Social Work Commons^™

The Importance Of Social Support Networks On Mental Health Status Of Custodial Grandparents, Deborah Whitley, Youjung Lee, Yanfeng Xu Ph.D.

Faculty and Staff Publications

This symposium presents a collection of papers that examine the concept of social support and its effect on custodial grandparents’ (CG) mental health state. Each paper explores a different perspective about grandparents’ access to and/or use of social support networks and mental health outcomes; several papers view social support within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nadorff and colleagues explore social support by middle-generation family members and its effects on grandparents’ stress and depressive symptoms. Musil and colleagues report on psychosocial and social support predictors of self-appraised healthcare and financial security by CG during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whitley and Kelley …

Giving Birth At A Critical Time: Assessing Perinatal Depression Among Syrian Refugees In Low Resource Settings, Nada Alnaji

Theses & Dissertations

Refugee mothers are at an increased risk of suffering from stress and mental health conditions during the first year after giving birth to a child. The objective of this study is to enhance the early identification of treatable mental health conditions among perinatal women living within humanitarian settings. The central hypothesis is that a culturally specific approach can be helpful for the long-term success of mental health efforts. In this study, we use qualitative interview methods to understand the cultural paradigms and predisposing factors for perinatal depression related to being a Syrian refugee in Lebanon during the COVID-19 pandemic. In …

Re-Envisioning Transforming Communities Initiative, Alyssa Cronin

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

Have you ever seen a large problem you wished we could just solve already? There are many: poverty, homelessness, racism, hunter. The list goes on. Huge issues like these require people to step up to the plate and dismantle oppressive systems and construct better ones. Social workers have been doing this since their conception; however, engagement in these areas have been dwindling over the past decades. TCI was born in 2014 to help combat this by training the next generation of civically engaged social workers while conducting research and working with communities in Utah to create change. It is now …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Students At Usu Eastern, Marcos Suarez, Brielle Mccourt, Aurelio Rodriguez, Jessica Hansen

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of people throughout the world in numerous ways. The ramifications of the pandemic will be studied for years to come. We are interested in the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on college students, specifically those at Utah State University Eastern (USUE). We will be conducting an exploratory quantitative survey, in conjunction with the Student Counseling Center, for current students enrolled at USUE, ages 18 and above and will be asking questions about their mental, educational, financial, and social wellbeing. The survey will be distributed by email and will be available through the …

Mental Health Support For The Spanish-Speaking Community, America Yvonne Gutierrez Solorio

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Mariposa Wellness Center in Watsonville, CA empowers its mental health community through wellness, meaningful activity, and community connection. The purpose of the report is to focus and empower individuals on the long-existing issue of the lack of mental health support for the Spanish-speaking community. This report focuses on the importance of Hispanic individuals having access to proper mental health support in their community. The contributing factors in this report range from language barriers and stigma created within mental health illnesses to the lack of education. In addition, this report focuses on numerous consequences Hispanics face as they struggle with finding …

Right Against Self-Incrimination: Revealing The Mental Health History Of Justice-Involved Youth, Sesha Kethineni, Colette B. Harris

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

In the last two decades, the juvenile justice system has focused on the early identification of youth mental health to provide timely assessment and needed treatment. However, there are potential risks in divulging youth mental health status because the information is often made available to juvenile courts and probation departments. Many state statutes allow such information to be used in the admission of guilt, adjudication, and dispositional phases. The study reviewed state and federal statutes related to protections against self-incrimination of youth at eight different stages of the juvenile justice system. A systematic content analysis of secondary sources and legislative …

A Qualitative Study Examining The Quality Of Working Alliance As A Function Of The Social Identifies Of Clients And Therapists During The Mental Health Intake, Ora Nakash, Michal Cohen, Liron Aharoni, Shir Zur, Maayan Nagar

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

Therapists are faced with the challenge of developing effective ways to advance cross-cultural engagement with a rapidly growing diverse client population. In this qualitative study, we characterized the way clients and therapists described the quality of working alliance during the mental health intake and examined whether these descriptions vary as a function of their social identities. We conducted in-depth interviews with Ashkenazi (socially advantaged group; n = 22) therapists and their Mizrahi (socially disadvantaged group n = 29) or Ashkenazi (n = 26) clients immediately following their intake session in four mental health clinics in Israel. We performed a thematic …

