F. Hunter, Felipe Montes, Jennifer M. Murray, Sharon C. Sanchez-Franco, Shannon C. Montgomery, Joaquín Jaramillo, Christopher Tate, Rajnish Kumar, Laura Dunne, Abhijit Ramalingam, Erik O. Kimbrough, Erin Krupka, Huiyu Zhou, Laurence Moore, Linda Bauld, Blanca Llorente, Olga L. Sarmiento, Frank Kee

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This proof of concept study harnesses novel transdisciplinary insights to contrast two school-based smoking prevention interventions among adolescents in the UK and Colombia. We compare schools in these locations because smoking rates and norms are different, in order to better understand social norms based mechanisms of action related to smoking. We aim to: (1) improve the measurement of social norms for smoking behaviors in adolescents and reveal how they spread in schools; (2) to better characterize the mechanisms of action of smoking prevention interventions in schools, learning lessons for future intervention research. The A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial (ASSIST) …

Investigating The Impact Of The Fava Well-Being Protocol On Perceived Stress And Psychological Well-Being With At-Promise High School Students, Renee L. Fensom

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

An elevation in stress levels can be caused by many contributing factors, which can ultimately interfere with the learning of young people. Fortunately, an increase in well being can help promote resilience, creating a buffer to stress. Therefore, the current study investigated the influence of a positive psychology intervention aimed at lowering perceived stress and increasing well-being among at-promise students. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Ryff’s Model of Psychological Well-Being (PWB). The specific intervention used was the Well-being Therapy School Protocol developed by Fava and associates, based off of Carol Ryff’s Model of PWB (Fava, 2016). …

Changing The Narrative For Lgbtq Adolescents: A Literature Review And Call For Research Into Narrative Therapy To Improve Family Acceptance Of Lgbtq Teens, Felicia Jordan

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

A large body of existing research has demonstrated the importance of family acceptance as a protective factor for LGBTQ youth facing increased risks of low self-esteem, depression, suicidal ideation, and other mental-health problems. However, little research has been done on therapeutic interventions for families specifically to address stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ adolescents. In particular, narrative therapy, with its focus on deconstructing and re-storying oppressive cultural narratives, seems a natural fit, but little to no quantitative research has been done on family-based narrative therapy for LGBTQ adolescents, and only a handful of qualitative studies have been published. Therefore, the paper …

Mental Health Screening For Low Income Adolescents: An Evidence-Based Project, Allison Bryden

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Abstract

TITLE: Mental Health Screening For Low-Income Adolescents

BACKGROUND: Nearly 80% of adolescents in the United States will suffer from a mental illness and not receive evaluation or services. Children from low socio-economic backgrounds have an increased risk of mental health disorders which permeate into adulthood, leading to additional negative sequel and lower quality of life. Among adolescent mental health conditions, depression and anxiety are the most common. Literature has suggested provider intuition alone has low sensitivity and specificity for detecting mental illness and that screening tools are indicated.

PURPOSE: The aim of this project is to implement standardized routine …

Unplugging: An Evidence-Based Project To Reduce Screen Time And Improve Healthy Media Use In The Adolescent Population, Erica Persichetti

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Abstract

Background:Excessive media use is an emerging health concern amongst the pediatric population. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends less than 2 hours per day of recreational screen time, yet the national average is between 7 to 9 hours per day for adolescents. A media-saturated lifestyle has consequences on a child’s mental, physical, and emotional health. Despite guidelines stating media use should be assessed at annual well-visits, only 16% of providers are following this recommendation. This gap in care leaves many families with a limited understanding of the impact of media on their child's health and represents a …

Mental Health And You, Sierra Salvatierra

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Latinx community at the Epicenter in Salinas dealt with mental health illnesses, as well as were brought up with machismo attitudes. This population has a strong stigma against getting help with their mental health. Being faced with immigration, poverty, discrimination and inadequite conversations about health, drives a spike in anxiety levels. Consequences of not dealing with mental health illnesses include unresolved emotions are generational trauma, self harm, substance abuse, and unhealthy relationships. The project created to get in front of this problem was a dialogue series of conversation starters for people who want to open up. The purpose of …

Mental Health In The School System: Providing Tools And Resources For Teachers, Hannah Skinner

Student Capstone Papers

This capstone project's aim was to look at the mental health needs of school aged children, and how Occupational Therapists can help to meet their needs in the school system. The doctoral student completed a background on mental health statistics and needs in children, and also completed a literature review on occupational therapy’s role in mental health and schools, mindfulness, and current practices in the United States.

A gap was identified after a literature search was completed: While the school systems understand mental health is an area that should be addressed, there is a gap in providing these tools and …

The Effect Of Grooming And Therapeutic Riding By Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder On Equine Salivary Cortisol Concentrations, Morgan Shields

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The use of horses in therapeutic riding programs, especially for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), has grown, yet the impact of grooming and riding on equine stress levels remains unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of grooming and therapeutic riding on salivary cortisol concentrations of 10 horses in a therapeutic riding program. Samples were taken pre and post over two control and grooming days and over two series of nine therapeutic riding lessons for adolescents with ASD. On grooming days, each horse was groomed using a set protocol. On riding days, horses were ridden …

Economic Burden And Mental Health Of Primary Caregivers Of Perinatally Hiv Infected Adolescents From Kilifi, Kenya, Patrick V. Katana, Amina Abubakar, Moses K. Nyongesa, Derrick Ssewanyana, Paul Mwangi, Charles R. Newton, Julie Jemutai

Institute for Human Development

Background: Eighty per cent of perinatally HIV infected (PHI) adolescents live in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA), a setting also characterized by huge economic disparities. Caregiving is crucial to the management of chronic illness such as HIV/AIDS, but the economic costs and mental disorders borne by caregivers of PHI adolescents often go unnoticed. In this study, we evaluated economic costs, coping strategies and association between economic cost and mental health functioning of caregivers of perinatally HIV infected adolescents in Kilifi, Kenya.

