Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding Oral Habits And Malocclusion In School-Aged Children: Insights From Parental And Child Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices, Maria Laurentia Sanjaya, Evan Raditya Pratomo, Markus Santoso, Agrippine Putricia Asaeli, Eveline Yulia Darmadi, Joy Janny Thenarianto, Jennifer Regina Putri Purwono, Eunike Jacquelyn Widarto

Kesmas

Malocclusion is a prevalent oral health problem in children associated with oral bad habits, yet the extent to which parental and child knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) influence orthodontic status remains insufficiently understood. This cross-sectional study investigated relationships between parental and child KAP, oral habits, and malocclusion in school-aged children, involving 67 child–parent pairs from an elementary school in Surabaya, Indonesia. Parental and child KAP as well as child-reported oral habits were assessed using a validated questionnaire. Children subsequently underwent standardized clinical orthodontic examinations, including alginate jaw impressions to produce dental study models, which were evaluated using the Index of …

Core Sipp Community Collaboration Report, Yvonnie Baik, Mahtab Soleimani, Camille Velarde, Elena E. Martinez, Theresa H. Cruz

Reports & Documents

The New Mexico Core State Injury Prevention Program (Core SIPP), in partnership with the University of New Mexico Division of Prevention and Population Sciences, implemented the Community Collaboration Initiative to support community-led, upstream approaches to injury and violence prevention. Five community-based organizations across New Mexico received funding to develop and implement projects addressing shared risk and protective factors identified through advisory group input and community listening sessions. Programs emphasized youth leadership, mentorship, cultural identity, healthy relationships, mental and behavioral wellness, community connectedness, and access to supportive adults and resources.

Across the five projects, 68 youth participated in programming. A retrospective …

Using Social Return On Investment To Evaluate Services That Support The Health Of People Experiencing Homelessness In Australia: A Scoping Review, Cate Mckenna, Christopher Rouen, Mary O'Loughlin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The increasing demand for homelessness services in Australia highlights the need for robust evaluation methodologies to assess their social impact. Traditional economic evaluation methods often struggle to capture the intangible social and health outcomes associated with homelessness. Social return on investment (SROI), an outcomes-based framework driven by stakeholders, offers a flexible and comprehensive approach to measuring social, economic and environmental impacts. This scoping review examines the application of SROI in evaluating services that support the health of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Australia. A total of 25 reports from grey literature (2010-2023) were reviewed. The findings reveal …

Food Insecurity And Mental Health Among High School Students: Evidence From National And Virginia Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Data, Nigel C. James, Asef Raiyan Hoque, Jada Pedersen, Huong Doan, Liam Hayes, Leah Suggs

Health Studies Faculty Publications

Background

Youth mental health problems are rising nationally. Virginia ranks among the lowest states in youth mental health access and has concentrated pockets of food insecurity (FI), underscoring the urgency of policy responses. FI is a known risk factor, yet surveillance often relies on single-item measures. We introduce a multidimensional Food Insecurity Index (FII) to examine associations with adolescent mental health.

Methods

We analyzed 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System data from Virginia (n = 1866) and the United States (n = 10,724). The FII combined five indicators capturing acute scarcity and chronic dietary compromise. Survey-weighted logistic regression …

Translating Community Voices To Build Meaningful Engagement: A Community Health Worker Led Study, Lauren Workman, Julie Smithwick Msw, Chw, Kimberly C. Rawlinson, Mark M. Macauda, Lashandra Morgan, Whitney Davis

Faculty Publications

Background: Understanding community perspectives on barriers and facilitators of meaningful engagement, equitable decision making, and sustainable community improvement is critical for advancing health equity. Community Health Workers can make significant contributions to research teams, as they are bridges into communities and bring unique perspectives. This study describes community voices on barriers to authentic engagement and insights on strategies to build trust, as well as the way in which these data were translated into a tangible assessment tool and a community-facilitated learning academy.

Methods: A team of Community Health Workers led a series of 24 ‘open mic’ discussions in four South …

Feeding Missoula: Food Insecurity In Rural Children And Youth, Chani Brammer, Braelee Cheeks, Jordin Holland, Rayne Mccollough, Laurel Palmer, Therese Solomon

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

In Montana, approximately one in seven children live in a food-insecure household, with rural Montanans in particular facing significant barriers. Existing needs-based food assistance programs, such as SNAP and WIC, have structural weaknesses: SNAP benefits are often not sufficient to last through the month, and those eligible for these programs face a confusing application process, shame and stigma, and logistical hurdles, such as limited transportation.