Mental Health Among The Latinx Population, Jocelyn Mendoza Sierra

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mental health in the Latinx community has been stigmatized for several years. In the Latinx community mental health is disregarded and oftentimes not addressed and overlooked by immediate family members. The purpose of this study is to address the reason why people do not access mental health services. The methods used in this study consisted of a qualitative approach and participants were asked open ended questions. A total of eleven participants (N=11) were gathered and consisted of both female and male participants who identify as Latinxs. The key findings from this research indicate that seeking mental health services was viewed …

Professional Quality Of Life Of Mental Health Practitioners Doing Trauma Work, Ashley Larios, Ana Campos Chagolla

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

A practitioner’s reaction to client trauma can have both positive and negative impacts on the individual’s professional quality of life as well as the quality of services provided to the client. Professional quality of life embodies a practitioner’s compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma. While past research has focused on factors that negatively impact professional quality of life, the proposed research aimed to explore what individual and agency factors help to positively increase professional quality of life. The study utilized a mixed methods approach, which included the participants scores on the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) as …

Treatment Access For Dual Diagnosis Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Pedro Banuelos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2018, of 1.3 million Latinx adults in the United States facing concurrent issues with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health disorders (MHD) 93% remained untreated for either diagnosis. This is concerning since Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) data reveals that this population is at greater risk for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. They also face structural barriers such as employment, housing, legal involvement, and insurability that further impede access to treatment.

This study’s purpose was to examine barriers to accessing treatment for Latinx populations confronting co-occurring SUDs and MHDs. This study used a qualitative design …

Secondary Trauma And/Or Potential Impacts Related To Military Family Members, Andressa Young

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Military members who have experienced combat deployments are at a greater risk for mental health issues. This can often affect the families who are placed in the role of being a buffer for these returning military members. Furthermore, the prevalence of mental health issues within the military community being at an all-time high has created a parallel prevalence for the family members who are impacted by these military members dealing with mental health issues. This research project examined data and information that was collected both from individual military family members and from persons who directly provide supportive services to military …

Providing Trauma-Informed Care For Children In The Foster Care System, Hannah Genn

Senior Honors Theses

Foster parents need to be trained in trauma-informed approaches and how to identify previous traumas in order to understand how their foster children’s past experiences of abuse or neglect manifest as mental disorders, social challenges, or behavioral concerns. Warning signs for depression or post-traumatic stress disorder should be noted, and youth should be taught how to foster healthy relationships in order to prevent substance abuse, irresponsible sexual activity, or academic failing. Foster parents can provide additional support by creating reasonable expectations for their foster children, teaching effective coping skills, and connecting with available resources.

Mental Health Services For Detained Youth, Arlene Padilla, Vanessa Salcedo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

On any given day thousands of youth are detained in a juvenile detention facility in the United States as a result of involvement in the juvenile justice and criminal system. Youth’s access to resources such as mental health services are often impacted by this. Therefore, the researchers of this study have analyzed the youth’s utilization and access to behavioral health services within the juvenile halls of Riverside County. Using a quantitative method, the researchers found statistically significant differences between the utilization of services from the 2015-2016 fiscal year to that of 2019-2020. Additionally, the researchers provided implications and recommendations. The …

Social Worker’S Adjustment And Perception When Dealing With Double-Exposure During A Natural Disaster, Magaly Santos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Limited research captures the perceptions and adjustments of social workers living and providing treatment in the same communities during a disaster. Few studies have captured the stressors and responsibilities put on social workers during an ongoing disaster. This paper reports the findings of the double-exposure captured using a qualitative approach in collecting interviews from nine mental health professionals who continued working during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. A constructivist paradigm was used to capture each participant’s reality. Participants described the sudden change to remote work as difficult when having to find the balance between work and life demands, providing …

Effectiveness Of Services And Interventions Provided To The Older Adult Population, Michelle Maldonado

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The older adult population is set to increase enormously in the United States. With a larger older adult population, there will also be an increased demand for services. This study worked to identify the effectiveness of mental health services being provided to older adults. Given that service providers are often provided minimal resources, providing efficient services assists with purposefully allocating resources. The study used the post positivist paradigm. The researcher developed a set of questions and conducted phone interviews with mental health service providers of older adults. After transcription, qualitative data analysis was completed to identify meaningful connections. The data …

Perception Of Mental Health Among The Latinx Community, Jessica Garcia, Erica Valdez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the perception of mental health among the Latinx community to identify factors contributing to the underutilization of mental health services. This exploratory study conducted qualitative interviews with 16 Latinx individuals. Participants were recruited through a non-probability snowball sampling method. Qualitative data analysis revealed themes, subthemes, and reoccurring concepts through three main focus areas: overall knowledge of mental illness and services, perception toward reasons for mental illness, and respondents’ feedback to increasing utilization of mental health services. Major themes that surfaced in this study on the perceptions toward mental illness reflected culture such …

