Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ancient Pathogens Provide A Window Into Health And Well-Being, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Mercy Y. Akinyi, Sharon Dewitte, Anne C. Stone

Faculty Publications

This perspective draws on the record of ancient pathogen genomes and microbiomes illuminating patterns of infectious disease over the course of the Holocene in order to address the following question. How did major changes in living circumstances involving the transition to and intensification of farming alter pathogens and their distributions? Answers to this question via ancient DNA research provide a rapidly expanding picture of pathogen evolution and in concert with archaeological and historical data, give a temporal and behavioral context for heath in the past that is relevant for challenges facing the world today, including the rise of novel pathogens.

Discursive Power And Resistance In The Information Worlds Maps Of Lgbtqia+ Community Leaders, Vanessa Kitzie, Travis L. Wagner, Alexander N. Vera

Faculty Publications

Purpose: This qualitative study explores how discursive power shapes South Carolina LGBTQIA+ communities' health information practices and how participants resist this power. Design/methodology/approach: Twenty-eight LGBTQIA+ community leaders from South Carolina engaged in semi-structured interviews and information worlds mapping – a participatory arts-based elicitation technique – to capture the context underlying how they and their communities create, seek, use, and share health information. We focus on the information worlds maps for this paper, employing situational analysis – a discourse analytic method for visual data – to analyze them. Findings: Six themes emerged describing how discursive power operates both within and outside …

The Roles Of Identity Formation And Moral Identity In College Student Mental Health, Health-Risk Behaviors, And Psychological Well-Being, Sam A. Hardy, Stephen W. Francis, Byron L. Zamboanga, Su Yeong Kim, Spencer G. Anderson, Larry F. Forthun

Faculty Publications

Objectives: This study examined the roles of identity formation and moral identity in predicting college student mental health (anxiety and depressive symptoms), health-risk behaviors (hazardous alcohol use and sexual risk taking), and psychological well-being (self-esteem and meaning).

Method: The sample comprised 9,500 college students (aged 18–25 years, mean = 19.78, standard deviation = 1.61: 73% female; 62% European American), from 31 different universities, who completed an online self-report survey. Results: Structural equation models found that identity maturity (commitment making and identity synthesis) predicted 5 of the health outcomes (except sexual risk taking), and moral identity predicted ail of the health …

Analysis Of Social Media Discussions On (#)Diet By Blue, Red, And Swing States In The U.S, Amir Karami, A. A. Dahl, J. G. Shaw, S. P. Valappil, G. Turner-Mcgrievy, H. Kharrazi, P. Bozorgi

Faculty Publications

The relationship between political affiliations and diet-related discussions on social media has not been studied on a population level. This study used a cost- and -time effective framework to leverage, aggregate, and analyze data from social media. This paper enhances our understanding of diet-related discussions with respect to political orientations in U.S. states. This mixed methods study used computational methods to collect tweets containing “diet” or “#diet” shared in a year, identified tweets posted by U.S. Twitter users, disclosed topics of tweets, and compared democratic, republican, and swing states based on the weight of topics. A qualitative method was employed …

Let It Rest: Sleep And Health As Positive Correlates Of Forgiveness Of Others And Self-Forgiveness, Loren Toussaint, Andrew J. Gall, Alyssa Cheadle, David R. Williams

Faculty Publications

Objective: The present study examined forgiveness of others, self-forgiveness, sleep, and health in a nationally representative sample of United States adults. It was hypothesised that sleep would mediate the associations of forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness with health.

Design: A nationally representative survey of 1,423 United States adults.

Main Outcome Measures: Measures included forgiveness of others, self-forgiveness, sleep quantity, sleep quality, psychological distress, life satisfaction, and self-rated physical health.

Results: Forgiveness of others (β = .20, p < .001) and self-forgiveness (β = .11, p < .01) were associated with sleep and forgiveness of others (β = .24, p < .001) and self-forgiveness (β = .27, p < .001) were associated with health. Sleep was associated with health (β = .45, p < .001) and also acted as a mediator of the associations of forgiveness of others (β = .09, p < .01) and self-forgiveness (β = .05, p < .01) with health.