“Feeding Missoula” began with an evaluation of how current food assistance programs met or failed to meet the needs of rural youth. Our methodology integrated a comprehensive review of existing literature and structured interviews with …

The Impact Of Medicaid Policy Limitations On Access To Eating Disorder Treatment: Uncovering The Consequences Of A System Built To Fail, Meghan Frost

DSW Capstone Projects

Individuals who rely on Medicaid face major barriers when trying to access eating disorder (ED) treatment, reflecting broader patterns of structural disadvantage in publicly funded health care. Research shows delayed diagnosis, limited access to ED specialists, and frequent denials for recommended services. These gaps occur because Medicaid policies do not match the needs of evidence based ED care, resulting in delayed or incomplete care for many individuals with eating disorders.

This issue is highly relevant to social work practice because the policies shaping these barriers are complex and difficult for clients and ED providers to navigate. Social workers across clinics, …

Volume 5 November '25 Full Issue, Donna Williams

Journal of the Louisiana Public Health Association

No abstract provided.

Data Driven Policies: An Ideal For Louisiana's Juvenile Justice System, Stephen Phillippi, Sara Juneau, Kelsey Witmeier, Victoria Sacco

Journal of the Louisiana Public Health Association

Background: Data collection and monitoring efforts among juvenile justice agencies have grown exponentially in the United States over the last 50 years. Despite widespread recognition that reliable data is essential to developing strategic evidence-based policies, there are still considerable gaps among the states and locally. In Louisiana, legislators and decision-makers have worked towards advancing juvenile justice policy reforms in recent decades, though the resulting outcomes remain unclear. The goals of the current study were to identify existing data reporting strengths and gaps within the Louisiana juvenile justice system (JJS) and examine how such reports might be better used in data-driven …

Advancing Children's Mental Health In Nevada, Kelliann Beavers, Christopher Kearney

Lincy Institute Events

Nevada ranks 51st nationally in youth mental health access and services, underscoring persistent shortages and disparities across the state. Nearly one in four youths aged 12–17 (23.5%) experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, and 73% did not receive treatment. Approximately 34,000 Nevada youths have reported suicidal thoughts—an urgent call for prevention and coordinated support.

During the 2024–2025 school year, 31.3% of Clark County School District students were chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), a challenge closely linked to mental health struggles and socioeconomic barriers.

This community forum provided an opportunity to generate dialogue and …

Building Swimming Skills In A Community Based Program For Black Youth: An Evaluation, Tyler Lennon Md, Mph, Ashley Hayes Mph, Leonardo Barrera Mph, Amy Hill Ms, Mph, Andy Miner, Michelle Macy Md, Ms

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Black youth in the United States disproportionately experience fatal drowning at rates up to five times higher than their white peers. Eliminating these inequities requires new approaches that address historical and structural barriers of learning to swim. The objective of this study was to evaluate the three-week long swimming component of a community-based discovery program to empower Black youth in Evanston, IL. Participants were Black youth ages 8-10 years enrolled in summer 2023 and 2024. Swim skills were assessed by instructors using the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence (PSPWC). Caregiver surveys, collected post-intervention, also assessed perceived changes in swim …

Person-Centered Trauma-Informed Care (Pctic): A Training Needs Assessment For Home And Community-Based Services In West Virginia, Ranjita Misra, A. Brianna Sheppard, Natalie Wilson, Megan C. Govindan, Matthew Myers, Amanda Acord-Vira, Steven Wheeler, Heather Henderson, Christena Ross, Laura Cooper, Rachel A. Goff

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Person-centered, trauma-informed care (PCTIC) is a combined, holistic service model promoting the well-being and empowerment of trauma survivors.

Purpose: This study examined the PCTIC knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by West Virginia (WV) Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) direct service professionals (DSPs) to serve clients that may have experienced trauma.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with diverse stakeholders (n = 32) from 19 organizations that provide HCBS services in all 55 counties. Interviews focused on identifying current training, needs and knowledge gaps, and priority areas for additional PCTIC training. ATLAS.ti software was used to manage and code. Validity …

Adolescent Online Leisure, Media Literacy, Online Victimization, And Multifaceted Well-Being During Covid-19: The Role Of Parental Support, Yunqi Wang

