Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Essays In Health Economics, Chuxin Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In Chapter 1, I investigate the effect of a financial incentive from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on new medical procedure technology diffusion. I examine how the incentive affects diffusion among Medicare patients, for whom hospitals receive the incentives, and non-Medicare patients for whom there are no incentives. I answer these two questions by studying the New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP) program offered by Medicare (Part A). It is unknown whether its incentive is enough to encourage diffusion under the prospective payment system and it also remains unknown whether it spills over to non-Medicare patients or crowds …

Non-Pharmacological Interventions For Alzheimer’S Disease Patients, Mariam Hanna

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) research often focuses on the pharmacological treatment and neurological basis of the disease. However, in the absence of disease-modifying treatments, interventions that target symptom reduction may improve quality of life and delay institutionalization. Given the limitations and risks associated with pharmacological AD treatments, this paper reviews non-pharmacological interventions to improve memory function and reduce symptoms of depression in patients with AD including music therapies, Cognitive Rehabilitation, and Bright Light Therapy.

Transforming Impossible Into Possible (Tip) For Financial Capability: Application Of Practice-Based Program Theory And Measures In Intervention Design, Philip Young P. Hong, Alanna Shin, Maria V. Wathen, Theresa Gibbons

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Purpose

Financial knowledge often does not translate into financial well-being. This study looks at how knowledge might be converted to well-being for people living in low-income environments, based on a theory called Financial PSS.

Methods

The study tests the validity of the two scales that make up Financial PSS: Perceived Financial Barriers and Financial Hope. Then it examines how these measures along with an intervention measure called TIP are associated with financial capability.

Results

Results validated the Perceived Financial Barrier Scale and Financial Hope Scale. Next, the study found that the Perceived Financial Barriers Scale and the Financial Hope Scale …

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letter - September 2023, George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letters

No abstract provided.

A Unifying Approach To Measuring Climate Change Impacts And Adaptation, Antonio M. Bento, Noah Miller, Mehreen Mookerjee, Edson Severnini

All Works

We develop a unifying approach to estimating climate impacts and adaptation, and apply it to study the impact of climate change on local air pollution. Economic agents are usually constrained when responding to daily weather shocks, but may adjust to long-run climatic changes. By simultaneously exploiting variation in weather and climate, we identify both the short- and long-run impacts on economic outcomes, and measure adaptation directly as the difference between those responses. As a result, we identify adaptation without making extrapolations of weather responses over time or space, and overcome omitted variable bias concerns from prior approaches.

Inéire Report And Policy Recommendations, Arjumand Younus, Simon Caton, Muhammad Atif Qureshi, Mingyeong Jeon, Arefeh Kazemi, Sandra Ruiz Moriana

Articles

Over the years there has been an increased amount of immigration into Ireland leading to the formation of a multicultural society. More recently however immigration has become a controversial issue within Ireland leading to growing anti-immigrant sentiment and political conflict (Costa, 2023) reported as early as 2018 in a report by Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and Economic & Social Research Institute (McGinnity, Grotti, Russell, Fahey, et al., 2018). This project aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors behind such sentiment and its consequences by means of collecting comprehensive data on it and performing a quantitative and …

Donald Trump’S Contribution To The Study Of Politics And The Life Sciences, John Hibbing

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

If the life sciences are to have much to say about politics, there needs to be a universal element to political orientations. In this essay, I argue that the recent prominence of nativist, law-and-order, populist politicians reveals the nature of this universal element. All social units have to address bedrock dilemmas about how to deal with norm violators and how welcoming to be to outsiders as well as to proponents of new lifestyles. Might differences on these core dilemmas be the universal element of political life? Using the followers of one of the most prominent examples of a nativist political …

Does Abstract Thinking Facilitate Information Processing? Evidence From Financial Analysts, Frank Weikai Li, Rong Wang, Yang Yu, Gloria Yang Yu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We study whether abstract thinking – an essential cognitive trait established by psychological and neuroscientific studies – facilitates analysts’ information processing. Exploiting analysts’ questions during earnings calls, we construct an Abstract Thinking Index (ATI) that measures their tendency to involve abstract words, logical reasoning, broader topics, and future outlooks. We find that abstract thinking improves analysts’ forecast accuracy and recommendation informativeness. Consistent with abstract thinking featuring identifying central characteristics and comprehending intangible things, ATI has stronger effects for firms with fundamentals co-moving more with peers and less tangible information. Additional analyses suggest that ATI captures analysts’ cognitive traits rather than …

