Social Work Commons^™

Differences In Resilience And Mental Health Symptoms Among Us First Responders With Secure And Insecure Attachment, Donna Schuman, James Whitworth, Jeanine Galusha, Jose Carbajal, Warren Ponder, Kathryn Shahan, Katelyn Jetelina

Faculty Publications

Objective: This observational study aimed to determine whether attachment style predicted first responders' mental health and resilience. Method: Data were from a treatment-seeking sample of first responders (N = 237). Each participant completed six assessments measuring attachment, resilience, generalized anxiety, depression, suicidality, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Results: On the attachment assessment, 25.3%were categorized as secure, 19.0%as dismissive, 25.3% as preoccupied, and 30.4% as fearfully attached. As predicted, securely attached participants had the lowest scores for generalized anxiety, depression, suicidality, and posttraumatic stress disorder and the highest scores on the resiliency measure, followed by dismissive, preoccupied, and fearfully …

Predictors Of Suicide And Differences In Attachment Styles And Resilience Among Treatment-Seeking First Responder Subtypes, Warren Ponder, Jose Carbajal, James Whitworth, Donna Schuman, Jeanine Galusha, R Andrew Yockey

Faculty Publications

Objective: To identify the predictors of suicide for firefighters (FFs), emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and law enforcement officers (LEOs). Methods: We used baseline data from FFs/EMTs (n = 69) and LEOs (n = 81) to investigate the unique predictors for both first-responder subtypes. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis on validated assessments of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.Measures of attachment, resilience, PTSD, depression, generalized anxiety, trauma history, and substance use were the independent variables in two backward stepwise regressions predicting suicide. Results: Substance use and somatic depression were significant predictors for LEOs, whereas affective depression, anhedonia, externalizing …

Affective Depression Mediates Ptsd To Suicide In A Sample Of Treatment-Seeking First Responders, James Whitworth, Jeanine Galusha, Jose Carbajal, Warren Ponder, Donna Schuman

Faculty Publications

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the associations of comorbid

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), affective or somatic depression, and

suicide among first responders (FRs). Method: We used baseline data from

FRs (N = 232) who sought services at a nonprofit mental health agency specializing

in treating trauma exposed FRs. We conducted two PROCESS simple

mediation models with PTSD as the predictor, affective depression and somatic

depression as the mediators, and suicidality as the dependent variable.

Results: Affective depression significantly mediated the relationship between

PTSD and suicidality, whereas somatic depression did not. The direct effect …

Validation Of The Pcl-5, Phq-9, And Gad-7 In A Sample Of Veterans, Aazi Ahmadi, Warren Ponder, Jose Carbajal, Donna Schuman, James Whitworth, R Andrew Yockey, Jeanine Galusha

Faculty Publications

Objective: Veterans can present at nongovernment (Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs) mental health agencies with complex symptom constellations that frequently include posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and generalized anxiety. To date, no veteran study has validated these measures on a treatment-seeking sample of veterans outside the DoD and VA. Methods: We used a treatment-seeking sample of veterans (N = 493) to validate measures that assess these constructs (PTSD Checklist 5, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7). Results: The seven-factor posttraumatic stress disorder hybrid configuration was the best fit. The best fitting model of the depression …

Cultural Identity Formation: A Personal Narrative, Jose Carbajal

Faculty Publications

This paper provides an autoethnography of personal experiences and perceptions of being a minoritized individual. This is the story of a professional social worker learning to adapt to social norms and expectations of self. I discuss the struggles I experienced as an adolescent and as a young adult attending college. This narrative highlights the intersection of faith and social work at moments in my professional development. It is at this intersection that this social worker learns to live a holistic life without feeling discriminated against or ashamed of his identity. I begin to actualize a reality with imperfect beings who …

The Identity Formation Process Of Immigrant Children: A Case Study Synthesis, Jose Carbajal

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Children who immigrate often have difficulties in adjusting to their host country. A single case study based on similar narratives is composed to develop the character of a child’s developmental cultural issues as he immigrated to the United States from El Salvador. Attachment theory is reviewed to discuss how detachment and re-attachment affected him. A review of the literature on assimilation and acculturation is also provided. Objectives: The author synthesizes the work experience with the population with migration history to illustrate how attachment and loss impact these individuals, through a composed case study illustrated through the experience of Ramni, …

The Dyadic Dance During Deployment: Veteran And Partner Romantic Attachment, Warren Ponder, Jose Carbajal

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Trauma-Focused Interventions: A Clinical Practice Analysis, Jose Carbajal