Conclusions: Forgiveness of others and self-forgiveness may attenuate emotions such as anger, regret, and rumination and provide …

Migration And Mental Health In The Aftermath Of Disaster: Evidence From Mt. Merapi, Indonesia, Jonathan A. Muir, Michael R. Cope, Leslie R. Angeningsih, Jorden E. Jackson, Ralph B. Brown

Faculty Publications

Migration is a standard survival strategy in the context of disasters. While prior studies have examined factors associated with return migration following disasters, an area that remains relatively underexplored is whether moving home to one’s original community results in improved health and well-being compared to other options such as deciding to move on. In the present study, our objective is to explore whether return migration, compared to other migration options, results in superior improvements to mental health. We draw upon data from a cross-sectional pilot study conducted 16 months after a series of volcanic eruptions in Merapi, Indonesia. Using ordinal …

Advancing Social Connection As A Public Health Priority In The United States, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Theodore Robles, David A. Sbarra

Faculty Publications

A robust body of scientific evidence indicates that being embedded in high-quality close relationships and feeling socially connected to the people in your life is associated with decreased risk for all-cause mortality as well as a range of disease morbidities. Despite mounting evidence that the magnitude of these associations is comparable to many leading health determinants (that receive significant public health resources), government agencies, healthcare providers and associations, and public/private healthcare funders are slow to recognize human social relationships as either a health determinant or health risk marker in a manner that is comparable to other public health priorities. This …

Magazine Influence On Body Dissatisfaction: Fashion Vs. Health?, Paulina Swiatkowski

Faculty Publications

Fashion magazines have been shown to have a negative relationship with body dissatisfaction and psychological health, while the effects of health magazines on body dissatisfaction and psychological health have mainly been studied with men. However, because of gender differences, health magazine consumption effects on men cannot be applied equally to women. Therefore, the present study uses sociocultural theory to study health magazine and possible similarities to fashion magazine effects on women’s body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. Sociocultural attitude toward appearance is then explored as a mediator and potential moderator in the established relationship between magazine consumption and psychological health, …

Socioeconomic Status And Health: Education And Income Are Independent And Joint Predictors Of Ambulatory Blood Pressure, Wendy C. Birmingham, Jenny M. Cundiff, Bert N. Uchino, Timothy W. Smith

Faculty Publications

Epidemiological research suggests that different indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) such as income and education may have independent and/or interactive effects on health outcomes. In this study, we examined both simple and more complex associations (i.e., interactions) between different indicators of SES and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) during daily life. Our sample consisted of 94 married couples who completed a one-day ABP protocol. Both income and education were independently related to systolic blood pressure and only income was significantly related to diastolic blood pressure. There were also statistical interactions such that individuals with high levels of both income and education …

The Effect Of Prenatal And Postnatal Care On Childhood Obesity, Michael M. O. Seipel, Kevin Shafer

Faculty Publications

Childhood obesity continues to be a major public health problem in the United States. If this problem is unresolved, some children will be at risk for disorders such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer and will become a high economic and social burden for society. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Child and Young Adult sample (N = 6,643), this study examined the relationship between the effect of pre- and postnatal characteristics and obesity. The findings of this study show that the probability of childhood obesity can be lessened if pregnant women do not smoke and …

Stress Spillover Of Health Symptoms From Healthy Spouses To Patient Spouses In Older Married Couples Managing Both Diabetes And Osteoarthritis, Jeremy B. Yorgason, Susanne O. Roper, Jonathan G. Sandberg, Cynthia A. Berg

Faculty Publications

Many studies examining illness within marriage have investigated how illness in one spouse influences the other spouse. In later-life marriages, where both spouses are more likely to have health challenges, there is an increased likelihood that health symptoms from both spouses affect each other. In the current study we examined how health symptoms in a “healthy” spouse may exacerbate health problems in a partner (the patient) who is managing multiple chronic illnesses. Surveys were collected across 14 days from 27 later-life couples where patients had both diabetes and osteoarthritis. Results indicated that higher healthy spouse symptoms were generally associated with …