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The rapid advancement of the internet and digital technology has provided opportunities for adolescents to conduct leisure activities online on a daily basis. However, research on adolescent technology use and mental health often highlights negative effects without carefully examining the specific mechanisms, which overlooks the complexity of effects of online behaviors on adolescent well-being and the importance of developing adolescents’ media literacy skills. Moreover, despite the crucial role of family dynamics in adolescent development, research on how parental support and involvement might affect adolescent technology use and well-being is still limited. The current study retrieved data from Programme for International …

Intergenerational Family Dynamics Among Caregivers And Children’S Social-Emotional Development In China, Weiman Xu

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The early years of a child’s life are pivotal for social-emotional development. While extensive research has explored the role of family settings in fostering children's social-emotional development (Bornstein, 2005), the impact of grandparental involvement, particularly the caregiving dynamics between generations, remains less well understood. This study aims to fill this gap by examining two critical aspects of intergenerational dynamics among caregivers (i.e. parent-grandparent coparenting and parent-grandparent relationship quality) and their associations with children’s social-emotional development (i.e. social skills and problem behaviors). Two specific aims were delineated: 1) examine the unique contribution of parent-grandparent coparenting, especially the power and authority domain …

Shifting From Crisis To Prevention: Community-Generated Materials From The Core Sipp Listening Sessions (Version 1), Camille Velarde, Mahtab Soleimani, Yvonnie Baik, Theresa Cruz

Reports & Documents

The Core State Injury Prevention Program (CORE SIPP) in New Mexico sought to understand how communities can prevent injury and violence before crisis occurs. In 2025, the University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center, in partnership with the New Mexico Department of Health, listened to service providers, advocates, and community leaders working with youth and families across the state. Participants described overlapping challenges, including poverty, unsafe housing, limited mental health care, transportation gaps, and a lack of safe spaces for young people, and emphasized that real prevention must start early and address families’ basic needs. From these sessions, community members …

Chronic Illness Education 2025: Pediatric Depression And Anxiety: Hope Through Healthcare, Andreas Mozny, Arjan Goenaga Castillo, Audrey Millar, Ebony Williams, Griffin Lotze, Haytham Al-Qasmi, Kamontip Jongnarangsin, Tricia Jain

Patient Education Projects

No abstract provided.

Core State Injury Prevention Program Listening Sessions Report June 2025 Report, Camille Velarde, Yvonnie Baik, Elena Martinez, Theresa Cruz

Reports & Documents

Background: Injury and violence remain pressing public health challenges in New Mexico, particularly in rural and underserved communities. To inform prevention strategies, the University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center partnered with the New Mexico Department of Health and local organizations to conduct community listening sessions focused on upstream approaches addressing shared risk and protective factors.

Methods: Four listening sessions were conducted in 2025 with stakeholders from county health councils and community organizations. Using a rapid qualitative analysis approach, researchers analyzed participant perspectives on local injury and violence concerns, familiarity with upstream frameworks, and communication preferences.

Results: Participants identified overlapping …

Blueprint For A Youth Violence Intervention Program In East Baton Rouge Parish: Adapting Hospital-Based Strategies, Kristina G. Little, Elizabeth Winchester, Judith L F Rhodes

Reports

Youth violence in East Baton Rouge Parish remains a persistent public safety and public health challenge. This report proposes an adapted, evidence-informed model for East Baton Rouge Parish that retains the core components of traditional HVIPs while leveraging existing legal, hospital, and social service resources. The model is grounded in a public health framework and emphasizes trauma-informed, bedside intervention at the “teachable moment” when youth are most receptive to change, and long-term wraparound case management. The report concludes with recommendations for implementing this adapted approach, including identifying a health system champion, building referral protocols, embedding training, and developing a long-term …

The Burden Of Care: A Phenomenological Inquiry Into The Lived Experiences Of Homeless Shelter Administrators Leading Through The Pandemic And Lasting Implications On Program Operations, Marie Adele Wilson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The theories guiding this study are Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, conflict theory, and complex systems theory, which explain the relationship between the theory and resource limitations and acquisition, systems, and nature of acquiring human needs. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe homeless shelter administrators'/directors' experiences delivering services during the COVID-19 pandemic on the Eastern Coast of the United States and Texas. It further seeks to unravel how the pandemic informed the delivery of services and program administration related to homeless shelters and its impacts. The research questions sought to understand the impact of COVID-19 on delivering services …

Testing For Bleeding Disorders In Child Abuse: Aap Recommendation Adherence And Testing Results, Lyndsey Hultman, Angela Doswell, Henry T Puls, Shannon L Carpenter, Angela Bachim, Caitlin R Mcnamara, Farah W Brink, Lori D Frasier, Nancy S Harper, Natalie Laub, Kristine A Campbell, Daniel M Lindberg, Joanne N Wood, James Anderst

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives: Using a multicenter child abuse pediatrics research network (CAPNET), the study objectives were to characterize the adherence to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations for bleeding disorder testing and the frequency of bleeding disorder identification.

