Social Work Commons^™

Adjustments To Social Work Practice During The Covid-19 Adjustments To Social Work Practice During The Covid-19 Pandemic In North Carolina: Effects On Burnout And Commitment Pandemic In North Carolina: Effects On Burnout And Commitment, Aaron Brown, Jayme E. Walters, Aubrey E. Jones, Lara Cates

Social Work Faculty Publications

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for social workers in the U.S. and abroad has increased. There is demand for more social workers in North Carolina due to ongoing and increasing mental health, substance use disorder, and child welfare needs. COVID-19 has taken a toll on the personal and professional lives of social workers, and research is needed to understand the pandemic’s effects on burnout and commitment among social workers. The present study sought to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the personal and professional lives of social workers practicing in North Carolina and to determine how …

Over The Hills And Through The Hollers: How One Program Is Assisting Residents Of Appalachia With Opioid Use Recovery, Aubrey E. Jones, Jayme E. Walters, Aaron R. Brown

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: The consequences of increasing opioid misuse in the U.S. over the last two decades have been severe, contributing to hundreds of thousands of lives lost and heavy tolls on individuals, families, and society. The Appalachian Region has been hit particularly hard, with its predominantly rural landscape seeing disproportionate increases in opioid misuse and overdoses. These cases have been difficult to address due to poor treatment access and capacity constraints in many areas of Appalachia.

Purpose: The current study focuses on evaluating The Kentucky Access to Recovery Program (KATR), which provides services to individuals recovering from opioid addiction residing in …

Foster Caregiving: How Interactions With The Child Welfare Agency Impact Foster Parent Satisfaction, Recruitment, And Retention, Ethan Engelhardt

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Professionals of the child welfare system in Kentucky have continuously worked to retain and recruit new foster parents for the foster care system. Foster parents are uniquely placed in a surrogate caring position for children removed from their homes for reasons of abuse or neglect. Foster parents accept this role and step in to provide a safe and loving household for many children. There are more than 9,000 children placed in Out of Home Care (OOHC) on any given day in Kentucky, leaving many children in need of a loving and supportive household. Foster parents hang in the balance between …

Factors Associated With Successful Military-To-Civilian Transition Among Special Forces Veterans, Edward Richter

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

The purpose of this study was to explore the military-to-civilian transitional experience in a sample of Special Forces veterans. Acknowledging challenges in accessing the veteran population, most existing research on the military-to-civilian transition consolidates military occupations into a single sample. This method fails to address the intricacies that may exist within individual military occupations, especially that of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers. Special Forces qualified soldiers represent the largest portion of all U.S. Military Special Operations Forces and are responsible for the majority of all Special Operations activities, yet their experience in transitioning out of the Army is largely unknown. …

Exploring The Distinction Between Support And Enabling In Families With Substance Use Disorder, Krystal N. King

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Substance use disorders (SUD) are a pervasive public health problem facing families in the United States. Although families are frequently urged to support loved ones who have SUD and cautioned against enabling them, there is a dearth of literature that distinguishes between supporting and enabling. Through qualitative interviews, this phenomenological study examined the experiences of eight parents with adult children with SUD who were currently in recovery. Five themes emerged from the data including: (a) living in despair, (b) addiction and recovery knowledge, (c) support group philosophy, (d) coping with addiction, and (e) differentiation. The results from this study suggest …

Assessing 4-H And Its Circle Of Courage In A Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility: A Case Study, Elizabeth Steering

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This 4-H case study takes place in a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) in Kentucky. The PRTF provides clinical services to youth that are not able to be safely maintained in their homes due to having demonstrated unsafe or harmful behaviors. Youth admitted to the PRTF stay for an average of three to six months while they receive intensive therapeutic and psychiatric care as well as medical treatment and public schooling. The current case study incorporates programming from 4-H, which is the youth development program of the Cooperative Extension System (CES) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), …

The Influence Of Distance Learning On Undergraduate Social Work Competency: An Exploratory Study At A Private University, Christine K. Fulmer

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

This is an exploratory study of undergraduate social work education at a private faith-based university. The university offers both online and residential program options. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of distance education and program option on the educational outcomes of graduates in a newly developed social work program. The program started in 2015 with its first graduating class in 2017. The sample (N = 262) consists of students graduating in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Students could take classes across program options and each student in the sample completed both traditional and online social work courses. …

Conceptualizing Attorney Motivation: A Study Of The Representatives For Parents And Children In The Child Welfare System, Shannon Moody

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Background. Attorneys who represent parents and children in dependency, neglect, and abuse (DNA) proceedings are key in influencing the outcomes of the cases they carry. These influences include the length of time a child spends in the custody of the state or the necessity for foster care, visitation with family members, length of time to reunification, and recommended services for the child and parents (Courtney & Hook, 2012; Goldman, 1993; Thornton & Gwin, 2012; Zinn & Peters, 2015). The American Bar Association’s analysis is that there are “four constants: high caseloads, low compensation, inadequate training, and lack of supervision” …