Methods: We used a cost of illness descriptive analysis approach to determine the economic burden and Patient Health Questionnaire …

Neighborhoods And Mental Health: Understanding The Social, Environmental And Structural Factors To Better Support Our Youth And Communities, Meghan Murtagh

Community Engagement Student Work

The social, structural and environmental characteristics of neighborhoods can have a significant impact on the social, emotional, behavioral and cognitive development of children and adolescents. The Center for Disease Control reports every 1 out of 5 children (22%) living below 100% of the federal poverty level have a mental, behavioral and/or developmental disorder (CDC, 2019). Through the utilization of ecological frameworks and a “place” based framework called The Social Determinates of Health, research was conducted to examine the link between neighborhoods and health outcomes in children and adolescents. These findings were then shared through a workshop with the target audience …

The Impacts Of Loyola Marymount’S Summer Arts Workshop From The Perspective Of The Adult Facilitators, Alexandria C. Loiseau

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This study looks at the Summer Arts Workshop (SAW) and its impacts on the adult facilitators that are involved in the workshop’s programming and implementation. The study seeks to gain an understanding of how the workshop could be improved in order to strengthen the workshop so that its adolescent participants could continue to benefit from attending it. The research question is: What are the impacts of a therapeutically informed summer arts workshop/camp with adolescents according to participants? Strengths? Space for improvements? This study is a qualitative approach utilizing a semi-structured interview. The analysis of the data from the four interviews …

Effect Of Mindfulness On Empathy And Self-Compassion: An Adapted Mbct Program On Filipino College Students, Reginald Paul R. Centeno, Karina Therese G. Fernandez

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Attending college is meaningful for many young adults. This period is marked by physical, emotional, and psychological changes that can have both positive and negative effects on college students. The last two decades have seen an alarming increase in the number of college students who suffer from mental health conditions, such as depression, suicide, anxiety, and alcohol abuse. It is recommended that actions to support the students’ wellbeing must be creative and evidence-based. Research suggests that a mindfulness-based intervention may be an effective strategy to address mental health conditions among college students. This study was done to examine the efficacy …

Search For The Cause Of Vaping Associated Lung Injury In Adolescents, Alexandra E. Krueger

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In August 2019 an unexplained, exponential rise in severe respiratory illnesses in previously healthy young adults, swept across America catching the attention of medical providers. Hospital admissions for lung injury increased 10-fold over two months’ time leaving practitioners scrambling for answers. All affected patients were found to have used e-cigarettes prior to symptoms and endorsed using nicotine and marijuana vape pens. The medical community quickly began to search for the cause of these vaping associated lung injuries. Understanding the mechanism of injury is important in order to assist in educating the public about the risks associated with e-cigarettes. The aim …

Childhood Anxiety, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy And/Or Pharmacological Treatment, Jennifer S. Mccarthy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Objective: Evaluate best practice in managing anxiety in the pediatric population, including both school age children and adolescents. This literature review compared pharmacological treatment and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)’s effectiveness on the management of anxiety within the pediatric population.

Background: Up to 25% of children in the United States are affected by a mental health disorder, anxiety being the most prevalent. Childhood anxiety can have a distressing impact on social, family, and academic functioning. If persisting into adulthood it increases the risk of developing other co-occurring mental health conditions, substance abuse issues, and contributes to impaired employment retention and socioeconomic …

Addressing Adolescent And Young Adult Mental Health During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Megan Boyer

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

This quality improvement project at South Burlington Family Medicine aimed to investigate the mental health of individuals ages 13-25 in our practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible patients received a PHQ-9 questionnaire with two additional questions related to COVID-19. Recommendations for future interventions to serve this population were made based on these preliminary findings, with the goal of doing a full PDSA cycle in the near future.

Patterns Of Problem Behaviours Among A Representative Sample Of Youth In Ontario, Chantal Williams

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Behavioural addictions among adolescents are becoming a growing public health concern. It is well established that problem behaviours, particularly substance use behaviours, tend to cluster together. Some research indicates that gambling is associated with substance use, aligning with Problem Behaviour Theory, which suggests that problem behaviours stem from an underlying disposition toward deviance. This study sought to assess whether a) behavioural addictions, including gambling, video gaming and technology use, cluster together and with substance use and b) profiles of problem behaviours are associated with age, race, socioeconomic status, grade achievement, school connectedness, and antisocial behaviour in the total sample and …

Integrating Digital App Technologies Within Traditional Expressive Arts Therapy For Children And Adolescents, Sarah Storjohann

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In recent years, technology in the form of digital applications (apps) has emerged as a fundamental aspect of everyday life as well as a practical, convenient, and inexpensive tool for artistic self-expression, most notably amongst children and adolescents. Ninety-eight percent of U.S. households currently possess some form of mobile device (Rideout, 2017), with an estimated 95% of U.S. teenagers ages 13 to 17 owning a Smartphone (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). As digital natives, children and adolescents are more likely to identify with and connect to these arts-based methods. Clinician perspective concerning digital integration varies across a wide spectrum. Through a …