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Where I Am From Matters: Factors Influencing Behavioral And Emotional Changes In Autistic Individuals During Covid-19 In Latin America, María Cecilia Montenegro, Ana C. Ramírez, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Bianca T. Villalobos, Gabriela Garrido, Cecilia Amigo, Daniel Valdez, Natalia Barrios, Sebastián Cukier, Cecilia Montiel-Nava

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought an increased incidence of disease and mortality in the world at large, making it a particularly salient and stressful life event. For those individuals residing in Latin America, the pandemic was met with fragmented healthcare systems, economic downturn, and sociopolitical crisis which puts autistic individuals at risk for more detrimental outcomes. Behavioral and emotional challenges experienced by autistic individuals at the beginning of the pandemic could later develop into more severe symptomatology as the pandemic progresses. The present study aimed to explore changes in dysregulated (overt and internalizing) behaviors and preoccupation with getting sick during …

A Socio-Ecological Approach To A Community-Based Health Promotion Intervention On The U.S.-Mexico Border: Insights And Lessons Learned During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Yok-Fong Paat, Elizabeth Camacho, Sarah L. Ruiz, Diego Garcia Tovar, Guillermina Gina Núñez-Mchiri, Maria O. Duarte-Gardea, Guadalupe Corral, Sandra Oviedo Ramirez, Christine Markham, Luis R. Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Healthy Families Healthy Kids Initiative (HFHKI) is a community-based initiative developed based on the socio-ecological model to address preventive health care needs in El Paso County, Texas, one of the most economically and health-challenged border communities in the United States. HFHKI’s three main goals are to increase access to experiential learning and health education, service delivery, and sustainable systems/linkages of care. These were accomplished through seven critical activities. We present the rationale, background, setting, and conceptual framework for the initiative, followed by the methods used to develop and assess the success of the activities and results of our project …

Expanding Health Professional Education In The Rio Grande Valley During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sabrina R. Orta, Samantha G. Alvarado, Shuchita Jhaveri

Research Symposium

Purpose: The COVID-19 Pandemic has prompted innovation in health professional education, such that learners are able to recognize and mitigate healthcare disparities in the outcomes of vulnerable populations. The objective of our project was to increase education on preventing, preparing for, and responding to COVID-19 and other locally prevalent infectious diseases that disproportionately affect RGV communities.

Description: This project had 3 goals: (1) provide learners with virtual patient-interaction simulations (2) provide interactive training modules on the identification, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases affecting South TX and strategies to increase child vaccinations, and (3) provide learners an opportunity to coordinate …

Exploring A Hispanic Community’S Well-Being During The Early Stage Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Leyla Feize, Michael Machiorlatti, Enedina Enriquez

Research Symposium

Background: A crisis is a serious and stressful situation that brings instability and uncertainty. Although the COVID-19 crisis includes many characteristics of other crisis, it is unique in some respects. It is a worldwide life-threatening and long-term crisis with unknown consequences. The outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic are mostly under exploration and investigation. The effects of the pandemic on mental health are incontrovertible. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities has not been uniform. In the early stage of the pandemic, when the country and the RGV were exhausted with the numbers of those infected with COVID and the …

How Did Latinxs Near The U.S.-Mexico Border Fare During The Covid-19 Pandemic? A Snapshot Of Anxiety, Depression, And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Bianca T. Villalobos, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: The current study documented levels of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, and COVID-19 fears and impacts among Latinxs living near the U.S.-Mexico border during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Participants of this cross-sectional study were 305 Latinx adults living in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) who completed an online survey between June and November 2020.

Results: About half of participants scored above the cut-off for anxiety (50.2%; GAD-7 scores ≥10) and depression (48.8%; PHQ-9 scores ≥10), and more than a quarter of participants showed clinical levels of posttraumatic stress (27.3%; PCL-5 scores ≥31). Latinxs reported on average 22 types of negative …

Psychological Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In A Hispanic Sample: Testing The Buffering Role Of Resilience And Perceived Social Support, Michiyo Hirai, Laura L. Vernon, Elizabeth N. Hernandez

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current study examined the effects of specific COVID-19 stressors (i.e., family member’s death due to COVID-19, COVID-19 infection, and school/financial stressors) on stress, anxiety, and depression and the potential buffering roles of resilience and perceived social support in the association between COVID-19 stressors and psychological symptoms in a Hispanic university student sample (n = 664). Participants were classified in three stressor groups: those reporting a family member’s death due to COVID-19 (15.7%), those reporting their own or a family member’s COVID-19 infection but no COVID-19 death (35.5%), and those reporting only school and/or financial stressors due to the …