Merit Transference And The Paradox Of Merit Inflation, Matthew Hammerton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Many religious traditions and ethical systems hold that individuals accrue merit through their good intentions, acts, and character, and demerit through their bad intentions, acts, and character. This merit and demerit, accumulated by individuals throughout their lives, gives each person a kind of ethical “score” that can determine what they deserve, and influence whether good or bad things happen to them (e.g., divine punishments and rewards, a favourable or unfavourable rebirth, etc.). In some traditions (most notably Buddhism, but also to a limited extent in Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity), “merit transference” is a feature of these merit-based ethical systems. This …

Acceptance Of Communication Technology, Emotional Support And Subjective Well-Being For Chinese Older Adults Living Alone During Covid-19: A Moderated Mediation Model, Ze Ling Nai, Woan Shin Tan, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Stringent social distancing measures implemented to control the spread of COVID-19 affected older adults living alone by limiting their social interaction beyond their households. During these restrictions, interactions beyond the household could be facilitated by communication technology (CT) such as voice calls, instant messages. Our study provides evidence on how CT acceptance could influence the emotional support and in turn, subjective well-being (SWB) of older adults living alone. We did a cross-sectional survey with 293 community-dwelling Chinese older adults. Participants were surveyed from September to November 2020 and had completed measures on CT acceptance (competency), emotional support, and SWB. PROCESS …

Demographic Structure And Voting Behaviour During Democratization: Evidence From Malaysia's 2022 Election, Sebastian Carl Dettman, Thomas B. Pepinsky

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Malaysia’s fifteenth general election (GE15) was a milestone in the country’s democratization process, with new parties and political movements competing with established political coalitions. In this paper, we investigate how Malaysia’s cleavage structure—a central feature of Malaysia’s prior authoritarian regime—shapes electoral competition in a newly competitive political environment. We find that the “race paradigm” (Milner, Embong, and Tham 2014) remains central to explaining party strategy and coalition behavior in GE15, but that more democratic competition has increased the salience of regional differences—both between peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, and within peninsular Malaysia itself. Our analysis reveals the structural foundations of …

You've Been Fact-Checked! Examining The Effectiveness Of Social Media Fact-Checking Against The Spread Of Misinformation, Ben Wasike

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using a random sample of active social media users (N = 1,156), this study examined the effectiveness of social media fact-checking against online misinformation sharing. Data indicates that these fact-checks are minimally effective in stopping the spread of misinformation on social media. Being aware of the fact-checks, being fact-checked, or even having content deleted from one's account were not deterrents to sharing misinformation. The fear of isolation was the strongest deterrent, suggesting that account freezes, suspensions, or bans were the most effective ways to curtail the spread of misinformation. The study contributes to research on fact-checking, to research on …

A Mental Health Needs Assessment Of Students Attending An Alternative High School, Kelly Sachdev

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Research suggests that students who attend urban or alternative schools experience higher rates of poverty, family instability, and violence victimization. These risk factors can result in higher rates of depression, school absences, and lower academic performance. This needs assessment explores the mental health needs of students at a low-income, urban, alternative high school in Southern California from the perspective of students, teachers, and staff in order to better understand the stressors and mental health needs of this vulnerable population. Four focus groups were conducted with students (n = 9), teachers (n = 7), and staff (n = 13). Audio files …

Experiences Of Professionals Of Color In The Child Welfare Workforce, Nina Williams-Mbengue, Anita Barbee

Other QIC-WD Products

“Entrenched disparities in our laws and public policies, and in our public and private institutions, have often denied that equal opportunity to individuals and communities. Our country faces converging economic, health, and climate crises that have exposed and exacerbated inequities, while a historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism.”

- Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government, January 20, 2021

Many Americans are currently engaged in a painful examination of the nation’s history of individual, interpersonal, institutional, and structural racism. Leaders within the child welfare system …

Parallel Processes Of Posttraumatic Stress And Metabolic Dysfunction: Long-Term Costs Of Trauma On The Psychological And Physical Health Of 9/11 Survivors, Shane W. Adams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Metabolic conditions (MetC) have been associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and may be critical indicators of the systemic physical sequelae of traumatic stress. Parallel process latent growth modeling wasapplied to longitudinal data collected from 35,788 9/11 survivors and used to model PTSD symptoms and MetC to determine how the development and course of one affect the other. A unidirectional relationship was found in which the intercept of PTSD symptoms predicted the slope of MetC. Hyperarousal (ß=.172) and emotional numbing (ß=.171) PTSD symptoms demonstrated the strongest association with the growth of MetC over and above …

Influence Of Capacity Building On Nutrition Sensitivity Of The Municipal Agriculture Development Plan In Calabarzon, Philippines, Kim Leonard G. Dela Luna, Maria Theresa M. Talavera, Leila S. Africa, Clarissa B. Juanico, Nancy A. Tandang, Marison Felicidad R. Dy

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

To improve the nutrition sensitivity of the Municipal Agriculture Development Plan (MADP) of Calabarzon, a one-group pre-test post-test design quasi-experimental study was conducted involving the Local Agriculture Planners (LAP) of 57 municipalities in the region from March to December 2021. Wilcoxon Paired Signed Rank was used to determine significant differences in the nutrition sensitivity of the MADP and level of knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy of the LAP before and after the intervention. Binary logistic regression analysis was also performed to model the change in the level of the nutrition sensitivity of the MADP. The LAP's level of knowledge, attitude, and …

The Practice Of The Equitable Evaluation Framework™: Context And Introduction To The Special Issue, Marcia A. Coné, Jara Dean-Coffey

The Foundation Review

Welcome to the special issue of The Foundation Review.

For many, this is an introduction to the Equitable Evaluation Framework™, and how some folks in U.S. philanthropy are reimagining evaluation, learning, and research through its practice. For others, you’ve been in practice of the EEF alongside us and other individuals and organizations and are, thus, represented in the offerings shared from your colleagues.

Over the past three years, in partnership with many, we’ve engaged in exploring, puzzling together, and sharing what it means to “be in practice of the EEF.” While impossible to convey the depth, breadth, and richness of …

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Editorial, Teresa R. Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

A Seat At Whose Table? Analyzing Detroit’S Community Benefit Ordinance As A Tool For Environmental Justice, Sarah Draughn Gargaro

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

The Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as the “just treatment and meaningful involvement” of all people in the decisionmaking that affects the environment and human health. Since the origins of the modern American environmental justice movement in the 1980s, activists have emphasized the importance of self-determination. Environmental justice requires that decision making processes center the voices of the individuals impacted by decisions made about the distributions of environmental assets and harms. There is a significant challenge, however, in designing community engagement practices that meaningfully involve community members. Since the 1990s, community benefits agreements have been heralded as an effective …

Evaluation Of Driver Comprehension And Compliance Of Red Colored Pavement Markings For Transit Lanes In Portland, Oregon, Nathan Mcneil, Christopher Monsere, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many U.S. agencies have experimented with red colored pavement markings in transit lanes to enhance the message that they are restricted to transit vehicles. This study evaluates non-transit drivers’ comprehension of and compliance with red colored lane markings in transit priority lanes intended to communicate lane restrictions and appropriate turning and merging locations. Two complementary research methods were used: 1) an online survey of drivers’ comprehension of red colored pavement markings; and, 2) evaluation of video collected at locations pre and post installation of red colored pavement markings. In the survey, most drivers recognize the red pavement color as a …

Depression As A Mediator Between Combat Deployment And Substance Use Among Veterans, Brooke Kania Millham

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Individuals who deploy to combat zones often develop increased rates of substance use problems, which may be due to self-medication for depressive symptoms. This study used logistic simple mediation analyses with bootstrapping to test whether depression mediates the relationship between combat zone experience and substance dependence or abuse (alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, opioids, other illicit drugs, and concurrent substance misuse) among military veterans via secondary data analysis of the 2013 to 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH; N = 14,121; 87.9% male; 54.4% age 50+; 75.2% white; 34.5% with combat zone experience). Analysis revealed that depression was only …

Ms 153 Guide To The Alan B. Cooper, Md Papers (1976-1994), Alan B. Cooper (1928-2002)

Manuscript Finding Aids

The Alan Cooper, MD papers document his career in psychiatry and mental health education in Houston, Texas. The collection includes syllabi, course materials, and correspondence relating to various classes and seminars. In addition, there are administrative publications from the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. The materials date from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. See more at MS 153.

