Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Health Literacy And People Diagnosed With Mental Illness, Beckie Child

Dissertations and Theses

Health literacy is a well-studied concept that has a large literature base. Yet, little is known about health literacy and people diagnosed with mental illnesses, and even less health literacy research speaks to people diagnosed with mental illness. I used a framework and approach of lived experience of psychiatric diagnosis and psychiatric survivor research to conceptualize and inform the study. It explores health literacy with people diagnosed with mental and physical health diagnoses using a small quantitative survey, focus groups, and an individual interview. The findings suggest that health literacy is a dynamic and complex construct that interacts with the …

A Typology Of Foster Home Quality Elements In Relation To Foster Youth Mental Health, Paul Sorenson

Dissertations and Theses

Foster care has been one of the primary interventions in society's efforts to address child maltreatment. The foster parents and foster homes follow a process of certification intended to ensure that maltreated children be placed in substitute care that supports and encourages positive outcomes. One of the outcomes of principle concern is mental health. Few studies have been conducted that explore the makeup of certified foster homes with respect to the cumulative impact of multiple indicators of quality on mental health outcomes of foster youth.

This study sought to identify a typology of foster homes based on theorized indicators of …

Examining Demographic And Environmental Factors In Predicting The Perceived Impact Of Cancer On Childhood And Adolescent Cancer Survivors, Nazan Cetin

Dissertations and Theses

Cancer survivors' perceptions on how cancer has impacted their lives has been identified as a "critical predictor" of psychosocial well-being and quality of life outcomes. Given the dramatic increase in survival rates and the long-term health and psychosocial challenges, as well as survivorship care barriers, this study focuses special attention on childhood and adolescent cancer survivors and is guided by Tedeschi and Calhoun's theory of posttraumatic growth and Hammond's theory of distinctiveness. This study aims to examine the influence of demographic (i.e., age at diagnosis, biological sex, race/ethnicity, type of cancer) and environmental factors (i.e., geographical location and insurance type), …

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of How Youth In Care Describe Social Support, Jared Israel Best

Dissertations and Theses

There are nearly 422,000 youth in foster care in the United States with 20,000 aging out each year. Youth who age out of care demonstrate worse outcomes in all areas (education, employment, homelessness, justice system involvement, and social support) compared to the general population. These outcomes represent an ideological production, or a production of knowledge regarding the discursive youth in care. Thus, dominant discourses of youth are informed and constitutive of these problematic outcomes. Similarly, youthhood is dominantly defined by risk and informed by peer groups and social relationships. This study presents findings from interviews with 22 youth preparing to …

The Mechanisms Connecting State Marijuana Policies To Parent, Peer, And Youth Drug Perception Leading To Youth Marijuana Use, Eunbyeor Sophie Yang

Dissertations and Theses

Youth marijuana use, which can lead to numerous health problems, is significantly associated with youth drug perception, which is greatly influenced by state marijuana laws such as medical marijuana legalization and penalty severity. The mediating impact of social drug perceptions on the association between state marijuana laws and youth drug disapproval is not well known. Based on theory of change and primary socialization theory, this study examined the impact of state marijuana laws on youth drug disapproval, the mediating factors of parent and peer drug disapproval, the direct effect of youth drug disapproval on youth marijuana use, and the moderating …

Examining The Role Of Social Support And Neighborhood Deprivation In The Relationship Between Multiple Aces And Health Risk Behaviors, Marin L. Henderson-Posther

Dissertations and Theses

The accumulation of multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is associated with the disproportionate development of health risk behaviors (HRBs), such as smoking, substance use, physical inactivity, and risky HIV behaviors. The impact of neighborhood social inequities on the association between multiple ACEs and HRBs is not well known. This study aims to examine the impact of stressors associated with neighborhood deprivation on ACE-related HRBs, the potential protective factor of perceived social support (PSS), as well as better understand disproportionality experienced by racial/ethnic minorities. Through merging data from the 2010 Washington State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey (n = …