Social Work Commons^™

Measuring Gender Equity At Ud Among Faculty, Staff, And Leadership, Mary Mcloughlin, Josh Segalewitz

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The purpose of this report card is to be transparent around the representation of women across the UD workforce and in leadership roles.

Our goal is to annually evaluate progress toward increasing institutional diversity and promoting equity for women-identified staff and faculty. In doing so, the report identifies areas where progress is being made and areas where more work is needed.

Impact Of In-Depth Storyline On Children’S Math Skills In Adaptive E-Book, Shelbie Weightman

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The percentage of homes tablet computers and children under age 8 has increased from 8 percent in 2011 to 78 percent in 2017 (Zippert, et al.).

E-books for literacy have been shown to be beneficial for young children, but less is known about math-focused e-books.

Parent-child interaction about math story problems, even just once a week, showed improved math achievement in the child by the end of the school year. The benefits of occasional math-related interactions are especially apparent for children whose parents are anxious about math. Providing a math app that allows math-anxious parents to more easily engage in …

Cross Validation Of The Environmental Attitudes Inventory: Plans To Assess Attitudinal Changes In Workers At A Shelter Farm In A Food Desert, Amanda Barry, Alea Albright

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Within the context of an ongoing participatory community action research project that implements behavioral activation in homeless shelters, an urban farm was implemented. Behavioral activation provides opportunities to engage in productive activities that yield response-contingent reinforcement, which increases productive behavior and leads to improvements in a sense of mastery, quality of life, mood, and cognition.

The project represents a collaboration between Dr. Roger N. Reeb (Professor of Psychology) and St. Vincent de Paul. Among our many community partners, we developed a collaboration with the Ohio State University Agricultural Extension of Montgomery County in 2017 to establish an urban farm on …

Gender Differences In Rates Of Anhedonia And The Effect Of Menstrual Cycles In University Students, Arianna Rueda

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Anhedonia is the lack of experiencing pleasure from pleasurable experiences (D'haenen, 1996) and is associated with the reward pathway in the brain (Langvik et al., 2016). Anhedonia can be further broken down into physical or social (Martino et al., 2018).

• Physical anhedonia is the absence of pleasure from eating, drinking, or physical touch.
• Social anhedonia is a lack of pleasure derived from social experiences.

Previous research has looked at gender differences in anhedonia with conflicting results.

• One measure of anhedonic subtype of depression found a relation with positive affect and gender differences more than other measures of anhedonia (Langvik et …

Body Language "Says" More About Whether A Person Is Lying, Emily Scheiwiller, Shelbie Weightman

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The wording of a question can bias someone's perception of another person (Questionnaire design; Ulatwski, 2013).

• Direct Questions
• Indirect Questions
• Social Awareness

Social Awareness Inventory (SAI) assesses individual differences in social awareness of emotion demonstrated by others (Sheldon, 1996).

Hypothesis 1:Indirect questioning as compared to direct questioning when evaluating an interviewee's dishonest responses will produce more accurate determinations of dishonesty that correspond with research-supported correlates of dishonesty.

Hypothesis 2: Questions designed to detect observer bias related to dishonest behaviors, compared to those related to interviewee verbal and nonverbal characteristics, as well as the observer’s expectations of interviewee behaviors will …

Liar Liar: Gender Differences In Deception Detection, Jake Avendano, Kelly Boris, Faith Plummer

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The present study explores the relationship between social awareness, type of questioning, gender effects, and deception detection. Following are important definitions of concepts and tools used in this research:

• We can bias someone's perception of another person by the way a question is worded (Questionnaire design; Ulatwski, 2013).
• Direct Question: An explicit measure of deception detection. Direct questions focus on personality characteristics associated with deception (DePaulo, 2018).
• Indirect Question: Lie detection does not access implicit knowledge but focuses the perceiver on more useful cues. Indirect questions focus on biases, and verbal and body language (Street & Richardson, 2015).
• Deception Detection …

Associations Between Decision Making And Hedonic Responses To Odor, Madison E. Degnan

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Olfaction, or the sense of smell, is facilitated by specialized sensory cells, called olfactory sensory neurons, which are directly connected directly to the brain.

The limbic system is a set of brain structures located on both sides of the thalamus.

