Mental and Social Health Commons^™

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 …

Understanding The Profiles Of Adolescents Engaged In Intentional Self-Poisoning With Suicidal Intent And The Role Of Primary Care In Early Intervention In Vermont, Rachael Comeau

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Suicide prevention is a top public health priority in Vermont. It is a complex issue, requiring a multi-faceted response from many different public and private stakeholders. Because intentional self-poisoning with suicidal intent is rarely lethal, it presents a particularly good opportunity for secondary interventions in the primary care setting. Extensive research has been done on intentional self-poisoning with suicidal intent and its relationship to subsequent risk of death by suicide, but gaps exist in research utilizing poison center data in the primary care setting. This dissertation employs an explanatory sequential mixed method research design to (a) develop a profile of …

Development And Validation Of The Smoker Self-Stigma Questionnaire (Sssq), Thomas Geist

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Though rates of smoking have declined for decades, the tobacco epidemic persists. During this time, denormalization of smoking and the tobacco industry emerged as viable strategies to decrease smoking rates. However, researchers have become increasingly concerned with denormalization strategies’ impact on the stigmatization of smokers, and have questioned their ethics and continued utility. Unfortunately, current research lacks a theoretically and psychometrically sound measure to represent smokers’ experience of stigma and help explore these issues. This study sought to develop and validate such a measure, the Smoker Self-Stigma Questionnaire (SSSQ). Initial items for the SSSQ were developed to cover three domains …

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. …

College Coaches’ Experiences, Knowledge And Attitudes To Support Student-Athlete Mental Health, Cathy Rahill

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of college coaches’ experiences with student-athlete mental health concerns, knowledge to address these concerns, and dispositions and attitudes toward student-athlete mental health. Although student-athlete mental health has been the subject of previous research, this is the first study to ask college coaches their perspectives on the topic. Data for the study were collected using a Web-based survey with a sample of college athletic coaches who coach male and female student athletes at Division I athletic programs in the Northeastern United States. The study’s findings confirm coaches’ concern and care …

Predictors Of Psychotherapy Attrition Among Refugees, Emily Robin Pichler

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

It is estimated that approximately one in five patients will terminate therapy early, before participating in full treatment and obtaining maximum therapeutic benefits. Millions of people are forcibly displaced as refugees each year, and therefore at increased risk for poverty, discrimination, and complex mental health needs, yet no research has yet examined rates or predictors of psychotherapy attrition among refugees. The current study draws upon a sample of refugee clients seeking treatment at a community clinic (N = 196), and a comparison group of 165 non-refugee clients at the same clinic. Logistic regression was employed to (1) compare rates of …

Using Word Embeddings To Explore The Language Of Depression On Twitter, Sandhya Gopchandani

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

How do people discuss mental health on social media? Can we train a computer program to recognize differences between discussions of depression and other topics? Can an algorithm predict that someone is depressed from their tweets alone? In this project, we collect tweets referencing “depression” and “depressed” over a seven year period, and train word embeddings to characterize linguistic structures within the corpus. We find that neural word embeddings capture the contextual differences between “depressed” and “healthy” language. We also looked at how context around words may have changed over time to get deeper understanding of contextual shifts in the …

Magnesium Intake And Depression In U.S. Adults, Emily Tarleton

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Research has focused extensively on the negative health effects of inadequate Mg intake, but the extent of the problem of deficiency deserves further exploration. The notion that U.S. adults consume an inadequate amount of magnesium, leading to increased risk for chronic diseases such as depression, is plausible. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), which are large, cross-sectional, population-based data sets that assess the health and nutritional status of U.S. adults and children, indicate over half the adult population does not consume adequate amounts of magnesium based on the estimated average requirement (EAR) established by the Institute of Medicine. Using …

Everyone Is Anxious: A Narrative For Admissions Professionals, Students, And Parents, On College Admissions And Anxiety, Sarah Hecklau

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Written in the Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) style of writing, this thesis explores my personal experience as a college admissions counselor. It offers a reflection of my own college search and application experience, my perspective on the experience of today's high school students, and my professional experience working within an admissions office. The juxtaposition of these three perspectives alongside scholarly references on higher education, philosophy, and anxiety, provides a full-spectrum view of the college admissions process.

The core topic of this reflection is anxiety, and showing how each party experiences anxiety in the college search, application, and selection process. Other …

Exploring The Effects Of Concussion On College Students Returning To Academic Demands, Kathryn Vreeland

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

While the media frenzy focuses on the physical risks of concussion, there is also growing concern about the academic repercussions for students who sustain the injury. We do not currently have a uniform evidence-based approach for optimally returning a student back to learning activities after a concussion. We also do not understand how the diverse consequences of a concussion may affect academic self-efficacy and performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the effects a concussion may have on college students who are navigating the return to learn (RTL) process. This research aims to inform whether there are measureable …

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 …

How One Life Coach Attempts To Inspire Mindful Music: The Morality Of The Soul, Jared M. Ford

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis will be to examine one student's personal struggle in life and how those events have helped him to find his purpose and reason for being. This examination will be done by using a Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) approach to explain how music has been at the forefront of all moral and ethical decisions ever made in his life in order to find his true calling or vocation. This thesis will be broken down into 3 main chapters with several sub chapters taking the reader though the life of Jared M. Ford. This thesis will then …

Multi-Sensory Stimulation Environments For Use With Dementia Patients: Staff Perspectives On Reduction Of Agitation And Negative Behaviors, Megan Houston

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Background: Dementia is a degenerative neurological disorder that afflicts a growing proportion of the global population. Complementary alternative medicine (CAM) modalities are under investigation for their therapeutic value in the management of dementia.

Purpose: Nursing care of dementia sufferers can include managing agitation and negative behaviors; this study investigates staff appraisal of the Multi-Sensory Stimulation Environment (MSSE) as an intervention for these nursing challenges.

Methods: A purposive sample of nursing staff employed in residential care for dementia patients were recruited 10 weeks after the initiation of an open-access MSSE at the facility to complete a confidential self-administered questionnaire.

Results: 79% …

A Prelimary Study Of Differences Between Voluntary And Involuntary Retirement From Driving: Quality Of Life And Depression In A Rural Population, Elizabeth Ann Pruitt Saxton

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Research has revealed a variety of negative health consequences for older adults who stop driving, and with the "graying of America," this will be a frequently encountered issue for healthcare providers. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in quality of life and depressive symptoms between former drivers who made the decision to stop driving voluntarily and former drivers who made the decision involuntarily (either in a resistant or in a reluctant manner). In this cross-sectional cohort comparison study, community dwelling older adults were asked to complete questionnaires of depression (using the Geriatric Depression Scale), …

Screaming Behind A Door: The Experiences Of Individuals Incarcerated Without Opioid Maintenance Treatment, Shoshana Aronowitz

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Background & Purpose: Opioid maintenance therapy (OMT) is an effective method of treating opioid addiction. Of incarcerated individuals in the U.S., 50-85% have a history of substance abuse, and >80% of inmates with opioid addiction history do not receive treatment. The purpose of this study was to explore individuals' experiences after being tapered from OMT upon incarceration. Methods: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed using in-depth interviewing of 10 participants. Results: Analysis identified six themes that captured the essence of the participants' experiences. Implications & Conclusion: Losing OMT upon incarceration was described as an extremely stressful experience for many individuals, …