Methods: We performed a descriptive study of bleeding disorder evaluations among children younger than 10 years of age who presented with bruising and/or intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) concerning for abuse from February 2021-May 2022 utilizing CAPNET. Cases were classified as bruising without ICH or ICH with or without bruising. Based on AAP guidance, testing was not recommended in cases with concomitant suspicious injuries, inflicted injury …

Help-Seeking Behavior And Related Mental Health Promotion Programs In Southeast Asian Youth: A Systematic Literature Review, Gladys Octavia, James A. Doorbar, Kallista Chan

Kesmas

Mental health issues are a prominent burden among adolescents and young adults in Southeast Asia, compounded by reluctance to seek help and low treatment rates. This mixed-method systematic review analyzed help-seeking profiles (preference, facilitators, and barriers) and evaluated implemented help-seeking programs. Data were sourced from electronic databases, hand-searched local databases, conference proceedings, and grey literature. Study selection followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines, focusing on 1) adolescents (10–19 years) and young adults (18–26 years) in Southeast Asia who were not receiving mental health care, 2) assessing help-seeking behavior, and 3) evaluating programs to increase help-seeking. A total of 16 articles were identified. …

Experiences Of Health And Mental Health Services For Immigrant Mothers From The Northern Triangle Of Central America, Lisa Dianne Vega

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of immigrant mothers from the Northern Triangle of Central America with access to health and mental health services in the Southern United States. The theory guiding this study is social constructivism developed by Lev Vygotsky in 1968, as it will seek to understand the greater contexts of the experiences of the participants, both currently, as well as the stories and experiences of their immigration journey. Central American immigrant mothers from the Northern Triangle face many types of traumatic events in their lives. These events began in their home …

Preliminary Evaluation Of A Brief Intervention To Enhance Trauma-Informed Attitudes Among Educators And School Mental Health Counselors, Cheri Shapiro, Kara Lee, Courtnie Collins, Tristan Collier, Carl Sorensen

Publications

Professional development training designed to advance knowledge of the impacts of trauma and trauma-responsive practices for educators and counselors in schools and mental health settings have become common. Given the popularity of these training approaches, it is important to understand the potential impact on trauma-informed attitudes and beliefs. This descriptive, exploratory study examined changes in traumainformed care attitudes as a function of participating in a novel intervention designed to support trauma-informed practices in a sample of elementary school educators, administrators, and school mental health counselors (n=194) from one state in the Southeastern US. Positive changes in trauma-informed attitudes from pre …

Mental Health Trends Among African American High School Students, Alexis Heard

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescent mental health is a major public health issue in the U.S., with African American high school students facing a rapidly worsening crisis. While all youth show increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality, African American adolescents are at greater risk due to systemic racism, socioeconomic inequality, community violence, and limited access to culturally responsive care. Few national studies have examined mental health trends among this group. This study (1) examines 2011–2021 trends in persistent sadness/hopelessness, suicidal ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempts among African American high school students; (2) explores gender differences; and (3) compares these patterns to national …

Prevalence Of Abuse-Specific Injuries In Infants With Prior Injury Evaluated For Abuse, Nara Cho, Kristin G Crichton, Sara Helwig, Krista K Wheeler, Rachel M Stanley, Megan M Letson, Kristine A Campbell, Angela N Bachim, Colleen J Bressler, Carmen M Coombs, Lori Frasier, Nicole Johnson, Sara Kilbride, Jan Leonard, Daniel M Lindberg, Noelle T Tran, Joanne N Wood, Farah W Brink

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and objectives: Physical abuse is a common cause of morbidity in infants but is often missed in those with medically minor injuries, increasing the risk for escalating violence. Our objective was to compare the prevalence of abuse-specific injuries among infants with and without prior injuries.

Methods: This is a retrospective, multicenter study of infants (aged < 12 months) undergoing child abuse pediatrics provider (CAP) consultation for suspected physical abuse between 2/2021 and 12/2022 at 10 participating US centers. Encounters were dichotomized into those with and without history of prior injury. The groups were compared for rates of diagnostic screening and prevalence of abuse-specific injuries. The association of prior injuries with identification of abuse-specific injury was assessed using logistic regression controlling for demographics and presence of prior injury.