Systemic Solutions To Addressing Juvenile Sexual Offending, Alyscia Mayhugh

DSW Capstone Projects

Research on and treatment of juvenile sexual offenders has surged since the 1980s. While research on this social justice issue has expanded over the past four decades, little has been done in the United States to systemically address the recidivism rates of juvenile sexual offenders. The systematic literature review explores existing literature on this topic, with a focus on thematic categories that emerged through data extraction and analysis. The conceptual paper presents a unique idea for addressing juvenile sexual offending systemically, emphasizing the value of utilizing incrementalism and trauma theory to enact changes to existing systems. The final practice application …

Black Men Need Love Too, Addressing Unaddressed Mental Health In African American Men, D'Quayvion Cloud

DSW Capstone Projects

The objective of this capstone is to analyze and demonstrate the importance of studies on unaddressed mental health among African American males. The major aim is to demonstrate why research, policy, and funding are vital to knowing how to work with this specific clinical group, allowing us to build effective and inclusive programs for these African American males and eliminate the stigma associated with members of this community. Due to unaddressed mental health and a lack of treatment options for our people, research has shown that African American men aged 20 to 24 had the highest suicide rate of any …

Teaching Anti-Racism Practices To White Social Work Students And Community Members, Dennis Cornell

DSW Capstone Projects

Racism continues to plague the United States and White people hold a key element to ending racism by adopting anti-racism practices in their professional and personal lives. This capstone on the findings of a comprehensive systematic literature review, examines empirically-based anti-racism interventions and practices that social work teachers and community educators can utilize in anti-racism courses and workshops for White students and community members. The final results yielded 29 peer-reviewed, qualitative/quantitative research studies within the years of 2003-2021 that can be broken down into six anti-racism intervention categories: class/educational groups, teaching methods, Implicit Association Test (IAT) usage, pro-Black stories/perspectives, interracial …

Opioid Addiction In Rural America: The Transportation Need For Treatment Adherence, Jennifer Smith

DSW Capstone Projects

The opioid epidemic has continued to soar throughout the United States for over 20 years. While this epidemic knows no boundaries and affects all of America, rural communities have been drastically impacted by the number of persons suffering from this addiction, and the resulting staggering mortality rates. Rural populations face greater treatment barriers preventing patients from obtaining needed services as compared to other geographical locations. Patients face obstacles related to accessibility, availability, and stigmatization, placing them at higher risk for opioid misuse, abuse, and/or death. Even though this targeted population faces multiple complications in seeking treatment, transportation barriers are among …

Rural Suicide: A Three Manuscript Dissertation Utilizing The National Violent Death Reporting System, James Watts

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Purpose: Rural residents and veterans are at a greater risk of death by suicide but there is little research to compare rural versus urban suicide decedents. There is also a lack of research specific to rural veteran suicide. This three-manuscript dissertation study explores 1. epidemiology of suicide specific to rural areas comparing rural veterans to rural non-veterans 2. veteran suicide decedents that lived in rural areas compared to veterans that live in urban areas and 3. How the continuum of rurality is related to demographic and circumstantial variables associated with suicide Methods: Data was obtained from the Centers for Disease …

The Role Of Organizational Leaders In Employee Self-Care: A Change Management Approach, Olivia Dawn Honaker

DSW Capstone Projects

Although literature demonstrates that helping professionals have had high levels of stress and burnout for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the issue. The already burdened healthcare workers, now facing increased workloads, long hours, and high-level exposure to trauma, have created an urgency to address this significant risk to helping professionals. The current capstone will bring awareness to organizational leaders regarding the importance of employee self-care and the benefits of implementing employee self-care programs. First, a systematic literature review will examine self-care in helping professions and explore how organizational leaders operationalize employee self-care programs. In addition, the capstone aims …

Bolstering Leadership Engagement To Community Coalition Work In Rural Appalachia, Melissa Slone

DSW Capstone Projects

Rural Appalachian communities are overwhelmed with high cancer rates, diabetes, disabilities, and substance use disorder. The challenges in addressing these increase when you factor in workforce shortages and limited funding. The literature documents the effectiveness of coalitions in addressing healthcare challenges within communities. The need is for leaders to reduce their hesitancy to engage in community coalition efforts and increase awareness of the impact community coalitions can have on addressing rural populations' health and well-being needs.