Optimal Interventions In Networks During A Pandemic, Roland Pongou, Guy Tchuente, Jean-Baptiste Tondji

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

We develop a model of optimal lockdown policy for a social planner who balances population health with short-term wealth accumulation. The unique solution depends on tolerable infection incidence and social network structure. We then use unique data on nursing home networks in the US to calibrate the model and quantify state-level preference for prioritizing health over wealth. We also empirically validate simulation results derived from comparative statics analyses. Our findings suggest that policies that tolerate more virus spread (laissez-faire) increase state GDP growth and COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. The detrimental effects of laissez-faire policies are more potent for nursing …

An Exploratory Study Of Healing Circles As A Strategy To Facilitate Resilience In An Undocumented Community, Frances Morales, José Manuel González Vera, Michelle A. Silva, German Cadenas, Jenifer García Mendoza, Luz M. Garcini, Manuel Paris, Amanda Venta, Melanie M. Domenech Rodriguez, Alfonso Mercado

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Within the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted critical inequalities affecting undocumented communities and resulting in particularly heightened stress for members of these communities. In addition to the stress associated with COVID-19, immigrants in the United States were more than ever subjected to a hostile antiimmigrant climate under Trump’s administration. Given this compounded stress, the impact of the pandemic on mental health is likely to be disproportionately experienced by undocumented immigrants. In response, a group of psychologists partnered with a leading immigrant rights advocacy organization and formed a reciprocal collaboration to support undocumented communities. A major focus of the collaboration …

Financial Stress In The Asian Christian Immigrant Community During Covid-19, Jinhee Park, Roy K. Chen, Chu-Ling Lo, Heekyung Lee

School of Rehabilitation Services & Counseling Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of the current study was to examine how individual, economic, and psychological factors contributed to the financial concerns of Asian Christian immigrants in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., the impact of COVID-19 on employment status and income change, intolerance of uncertainty, hope, and personal meaning in life). The sample consisted of 103 immigrants from three East Asian countries affiliated with Christian churches. A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to observe how the aforementioned variables predicted the participants’ financial worries. The results showed that intolerance of uncertainty accounted for a significant amount of variance in financial worries …

Roles Played By Nigerian Youtube Micro-Celebrities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Aje-Ori Agbese

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian social media micro-celebrities were prominent players in the dissemination of information. This study examines the roles that one group of Nigerian micro-celebrities, YouTube video bloggers (vloggers)—also known as “YouTubers”—played during the pandemic. The research analysed the contents of COVID-19-themed videos that 15 popular Nigerian YouTubers posted on their channels between 29 February and 5 August 2020. The study was guided by the two-step flow of communication theory, in terms of which information first flows from mass media to opinion leaders, who then, in the second step, share the information with their audiences. The …

When The Influencer Says Jump! How Influencer Signaling Affects Engagement With Covid-19 Misinformation, Ben Wasike

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

With signaling theory, credibility, and social media engagement (SME) as guiding frameworks, this study used an experiment to examine how social media influencers (SMIs) affect how people engage with COVID-19 misinformation. SMI-promoted information elicited more SME, credibility, and purchase likelihood than non-SMI promoted information. The most effective message was a post promoted by an SMI that contained detailed information about an authentic product. However, data indicated nuance regarding the effect of SMIs. The authenticity of the information as well as the amount of detail in the post played a role. Additionally, mediated effects analysis showed that the impact of SME …

Healthcare In A Time Of Crisis: An Investigation Of The Association Between Socioeconomic Status, Counties, And Covid-19, Jorge F. Contreras

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed social structural institutions such as hospitals, schools, the economy, and governmental bodies (local, state, and federal), exacerbating existing health inequality. Fundamental Cause Theory (FCT) provides a framework for understanding which factors drive such inequality, but its primary focus is on within-group variation. By highlighting the role of fundamental causes as systems of exposure, the Systems-of-Exposure (SOE) approach expands on FCT to account for variation more directly between populations. I performed a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) of county-level data from Texas and California to test the utility of SOE in assessing the impact of a pandemic …

Framing Of Covid-19 In Newspapers: A Perspective From The Us-Mexico Border, Rifat Afrin, Ahasan Harun, Gayle Prybutok, Victor Prybutok