The Utilization Of Mental Health Education In Schools For Prevention Not Just Intervention, Ashley Williams

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The prevalence of mental illness in adolescents is more extensive than in previous years. In schools, social workers have been utilized to address mental health episodes in students, however, they generally do not get involved until the adolescent’s mental health episode is critical and unmanageable without social support. This needs to change. The purpose of this research study is to assess for adolescent’s knowledge of mental illness and mental wellness. The targeted population is school-aged children in grades K through 12, however the respondents of the study were student educators due to the protected status of school-aged children. This study …

Poor Academic Performance Caused By Social Anxiety, Erin Tayag, Leea Gonzales

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Social anxiety can have consequential effects on college students’ academic performance. Many students’ college experiences will involve some levels of anxiety. However, social anxiety is very distinct from natural anxiety. Considering the effects of social anxiety in a college setting, there are students whose grades can decrease due to non-performance in specific class activities or unfortunately discontinuing school. This research project desired to identify if social anxiety indeed affects college students’ academic performance. This study utilized a quantitative design by providing existing social anxiety scales to students through email and social media platforms. Within this design, three analyses were used: …

Caregiver Incarceration, Stigma, & Mental Health, Megan West, Megan Madden, Ramsey Wilson, Brandon Pelletier

Thinking Matters Symposium

Parental incarceration has adverse effects on children and young adults socially, physically, and mentally (Phillips et al., 2002). Caregivers with either past or present incarceration experiences increase adolescents’ tendency to correlate behaviors with exposures to traumatic events (Kautz, 2017). Our research question for this project is, “what is known about perceived stigma, mental health symptoms, and caregiver incarceration?” A systematic literature review has been conducted to determine various themes that arise in research examining stigma, mental health symptoms, and parental incarceration. The group has been conducting this research through twenty-eight separate databases in order to compare themes that have been …

Educator Wellbeing During Covid-19: Caregivers Vs. Non-Caregivers, Elizabeth Larsen, Judy Gagnon, Yana Davis, Nicole Hudson

Thinking Matters Symposium

The phenomenon of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the format of public education, putting stress on the educational system and its teachers. This research study aims to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the role of teachers in Maine, specifically focusing on the added responsibility that parents may experience while simultaneously meeting professional obligations. Researchers posed the question: “What is the relationship between caregiving responsibilities and emotional wellbeing of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic among public school teachers in Maine?” Participants from K-12 public schools around the state were recruited through direct contact or via building administrators who distributed …

An Evidence Based Practice Guide For Parents And Schools: Supporting Kids And Adolescents' Mental Health During And After Covid-19 Pandemic, Ivanna M. Fuentes Javier

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

Adolescent mental health is important to consider by parents and schools. Parents need to build a strengthened mentality in their children and with the school support, the results would be greater. The active participation of schools is needed in order to support kids' and adolescents' mental health and create parent awareness about mental health. Also, when parents are able to identify early signs of mental health problems, they can prevent it from becoming greater and the school can help parents learn about these early signs. In addition, parents play a fundamental role in identifying symptoms of mental health problems in …

Combating Loneliness In Assisted Living Facilities: An Evidence-Based Practice Guide For Social Work Practitioners Working With Older Adults, Annie Alexis Romano

Evidence-Based Social Work Practice Guide Series

It has been well documented that social needs do not change with aging (Teater, Chonody, & Davis, 2021), but often, older adults are left out of the conversation when it comes to loneliness and the feelings that come with social isolation. In the same way that researchers are de-stigmatizing the mental health conversation for youth and middle-aged adults, we need to bring to light the issues that come with those who live in assisted living facilities or nursing homes and the social issues presented in that population.

Investing In A Culturally Diverse Mental Health Workforce In Minnesota, Emma Fuhrman, Teia Kopari, Cody Reinke, Josie Schultz

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

Minnesota’s mental health workforce lacks in both cultural diversity and cultural responsiveness. Each is critical for providing equitable mental health care to Minnesota's increasingly diverse population. Without ensuring that Minnesota’s mental health workforce is culturally diverse, culturally responsive mental health care for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) will not be attainable. Minnesota must broaden, strengthen, and create structures to support a racially and ethnically diverse mental health workforce.

