Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Examining The Evidence Base For Burnout, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Burnout has elicited growing interest among occupational health specialists in recent decades. Since 2019, the World Health Organization has characterized burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic, unmanageable workplace stress. According to the ICD-11, three symptoms define the entity: feelings of exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, and a sense of ineffectiveness at work, all of which correspond to the structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The ICD-11 includes burnout among the factors that influence health status. This paper calls into question that conceptualization based on a number of lines of evidence. The evidence includes the following: burnout was …

The Health Impacts Of The Trump Administration Among California Immigrants, Claudia M. Calhoon

Dissertations and Theses

Immigration policy was a marquee issue in the US presidential administration of Donald Trump. Trump’s administration employed both policy and rhetoric related to immigrants to mobilize voters, alter immigration policies and practices, and sustain a narrative of a nation under attack by immigrants. Administration officials were able to undertake these approaches because of existing immigration law, but they did so in more explicitly punitive ways than in recent administrations. The goal of this dissertation is to explore the health impacts of the administration’s practices and their effects. Paper 1 analyzes the immigration rhetoric and policies of US president Donald Trump …

"I Stayed There The Whole Night": Exploring Caregivers' Experiences With The Healthcare System When Caring For A Parent At The End Of Life, Lillian Mehran

Dissertations and Theses

Background: In the United States, there are nearly 53 million individuals serving as caregivers to a loved one. Half of all caregivers are caring for a parent or parent-in-law, and 79% of caregivers are caring for a person aged 50 or older. In New York State, there are an estimated 4.1 million caregivers who collectively provide over 2.6 billion hours of unpaid care, with those caring for a person at the end of life providing twice as many hours of caregiving per week compared to other caregivers. The number of individuals requiring caregiving is expected to increase as a significant …

The Lived Experience Of Using Opiates Among Young Adults, Catherine Mbewe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research study is to explore the lived experience of using opiates, as described by young adults aged 18 to 25 years. Over the last 2 decades, opioid use disorders (OUDs) and opiate overdose deaths have increased dramatically in the United States. What used to be a problem primarily contained to minority groups in poor inner-city areas is now increasingly common in all races, genders, ages, and classes. There has also been an alarming increase in opiate use—including fentanyl, both legal and illegal—among young adults. While much of the literature has been focused on the opiate use …

Obesity Risk And Comorbidities Among Colombians In New York City And In Colombia, Carlos A. Devia

Dissertations and Theses

Introduction: The prevalence of obesity and overweight in adults and children continues to increase worldwide, accounting for the mortality and morbidity from several diseases. Obesity disproportionally impacts Latinos in the United States (U.S.), and despite their diversity in origins, ancestry, and culture, it is still unclear the burden of obesity by specific Latino groups. For example, little information is available about how obesity impacts Colombians in the U.S. (the largest South American population). New evidence also indicates that Latino immigrants may no longer be arriving with healthy weight status to the U.S. because Latin American countries are undergoing epidemiologic and …

Validation Of The Occupational Depression Inventory In Brazil: A Study Of 1,612 Civil Servants, Renzo Bianchi, Danísio Calixto Cavalcante, Cristina Queirós, Blezi Daiana Menezes Santos, Jay Verkuilen, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Objective: The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) assesses work-attributed depressive symptoms. The ODI has demonstrated robust psychometric and structural properties. To date, the instrument has been validated in English, French, and Spanish. This study examined the psychometric and structural properties of the ODI's Brazilian-Portuguese version.

Methods: The study involved 1612 civil servants employed in Brazil (MAGE = 44, SDAGE = 9; 60% female). The study was conducted online across all Brazilian states.

Results: Exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) bifactor analysis indicated that the ODI meets the requirements for essential unidimensionality. The general factor accounted for 91% of the common variance extracted. …

The Pandemic Anxiety Inventory: A Validation Study, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Tasmyn Prytherch, Mark Cropley, Renzo Bianchi

Publications and Research

The Pandemic Anxiety Inventory (PAI) assesses anxiety symptoms individuals attribute to the presence of a pandemic. We conducted this study of 379 British adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that the PAI exhibited excellent reliability and solid criterion validity. Pandemic anxiety was associated with reduced social support, anticipated life changes, financial strain, job loss, economic insecurity, and the hospitalization or death of a close friend or relative. Using correlational and bifactor analyses, we found that the PAI demonstrated solid convergent and discriminant validity. The findings suggest that the PAI can be used in research and clinical practice.

The Pandemic Anxiety Inventory: A Validation Study, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Tasmyn Prytherch, Mark Cropley, Renzo Bianchi

Publications and Research

The Pandemic Anxiety Inventory (PAI) assesses anxiety symptoms individuals attribute to the presence of a pandemic. We conducted this study of 379 British adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that the PAI exhibited excellent reliability and solid criterion validity. Pandemic anxiety was associated with reduced social support, anticipated life changes, financial strain, job loss, economic insecurity, and the hospitalization or death of a close friend or relative. Using correlational and bifactor analyses, we found that the PAI demonstrated solid convergent and discriminant validity. The findings suggest that the PAI can be used in research and clinical practice.

Race, Gender, Physical Activity, And Cancer: A Quantitative Investigation, Shawna A. Townsend

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black women are more likely to die from cancer than any other population in the United States. Physical activity is known to be associated with preventing and reducing cancer burden. However, Black women are less physically active than their White counterparts and have a higher prevalence of diseases related to lack of physical activity than any other female group. To better understand these issues, this study employed the self-and-family management framework and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks through a secondary analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) dataset and hierarchical regression modeling to examine the relative impact of (a.) …

Sit Less, Move More: A National Study Of Physical-Activity Behavior And Cancer, Stella O. Nwogugu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Physical activity is associated with lower risks of cancer, the second leading cause of death among Americans. Yet, sedentary behavior is the prevailing lifestyle for about 80% of American adults. Additionally, cancer survivors remain significantly inactive, even though physical activity has been shown to decrease risk of cancer and cancer recurrence, improve tolerance of cancer therapy, and reduce mortality. This research explores the relative impact of personal agency, social support, and key demographic variables on physical-activity behavior for a national sample of adults as well as how these relationships differ for cancer survivors and their counterparts.

Methods: Using the …

Coh 1700: Health Care Coordination Syllabus, Sasha Harry

Open Educational Resources

This is the syllabus for a Health Care Coordination course.

The goal of health care coordination is to improve patient outcomes with better health care services. Care coordinators play a critical role in improving patient care. Students will learn how to effectively advocate for patients and interact with members of the healthcare team in finding solutions to provide high quality, value-based, and efficient care. Effective communication styles, assessing patient’s needs and goals, and helping with patients’ transitions of care are among many topics covered in this course. Upon course completion, students will have acquired basic knowledge and skills to educate, …

Toward A New Approach To Job-Related Distress: A Three-Sample Study Of The Occupational Depression Inventory, Renzo Bianchi, James Sowden, Jay Verkuilen, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) was recently developed to assess depressive symptoms that individuals specifically attribute to their work. One purpose of the ODI is to respond to limitations of current assessments of job-related distress, most notably, assessments relying on the burnout construct. In this study, we conducted a thorough examination of the psychometric and structural properties of the ODI using exploratory structural equation modelling bifactor analysis and Mokken scale analysis. The study involved three samples of employed individuals, recruited in France (N = 3454), Switzerland (N = 1971), and Australia (N = 1485). Results were consistent across the three …