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a systematic review of trauma-treatment interventions, which have different theoretical perspectives on trauma etiology and its application. The empirical findings of these trauma treatment therapies are presented. The extant literature identifies five therapies as the most-effective treatment modalities for PTSD: cognitive therapy (CT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), cognitive processing therapy (CPT), prolonged exposure (PE) therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. They are all validated with some nuances on treatment approach and effectiveness. However, to use these five interventions, practitioners need to consider and apply the research findings that indicate which intervention is best for which …

A Narrative On The Witch-Hunt Narrative: The Moral Dimensions, Frederic G. Reamer

Faculty Publications

Ross Cheit’s The Witch-Hunt Narrative raises a number of complex moral issues. Cheit’s principal purpose is to challenge the belief that our society has overreacted to claims about the sexual abuse of children. Both directly and indirectly, Cheit’s in-depth analysis broaches moral concerns pertaining to the integrity of child abuse allegations, investigations, civil litigation, and criminal prosecution, with an emphasis on the mixed motives of the parties involved in key cases. This article provides an overview of ethical questions pertaining to gathering information from very vulnerable individuals, informed consent, institutional review, protection of research participants, the use of deception and …

Prevention Strategies And Mental Health In Vietnam, Edward Cohen

Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the current state of mental health services in Vietnam and provides recommendations for improving the care of people with mental illness. Vietnam’s mental health problems are as prevalent as anywhere else in the world. The country has recently begun an initiative to reform mental health care by improving community-based services for people with serious mental illness. However, mental illness has not been a part of public discourse in Vietnam. There is little recognition of prevalent common mental illnesses (such as depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse) and the care of people with serious mental illnesses relies on either …

Evolving Ethical Standards In The Digital Age, Frederic G. Reamer

Faculty Publications

Ethical standards in social work have matured significantly since the formal inauguration of the profession in the late 19th century. This article traces the global evolution of ethical standards in social work, focusing especially on current challenges in the digital age. The author discusses changes over time in social workers’ understanding of ethical issues and development of conceptual frameworks and protocols for managing them. Social workers’ increasing use of digital technology poses novel and unprecedented ethical challenges pertaining to privacy, confidentiality, informed consent, professional boundaries, conflicts of interest, documentation, client abandonment, and professionalism, among others. The article outlines emerging ethical …

The Evolution Of Social Work Ethics: Bearing Witness, Frederic G. Reamer

Faculty Publications

The evolution of ethical standards in social work, and conceptual frameworks for examining ethical issues, is among the most compelling developments in the history of the profession. Since the formal inauguration of social work in the late nineteenth century, the profession has moved from relatively simplistic and moralistic perspectives to conceptually rich analyses of ethical issues and ethical guidelines. This article examines the evolution of social work ethics from the profession’s earliest days and speculates about future challenges and directions.

Distance And Online Social Work Education: Novel Ethical Challenges, Frederic G. Reamer

Faculty Publications

Digital technology has transformed social work education. Today’s students can take individual courses and earn an entire degree without ever meeting their faculty members in person. Technological innovations such as videoconferencing, live online chat, asynchronous podcasts, and webinars enable social work educators to reach students whose personal circumstances and geographical locations make it difficult for them to attend school in person. This paper highlights complex ethical issues associated with the proliferation of digital and online social work education. Key ethical issues concern student access; course and degree program quality and integrity; academic honesty and gatekeeping; and privacy and surveillance.

Parental Influence On Inhalant Use, Alina Baltazar, Gary Hopkins, Duane C. Mcbride, Curt Vanderwaal, Sara Pepper, Sarah Mackey

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to examine the dynamics of the relationship between parents and their adolescent children and their association with lifetime and past-month inhalant usage. The population studied was seventh- through ninth-grade students in rural Idaho (N = 570). The authors found a small, but consistent, significant inverse correlation between parental bonding and monitoring of behavior and inhalant usage. There was also a significant positive correlation between verbally aggressive behavior in the family and inhalant use. The data imply that family interaction may play a significant role in the use of inhalants and that the family can …

Progress And Opportunities In Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender Health Communications, Laurie A. Drabble, J. Keatley, G. Marcelle

Faculty Publications

This article describes elements of effective health communication and highlights strategies that may best be adopted or adapted in relation to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations. Studies have documented the utility of multidimensional approaches to health communication from the macro level of interventions targeting entire populations to the micro level of communication between health care provider and consumer. Although evidence of health disparities in LGBT communities underscores the importance of population-specific interventions, health promotion campaigns rarely target these populations and health communication activities seldom account for the diversity of LGBT communities. Advances in health communication suggest promising direction …