Criminal Mental Health, Tabitha Oliver

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to assess and address the prevalence of mental health issues among incarcerated individuals in America. There are multiple internal and external contributing factors to the disproportionately high numbers of mentally ill inmates. Comparing the United States prison system with other countries such as Norway allows for possible paths to improving the mental health crisis that we are currently experiencing. This thesis looks at the principles and practices used in Norway's prisons as well as how they affect inmate's mental health. By comparing Norway's prison policies and design, this thesis will suggest changes in staff …

Modeling Cumulative Risk During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Psychosocial And Socioeconomic Factors For Older Minority Adults, James F. Osborne Iv

LSU Master's Theses

Continued response to the sum consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has disparately affected the physical and mental health of older minority adults in the United States. SARS-CoV-2 created an acute epidemiological crisis of public health coinciding with a chronic pandemic of accentuated psychosocial stress. Biological and socio-economic risk of morbidity and mortality follow a demographic gradient of subjectively constructed social status that disproportionally threatens older adults and minority racial/ethnic communities. Pathways to increased socio-economic and psychosocial vulnerability are multifactorial and complex. Factors of race, socio-economic status, gender, and age, each contribute to individualized profiles of vulnerability to risk exposure.

The …

Act To Save A Life: Evidence-Based Youth Suicide Prevention, Meghan Diamon

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Youth suicide is a preventable tragedy that can occur when children's mental health needs are unmet. Participants will discuss published research on risk factors for youth suicide, how to implement an evidence-based prevention program, and how to tackle common obstacles encountered. Participants will be prepared to mobilize school staff, parents, and community members to address the critical issues of depression awareness and suicide prevention.

Mental Health And Psychosocial Functioning In Recently Separated U.S. Women Veterans: Trajectories And Bi-Directional Relationships, Karen A. Lawrence, Dawne Vogt, Adam Dugan, Shawn R. Nigam, Emily Slade, Brian N. Smith

Social Work Faculty Publications

Prior research on the relationship between veterans’ mental health and psychosocial functioning has primarily relied on male samples. Here, we investigated prospective longitudinal relationships between mental health and psychosocial functioning in 554 female Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans who were surveyed three times between two- and seven-years following separation from service. Mixed effects modeling revealed that increasing depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity predicted declines in work functioning. Increasing PTSD severity predicted declining parental functioning and worsening depression predicted a decline in relationship functioning. In turn, decreased work and intimate relationship functioning predicted increased PTSD and depression symptom severity …

Correlates Of Depression Among Black Girls Exposed To Violence, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Depression rates for youth remanded to juvenile detention is double that of the general population and Black girls are especially vulnerable. A dearth of literature analyzes the factors that are correlated with depression among system-involved Black girls, ages 12–17 years old. We utilized personal agency to examine the relationship between risk factors (i.e., abuse history, and fear of condom negotiation) and protective factors (i.e., condom self-efficacy, and perceived social support) that might correlate with depression among Black girls exposed to violence. Findings indicate that fear of condom negotiation, abuse history and low condom self-efficacy are correlated with depressive symptomology while …

The Resulting Mental Health Pandemic From Covid-19: Research And Resources For Social Workers, Ami Lynch

Social Work Student Works

The COVID-19 pandemic will have long-lasting mental health impacts on hundreds of millions more worldwide than the contagion itself. Social workers are seeing increases in depression, anxiety, suicidality, and post-traumatic stress disorder and other negative mental health impacts. Because of this, social workers in all environments and modalities of practice need to be well-trained, agile, and energized while facing the pandemic themselves. This report compiles the impacts and concerns for a variety of social workers and their clients into a single, digestible source, supplemented by the “COVID-19 Resource Compendium for Social Workers and Their Clients”. Social workers must practice self-care, …

Victimization And Psychological Wellbeing Among Sexual And Gender Minority Emerging Adults: Testing The Moderating Role Of Emotional Comfort From Companion Animals, Jennifer L. Murphy, Camie A. Tomlinson, Angela Matijczak, Kelly O'Connor, Shelby Mcdonald

Graduate Research Posters

Introduction: Human-animal interaction science is a growing field, largely due to the potential psychosocial benefits companion animals provide to humans. One way companion animals may influence psychosocial outcomes is through their ability to provide emotional comfort, though few studies have examined relationships between sexual and gender minority stressors (i.e. discrimination, victimization, rejection), human-animal interaction, and psychological wellbeing. To address this gap in the literature, the current study evaluates whether, and to what extent, the association between gender-based victimization and psychological wellbeing (i.e., anxiety, depression, self-esteem) varies as a function of emotional comfort from companion animals among emerging adults.

Methods: Data …