Product One was a systematic review focused on research that examined agency leaders’ perspectives on community coalition involvement. The purpose of conducting the systematic …

Child Welfare: Workforce Retention, Competence, And The Connection To Social Work Education, Brittany Stanley

DSW Capstone Projects

While there are many avenues to discuss and explore, the key area of interest for the Capstone Project is that of retention of a competent frontline workforce. Each state has their own set of guidelines for hiring frontline workers which allows for variety in the educational backgrounds of the investigative and ongoing workers. This can become problematic when the educational background may not be the most suited for the work and challenges faced by child welfare workers.

During the development of the Capstone Project, one could not help but wonder that if workers were adequately prepared for the demands of …

Community-Oriented Policing: Building Trust And Collaborative Relationships With The Black Community, Tunice M. Cole

DSW Capstone Projects

Black people die at the hands of police at a disproportionate rate. In the United States, Black citizens are three times more likely to be killed by police than White citizens. This, along with other factors, has caused a lack of trust, legitimacy, and relationships between police and the Black community. Examining this problem from a socio-ecological and social constructivist perspective suggests that the solution encompasses the use of community feedback and experiences to build and develop a model of community-oriented policing that addresses the issues of the community being served.

Product one of this capstone was a systematic literature …

Role Expansion Of School Social Workers: An Educational Paradigm Shift, Sara Murrell

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone product includes three written documents. The purpose of this work was to discover and justify the role expansion of school social workers into school leaders. The first, a systematic literature review examining the roles of school social workers. This document will review the current literature describing which school social work roles promote school social workers as school leaders, and which roles act as barriers for school social workers to become school leaders. The second document is a conceptual paper. This document identifies the need for a paradigm shift in education towards a whole child perspective. This document looks …

The Effect Of Travel Burden On Depression And Anxiety In African American Women Living With Systemic Lupus, Ashley A. White, Brittany L. Smalls, Aissatou Ba, Trevor D. Faith, Viswanathan Ramakrishnan, Hetlena Johnson, Jillian Rose, Clara L. Dismuke-Greer, Jim C. Oates, Leonard E. Egede, Edith M. Williams

Family and Community Medicine Faculty Publications

The United States has a deficit of rheumatology specialists. This leads to an increased burden in accessing care for patients requiring specialized care. Given that most rheumatologists are located in urban centers at large hospitals, many lupus patients must travel long distances for routine appointments. The present work aims to determine whether travel burden is associated with increased levels of depression and anxiety among these patients. Data for this study were collected from baseline visits of patients participating in a lupus study at MUSC. A travel/economic burden survey was assessed as well as the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) and …

Longitudinal Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Acceptability, Initiation And Adherence Among Criminal Justice-Involved Adults In The Usa: The Southern Prep Cohort Study (Specs) Protocol, Katherine Lemasters, Carrie B. Oser, Mariah Cowell, Katie Mollan, Kathryn Nowotny, Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

Sociology Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: HIV prevalence among criminal justice (CJ)-involved adults is five times higher than the general population. Following incarceration, CJ-involved individuals experience multilevel barriers to HIV prevention. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a widely available, daily medication efficacious in preventing HIV. Little is known about PrEP knowledge, acceptability, initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved persons or about how these outcomes vary by multilevel factors. The Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Study (SPECS) will investigate barriers and facilitators for PrEP initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved adults, building a foundation for PrEP interventions for this underserved population.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: SPECS uses a mixed-methods sequential …

Temporal Trends In Suicidal Ideation And Attempts Among Us Adolescents By Sex And Race/Ethnicity, 1991-2019, Yunyu Xiao, Julie Cerel, J. John Mann

Social Work Faculty Publications

Importance: Disparities by sex and racial/ethnic group in suicide death rates are present in US adolescents. Whether disparities in suicide death extend to groups targeted for suicide prevention efforts, namely, those with suicidal ideation or nonfatal suicide attempts, is unknown.

Objective: To examine differences in temporal trends between suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in US adolescents from 1991 through 2019 by sex and race/ethnicity subgroups.

Design, Setting, and Participants: A cross-sectional analysis of the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, weighted to represent US adolescents from 1991 to 2019, included 183 563 US high-school students in grades 9 to 12. Data …

Age At First Alcohol Use And Weapon Carrying Among Adolescents: Findings From The 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Philip Baiden, Nusrat Jahan, Henry K. Onyeaka, Shawndaya Thrasher, Savarra Tadeo, Erin Findley

Social Work Graduate Research

Background
Although studies have investigated the association between alcohol use and violent behaviors such as weapon carrying, few studies have examined the association between age at first alcohol use and weapon-carrying among adolescents. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between age at first alcohol use and weapon carrying among adolescents.