The limbic circuitry supports a variety of functions, including emotion, behavior, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction.

The olfaction bulb is connected to the amygdala and the hippocampus.

The anterior limbic and related structures including the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala are involved in emotion, reward valuation, and reward-related decision-making (but not memory), with the value representations transmitted to the anterior cingulate …

Halloween, Superstition, And Black Cat Bias, Brianna Gavin

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Black Cat Bias (BCB): “Cats with black coats are viewed more negatively, adopted less often, and euthanized more often than lighter colored cats” (Jones & Hart, in press)

Shelter records of 2170 cats showed black cats stay in shelter about one month longer than non-black cats (Kubesova, Voslarova, Cecerek, & Vucinic, 2017)

Length of stay in shelter positively correlated with risk of contracting URI (Dinnage, Scarlett, & Richards, 2009) and coronavirus (Pedersen, Sato, Foley, & Poland, 2004)

Jones and Hart (in press) found black cats were perceived as more aggressive and less friendly than non-black cats

Jones and Hart (in …

Stress Reduction After Visiting Cats In A Cat Café, Nicole L. Beasley

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Research has attempted to induce stress and has been unsuccessful at demonstrating the efficacy of stress reduction. This may indicate that animal interaction is more beneficial when reducing longer-term stress rather than short-term stress, like what has been studied in the past. Additionally, animals may be more effective at reducing life stress as opposed to artificially produced stress.

Past research has limited the time participants may spend interacting with the study animals. The current study will allow participants to spend as much time as necessary with the café cats.

The present study will record a physiological marker of stress and …

The Effect Of Therapy Dogs And Meditation On Student Stress, Nicole L. Beasley

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Students experience many stressors throughout the semester. Student stress may arise from various facets of academic life (e.g. academics, financial, and relationship) (Dusselier et al., 2005). Most students report chronic stress (Pierceall & Keim, 2007).

Therapy dogs may lessen student stress. However, research on how therapy dogs reduce stress is mixed. Some research suggests therapy dogs only reduce psychological perception of stress while other research suggests physiological stress reduction.

Barker et al. (2016) measured stress with both psychological tests and physiological markers in students. Interacting with therapy dogs reduced the perceived stress but did not change the physiological markers of …

The Correlation Between Children's Executive Functioning And Their Academic Performance And Social Competence, Melissa Budisch, Erin Collins

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

We want to see if there is a positive association with Conscious Discipline, or Social-Emotional Learning, and improved EF skills in children.

Composure: The adult provides children with techniques, such as active calming, to regulate their emotions. (Brain Smart Start and Safe Place)

Adult Assertiveness: The adult is assertive, which provides the structure a child needs to be successful. We would argue that if an adult is assertive and give5 concrete instructions to the children, it can help them better understand self-control and how to effectively achieve a goal. (Visual Routines, Visual Daily Schedule, and Time Machine)

Choices: When a …

Sleep On It! Sleep Consolidation Produces Strong Delayed Memory Retrieval Much Like Immediate Retrieval, Gabriella Silone, Carolina Vázquez, Sarah Lawson, Victoria Karpuszka, Madeline Nash

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Research Question: Can sleep consolidation reduce the effects of an interruption during encoding, leading to improved accuracy on a delayed recognition task?

Consolidation: During sleep, memories acquired earlier are processed at a deeper level and strengthened by creating associations with previously-stored information (Rasch & Born, 2008). This process helps better integrate new information into existing long-term memory storage systems. Research indicates that the consolidation process can also prevent the effects of interference during memory retrieval (Robertson, 2012).

Present Study: The present study was designed to examine the effects of sleep consolidation after an interruption of encoding had …

Collaboration With Parent-Run Organization, A Support Agency And Adults With Developmental Disabilities To Improve The Quality Of Life, Alan Kurtz, Janet May

Poster Presentations

CCIDS staff worked with a parent organization to develop a plan for evaluation of a residential alternative for their adult children that included pre-post quantitative and qualitative measures of resident quality of life and a review of planning documents. A quality of life survey was administered separately to residents and parents shortly before their move into the new residence and about one year after their move. CCIDS also provided training for agency staff, parents, and residents on authentic person-centered planning and facilitating community connections.