Results: We identified 2352 eligible encounters (median age: 4.2 months), of which 13% had a history of prior injury. In infants who underwent diagnostic testing, injury identification was significantly higher in those with prior injury (45% vs 22%, P < .05). Adjusting for patient characteristics, the presence of prior injury in infants was associated with higher odds of at least 1 type of abuse-specific injury being identified, compared with those without prior injury (adjusted odds ratio = 2.81, 95% CI = 2.10-3.76).

Conclusion: Infants with prior injury …

Use Of Adventure To Address Play Deprivation In Children And Teens Raised In Conflict, Kristin Salisbury, Mary Jan Greer

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

Youth raised in conflict often experience extrinsic and intrinsic factors that contribute to play deprivation and occupational injustice. These factors are reviewed through interviews with stakeholders and participants and observed while embedded in an adventure program for foster and adopted youth and in a refugee camp for families and children. Current literature reveals underlying factors that contribute to play deprivation for these youth, including conditions resulting from trauma and developmental delays due to the absence of play engagement. The poster reviews the programmatic components necessary for addressing these factors through whole-person play-based programming. It considers using adventure-based programming to introduce …

Delinquency And Inadvertent Neglect As Byproducts Of Work-Addicted Parents, Shelley Sasser

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

Over the past decade, discussions of work addiction throughout academic literature have increased substantially. However, the relationship between childhood outcomes and parental work addiction has yet to be explored. In this study, I set out to identify functions of parent-child relationships and comparisons of situational outcomes stemming from work addiction in relation to social determinants such as income, ethnicity, and gender, along with resulting stratification. The degree to which children benefit from features of lifestyles typically associated with high household incomes, such as financial security, health care benefits, access to educational resources, and neighborhood socioeconomic advantage, wherein parental work-addiction might …

Implementation Science And Pediatric Diabetes: A Scoping Review Of The State Of The Literature And Recommendations For Future Research, Julia Price, Jaclynn Hawkins, Daniel J. Amante, Richard James, Debra Haire-Joshu

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This scoping review aimed to identify implementation science (IS) research in pediatric diabetes, report integration of IS theory and terminology, and offer guidance for future research.

RECENT FINDINGS: Of 23 papers identified, 19 were published since 2017 and 21 focused on type 1 diabetes. Most involved medical evidence-based practices (EBPs; n = 15), whereas fewer focused on psychosocial (n = 7) and diabetes education (n = 2). The majority either identified barriers and facilitators of implementing an EBP (n = 11) or were implementation trials (n = 11). Fewer studies documented gaps in EBP implementation in standard …

Trends In Gaps Of Care For Patients With Congenital Heart Disease: Implications For Social Determinants Of Health And Child Opportunity Index, Abbas H. Zaidi, Adam Alberts, Devyani Chowdhury, Claude Beaty, Benjamin Brewer, Ming Hui Chen, Sarah D. De Ferranti

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Lifelong continuity of care is essential for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) to maximize health outcomes; unfortunately, gaps in care (GIC) are common. Trends in GIC and of social determinants of health factors contributing to GIC are poorly understood.

METHODS AND RESULTS: This retrospective cohort study included patients with CHD, aged 0 to 34 years, who underwent surgery between January 2003 and May 2020, followed up at a pediatric subspeciality hospital. Patients were categorized as having simple, moderate, and complex CHD based on 2018 American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology guidelines. Social determinants of health, such …

The Icelandic Prevention Model Evaluation Framework And Implementation Integrity And Consistency Assessment, Michael J. Mann, John P. Allegrante, Megan L. Smith, Inga Dora Sigfusdottir, Alfgeir L. Kristjansson

Public and Population Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) follows a systematic but flexible process of community capacity building, data collection, analysis, dissemination, and community-engaged decision-making to guide the data-informed selection, prioritization, and implementation of intervention strategies in preventing adolescent substance use. This paper describes two new evaluation tools intended to assess the: 1) integrity of IPM implementation, and 2) unique aspects of IPM implementation in different community contexts. These evaluation tools include a: 1) five-phase IPM Evaluation Framework for Assessing Value Across Communities, Cultures, and Outcomes (IPM-EF); and 2) 10-Step IPM Implementation Integrity and Consistency Assessment (IPM-IICA) that utilizes both …