Specific Dimensions Of Perceived Support And Ambulatory Blood Pressure: Which Support Functions Appear Most Beneficial And For Whom?, Wendy C. Birmingham, Kimberly S. Bowen, Bert N. Uchino, Mckenzie Carlisle, Timothy W. Smith, Kathleen C. Light

Faculty Publications

Perceived support has been related to lower cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, little is known about the specific functional components of support responsible for such links. We tested if emotional, informational, tangible, and belonging support predicted ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and interpersonal interactions (e.g., responsiveness), and if such links were moderated by gender. In this study, 94 married couples underwent 12 h of ABP monitoring during daily life which included a night at home with their spouse. They completed a short-form of the interpersonal support evaluation list that provides information on total (global) support, as well as specific dimensions of …

Are Older Adults Less Or More Physiologically Reactive? A Meta-Analysis Of Age-Related Differences In Cardiovascular Reactivity To Laboratory Tasks, Wendy C. Birmingham, Bert N. Uchino, Cynthia A. Berg

Faculty Publications

In this meta-analytic review of 31 laboratory studies, we examined if relatively older adults showed lower or higher cardiovascular reactivity compared with relatively younger adults. Results revealed that age was associated with lower heart rate reactivity but higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity during emotionally evocative tasks. Consistent with the predictions of dynamic integration theory, the result for SBP was moderated by the degree of task activation. These data are discussed in light of existing self-regulatory models and important future research directions.

Religion And Family Relational Health: An Overview And Conceptual Model, Loren Marks

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a review of research addressing religion and family relational health. Strengths of the extant data include the correlation of three dimensions of religious experience (religious practices, religious beliefs, and religious community) with certain aspects of mother–child, father–child, and marital relationships and specific connections between the three dimensions of religious experience and family relationships are identified. Key weaknesses in the research at present include a paucity of research examining the hows, whys, and processes involved behind identified religion–family correlations and a lack of data on non-nuclear families, families of color, interfaith families, and non-Christian religions including Judaism and …

Religion And Bio-Psycho-Social Health: A Review And Conceptual Model, Loren Marks

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a research-based conceptual model respectively linking three dimensions of religious experience (religious practices, spiritual beliefs, and faith community) with three dimensions of health (biological, psychological, and social). The model is used as a framework to highlight findings in the religion-health knowledge base and to provide a broad survey of this domain of inquiry. Considerations for future research on religion and health are addressed.

Granting Forgiveness Or Harboring Grudges: Implications For Emotion, Physiology, And Health, Charlotte Vanoyen-Witvliet, Thomas Ludwig, Kelly L. Vander Laan

Faculty Publications

Interpersonal offenses frequently mar relationships. Theorists have argued that the responses victims adopt toward their offenders have ramifications not only for their cognition, but also for their emotion, physiology, and health. This study examined the immediate emotional and physiological effects that occurred when participants (35 females, 36 males) rehearsed hurtful memories and nursed grudges (i.e., were unforgiving) compared with when they cultivated empathic perspective taking and imagined granting forgiveness (i.e., were forgiving) toward real-life offenders. Unforgiving thoughts prompted more aversive emotion, and significantly higher corrugator (brow) electromyogram (EMG), skin conductance, heart rate, and blood pressure changes from baseline. The EMG, …

Caregivers Locus Of Control For Child Improvement, Timothy B. Smith

Faculty Publications

A potentially important variable that has received little attention in the disabilities literature is the caregiver's locus of control beliefs for child improvement as they relate to treatment compliance and actual child improvement. To evaluate the construct's utility in a practice setting, 131 caregiver-child dyads were assessed twice, twelve months apart. Children were an average of approximately four years old at the first assessment, and all of them had mild to severe developmental disabilities. Aspects of caregiver compliance to treatment were rated, and measures of child development status, family functioning, and caregiver locus of control were administered. Results indicated that …