Teaching Skills For Self Sufficiency: Health Management For Patients With Disabilities And Chronic Health Conditions, Teresa M. Hickam, Kathy Smith

Posters

Research shows patients who develop self-health management skills are able to translate these skills in other life domains such as higher education, social interaction and employment. Persons with chronic health conditions or disabilities often face challenges securing employment which in turn impacts self sufficiency and long-term health. The poster focuses on two programs at Children's Mercy serving as key building blocks for adolescents to manage their lives.

A Multifaceted Approach To Improve Quarterly Visit Rates At A Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Care Center, Paula Capel, Jessica Banks, Micaela Mckenna, Ashley Andrews, Christopher M. Oermann

Posters

Standard quality improvement methodology was used to improve quarterly visit rates among cystic fibrosis patients at Children's Mercy Kansas City Cystic Fibrosis Center.

• A family-centered, team-based approach was adopted
• A change in culture led to sustained improvement

Improved quarterly visit rates should drive improvement in outcomes including pulmonary function and nutritional status.

Trauma-Informed School Practices: Building Expertise To Transform Schools, Anna A. Berardi Phd., Brenda Morton, Edd.

Open Textbooks

This textbook represents the combined insight and experience of Morton, a k12 educator, and Berardi, a psychotherapist, both of whom are also university educators with extensive work experience serving districts and their teachers seeking to incorporate trauma-informed principles into their school culture and classroom. The authors identify that the field of education is now ready to deepen its level of response to the paradigm shift created by advances in neuroscience and traumatology. Hence, the primary focus is on identifying and applying trauma-informed educator competencies needed to transform districts, schools, educators, classrooms, and the field of education itself, while also including …

Nmphi And Ccids Parent Advocacy Training Collaborative, Crystal Cron, April Fournier

Poster Presentations

This poster describes the collaborative work between New Mainers Public Health Initiative (NMPHI) and the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) to assist in developing and presenting advocacy training for parents of children on the autism spectrum, including Somali parents here in Maine as well as assist in the development of resource and information materials on Somali populations in NH and Maine.

What Are The Risk Factors Of Social Isolation And Loneliness, Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

What are the Risk Factors of Social Isolation and Loneliness

This educational PowerPoint presentation is intended to be used as a training resource and can be reviewed individually or as part of a group training session. It will allow you and your staff to review the risk factors that contribute to social isolation and loneliness, and learn about why/how immigration can be a risk factor for social isolation/loneliness. This training module will also encourage you to consider and discuss which risk factors might affect the older adults you work with and consider solutions.

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Gujarati), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Coping With Loneliness - A Resource For Older Adults (Tagalog), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Coping with Loneliness – A Resource for Older Adults

Coping with Loneliness – A Resource for Older Adults is a reflection tool that includes prompts and activities to help a lonely older adult consider their feelings and come up with potential solutions by taking stock of their feelings, strengths and supports. This resource can be completed by an older adult individually, with the assistance of others, or in a group setting.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre …

The Role Of Faith Communities In Improving Supports To Reduce Loneliness And Social Isolation In Immigrants 65+, Reshma Banu, Sirena Liladrie, Behije Noka

The Role of Faith Communities in Improving Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+

This report titled “The Role of Faith Communities in Improving Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+” connects survey findings with the importance of offering programs and services through faith groups and makes recommendations for creative collaborations with them in strengthening the community’s response to unmet needs of older immigrants.

Author Bios: Reshma Banu is a graduate from the Social Service Worker Program – Immigration and Settlement Stream at Sheridan College. Sirena Liladrie is a professor in the Social Service Worker Program at Sheridan College and Principle Investigator of the project. Behije Noka is a graduate of …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Punjabi), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Polish), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Arabic), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Spanish), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Traditional Chinese), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Urdu), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Simplified Chinese), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Hindi), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …

Tip Sheet - Staying Socially Connected (Italian), Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Tip Sheet

This handout for older adults includes a list of research-informed tips that an older adult can use to engage socially in a variety of ways.

This document is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu

This resource is included in the Social Isolation and Loneliness Toolkit, created by the Centre for Elder Research in Oakville ON, Canada. The Toolkit is part of a research project titled “Building Connected Communities: improving Community Supports to Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Immigrants 65+”. The research focused on exploring strategies …