Evaluating The Benefits Of Mindfulness Based Practices In The Hospital Setting: A Case For Mindful Communication Interventions For Nurses, Annie Kaplon

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Recent stressors, such as COVID-19, have provided new challenges for healthcare workers, especially nurses, and have contributed to the increase in burnout rates in the hospital setting. Therefore, relief in this space is critical. Ample research demonstrates that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) may help to improve well-being among healthcare providers more broadly. Literature supports that the practice of mindful communication, in particular, is helpful, not only in improving patient outcomes, but also in decreasing interpersonal stress among healthcare workers. This paper analyzes and synthesizes relevant studies, both qualitative and quantitative, and argues that mindful communication training improves the workplace environment for …

Disrupting The Grid: Encountering Fire And Smoke Through Energy Infrastuctures, Deepti Chatti, Sayd Randle

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Experiences of fires are mediated by energy infrastructures and refracted through social inequality and difference. In California, a state marked by increasingly intense and frequent wildfires, the grid is a source of fire risk, with historically marginalized groups bearing the brunt of exposures to wildfire smoke. Drawing on research conducted by one of the co-authors in collaboration with California’s Karuk Tribe and Blue Lake Rancheria Tribes, this empirically grounded review article expands our understanding of grids. Extant scholarship presents the grid as a networked infrastructure mediating access to energy and one’s relationship to a collective and the state. We extend …

The Normalcy In Solomon Islands-Australia Asymmetric Relations Post-Ramsi, Faqih Faqih

Jurnal Politik

Solomon Islands – China security deal has concerned Australia. Despite this, the relations between Solomon Islands and Australia have still been maintained through negotiated interaction. This article seeks to explain how Australia and Solomon Islands have sustained their normal relations even though Australia, as the larger power, has the means to exert its dominance over the Solomon Islands. The study employed a qualitative method by analyzing Solomon Islands and Australian leaders' statements collected from news media, official government websites, and official documents. Using Brantly Womack's conception of normalcy, the research found that the Solomon Islands still recognize the disparity of …

Intersectionality Analysis Of The Impact Of Anti-Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Policies In Indonesia And Egypt, Nadiah Atsil Gustina, Laras Ayu Nareswari

Jurnal Politik

Indonesia and Egypt are the two countries with the highest prevalence rates of Female Genital Mutilation / Cutting (FGM/C) in the world. Several policies have been issued in order to reduce the number of cases of female circumcision, but they have not shown significant results. Therefore, the authors want to explain why the implementation of the anti-FGM/C policy has not succeeded in reducing the number of female circumcisions in Indonesia and Egypt. The authors argue that the leading cause of these problems is that the anti-FGM/C policies in both countries neglect the socio-cultural aspects of society, and both countries share …

The Mundlak Spatial Estimator, Badi H. Baltagi

Center for Policy Research

The spatial Mundlak model first considered by Debarsy (2012) is an alternative to fixed effects and random effects estimation for spatial panel data models. Mundlak modelled the correlated random individual effects as a linear combination of the averaged regressors over time plus a random time-invariant error. This paper shows that if spatial correlation is present whether spatial lag or spatial error or both, the standard Mundlak result in panel data does not hold and random effects does not reduce to its fixed effects counterpart. However, using maximum likelihood one can still estimate these spatial Mundlak models and test the correlated …

Treatment For Mental Health And Substance Use: Spillovers To Police Safety, Monica Deza

Center for Policy Research

We study the effect of community access to mental health and substance use treatment on police officer safety, which we proxy with on-duty assaults on officers. Police officers often serve as first-responders to people experiencing mental health and substance use crises, which can place police officers at risk. Combining agency-level data on police officer on-duty assaults and county-level data on the number of treatment centers that offer mental health and substance use care, we estimate two-way fixed-effects regressions and find that an additional four centers per county (the average annual increase observed in our data) leads to a 1.3% reduction …

Key Elements Of A File Format Strategy, Tyler Thorsted

Faculty Publications

Within the Digital Preservation Community there are many references to policies on file formats, acceptable file formats, preservation policies and strategies, risk matrices, and action plans. All have the intention of defining and describing file formats and guiding decisions on which formats to preserve how, and when. My team and I originally created a File Format Action Plan, which was later migrated from OneNote to Confluence and then included more strategic plans for hundreds of file formats. This paper explores which key elements should be included in an effective file format strategy and the different ways such data can be …