Methods
Data for this study came from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. An analytic sample of 13,442 adolescents aged 14–18 years old (51% female) was analyzed using binary logistic regression. The outcome variable investigated in this study was weapon carrying during the past 30 days, …

A Description Of Covid-19 Lifestyle Restrictions Among A Sample Of Rural Appalachian Women, Michele Staton, Martha Tillson, J. Matthew Webster

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: COVID-19 has led to swift federal and state response to control virus transmission, which has resulted in unprecedented lifestyle changes for U.S. citizens including social distancing and isolation. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 lifestyle restrictions and related behavioral risks is important, particularly among individuals who may be more vulnerable (such as rural women with a history of substance use living in Appalachia).

Purpose: The overall purpose of this study was to better understand the perceptions of lifestyle changes due to COVID-19 restrictions among this vulnerable group.

Methods: The study included a mixed methods survey with a convenience sample of …

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 …

Does Bullying Victimization In Middle Childhood Influence Adolescent Risk Behaviors: Differences Across Racial/Ethnic Groups?, Shawndaya Sabrina Thrasher

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Bullying is a public health problem that negatively affects millions of children annually and can have serious, long-lasting effects on victims. Emergent research concludes a higher prevalence of bullying occurs in earlier school years, especially among racial/ethnic minorities. Evidence also suggests that risk behaviors associated with bully victimization may vary by racial/ethnic profile, leading to disproportionate chances of adverse psychosocial and health-related behaviors. Therefore, racial/ethnic minority youth may be more likely to cope with being bullied through risk behaviors (e.g., coping by fighting).

Current investigations of racial/ethnic differences in the bullied-risk relationship examine few risk behaviors (i.e., academic performance and …

Transforming Outcomes To Increase Participation In The Independent Living Program Sponsored By Sunrise Children’S Services, Richard R. Burslem

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Research demonstrates the transition for aging-out foster youth evidences they are not equipped with the necessary tools to live a self-sufficient adult life. Many children who age-out of the foster system have encountered trauma at multiple levels. Sunrise Children’s Services is an agency in Kentucky committed to changing negative outcomes for this population of individuals.

The optimum goal for children and youth is for them to grow up within their biological family where they receive guidance and support as they mature. For some individuals that is not an option, and the government along with agencies like Sunrise are focused on …

Enhancing Evidence-Based Tobacco Treatment Services For Clients With Mental Illnesses, Janet Otachi

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Tobacco users with mental illnesses (MI) have continued to experience disparate rates of tobacco use, related illnesses and mortality. Despite higher rates of tobacco use among clients with MI, few providers in mental health settings deliver evidence based tobacco treatment. If tobacco use is not addressed, clients with MI will continue to experience disproportionate rates of tobacco use and related burden. Utilizing the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examined factors associated with provider intentions to deliver tobacco treatment, and their tobacco treatment delivery practices. Based on the main constructs of the TPB, providers’ attitudes about tobacco treatment delivery, …

Gender In The Time Of Covid-19: Evaluating National Leadership And Covid-19 Fatalities, Leah C. Windsor, Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, Alistair J. Windsor, Robert Ostergard, Susan Allen, Courtney Burns, Jarod Giger, Reed Wood

Social Work Faculty Publications

In this paper we explore whether countries led by women have fared better during the COVID-19 pandemic than those led by men. Media and public health officials have lauded the perceived gender-related influence on policies and strategies for reducing the deleterious effects of the pandemic. We examine this proposition by analyzing COVID-19-related deaths globally across countries led by men and women. While we find some limited support for lower reported fatality rates in countries led by women, they are not statistically significant. Country cultural values offer more substantive explanation for COVID-19 outcomes. We offer several potential explanations for the pervasive …

Technical Reviewing For The Family First Prevention Services Act: Strategies And Recommendations, Antonio R. Garcia, Peter J. Pecora, Audrey H. Schnell, Cynthia Burnson, Elizabeth Harris, Allison Finseth

Social Work Faculty Publications

The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) has compelled states to expand their priorities to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs) as a means to prevent foster care placement. While the states may opt to include EBPs already approved by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), some state leaders are opting to commission an independent technical review for the EBP they would prefer to implement as part of their FFPSA plan. While the goal is for ACF to approve their plan and issue a temporary license, little guidance is provided on how to conduct technical reviews. Relying upon the expectations that …

Cross-National Associations Among Cyberbullying Victimization, Self-Esteem, And Internet Addiction: Direct And Indirect Effects Of Alexithymia, Sebastian Wachs, Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Michelle F. Wright, Gabriela Ksinan Jiskrova

Family Sciences Faculty Publications

The relationship among cyberbullying victimization, lower self-esteem, and internet addiction has been well-established. Yet, little research exists that explains the nature of these associations, and no previous work has considered the inability to identify or describe one’s emotions, namely, alexithymia, as a potential mediator of these links. The present study sought to investigate the indirect effects of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem and internet addiction, mediated by alexithymia. The sample consisted of 1,442 participants between 12 and 17 years (M_age = 14.17, SD = 1.38, 51.5% male) from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Results showed a direct …