Information Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

The degree to which the media report a health emergency affects the seriousness with which the people respond to combat the health crisis. Engagement from local newspapers in the US has received scant scrutiny, even though there is a sizable body of scholarship on the analysis of COVID-19 news. We fill this void by focusing on the Rio Grande Valley area of the US-Mexico border. To understand the differences, we compared such local news coverage with the coverage of a national news outlet. After collecting the relevant news articles, we used sentiment analysis, rapid automatic keyword extraction (RAKE), and co-occurrence …

Social Connectedness, Physical Distancing, And Anxiety In Complying With Shelter-In-Place Orders And Advisories During The Once-In-A-Century Covid-19 Pandemic In The Us: A Study Of Social Media And Internet Users, Dean Kyne, Candace Robledo, Cliff Clark, Ruby Charak, Meliha Salahuddin, Jay Morrow

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As of 20 October 2020, the virus had infected 8,202,552 people, with 220,061 deaths in US, and in countries around the world, over 38 million people have become infected and over one million have died. The virus usually spreads via respiratory droplets from an infected person. At the time of compiling this paper, while countries around the world are still striving to find a "pharmaceutical intervention (PI)", including treatments and vaccines, they are left with only "non-pharmaceutical interventions …

Implementation Of The Texas Community-Engaged Statewide Consortium For The Prevention Of Covid-19, Erika L. Thompson, Bettina M. Beech, Robert L. Ferrer, Lorna Mcneill, Jasmine J. Opusunju, Rebecca A. Seguin-Fowler, Emily Spence, Luis Torres-Hostos, Christopher I. Amos, Palak Desai, Jamboor K. Vishwanatha

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities aims to conduct community-engaged research and outreach. This paper describes the Texas CEAL Consortium's activities in the first year and evaluates progress. The Texas CEAL Consortium comprised seven projects. To evaluate the Texas CEAL Consortium's progress, we used components of the RE-AIM Framework. Evaluation included estimating the number of people reached for data collection and education activities (reach), individual project goals and progress (effectiveness), partnerships established and partner engagement (adoption), and outreach and education activities (implementation). During the one-year period, focus groups were conducted with 172 people and surveys with 2107 people …

Repercussions Of The Covid-19 Lockdown For Autistic People In Mexico: The Caregivers’ Perspective, Georgina Pérez Liz, Andy Torres, Ana C. Ramirez, Cecilia Montiel-Nava

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction. The COVID-19 lockdown has posed new challenges for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including service suspension and reductions in support. Objective. To explore the perspectives of caregivers on the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on people with ASD in Mexico. Method. 126 caregivers from Mexico completed a survey on the impact of lockdown on people with ASD. Results. Suspension of at least one service was reported for 38.9% of subjects, with no significant association being found between symptom worsening and service administration modality. Discussion and conclusion. Service suspension for people with ASD in Mexico has been a side …

The Impacts Of Ownership And Covid-19 On Firm Performance-Three Essays, Jian Xu

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays on finance of ownership and COVID-19. In the first essay, we investigate the effect of residual state ownership, foreign ownership, and the interaction between the two on firms' financing patterns. we find that neither firms with residual state ownership only nor firms with foreign ownership only are positively related with external finance. In comparison, firms with both state and foreign ownerships are associated with higher external finance. The increased external finance for firms with both state and foreign ownerships mainly comes from private banks and new equity. Moreover, we explore the channels through which …

Laissez-Faire, Social Networks, And Race In A Pandemic, Roland Pongou, Guy Tchuente, Jean-Baptiste Tondji

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

We study the effects of race, network centrality, and policies that tolerate some level of virus spread (laissez-faire) on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes in the United States. Our analysis uses unique data on nursing home networks and calibration-based estimates of states' preferences for health relative to short-term economic gains. Our findings suggest that laissez-faire policies increase deaths. Nursing homes with a larger share of Black residents experience more deaths, but they are less vulnerable to laissez-faire policies, especially when not central in social networks. Our findings highlight significant interactions between COVID-19 policies, race, and network structure among US seniors.

Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships During Covid-19: Providing Virtual Field Opportunities For Student Learners And Addressing Social Isolation In Older Adults, Omolola E. Adepoju, Sheara Jennings, Patti Schrader, Kathleen Reeve, Tracy Mcmanaman-Bridges, Lauren Gilbert, Ben King, Jessica Dobbins, Andy Rollins, Luis Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

While preventive and management measures are important to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, strategies like social distancing can have devastating effects on older adults who are already at risk for social isolation and loneliness. In response, two Colleges of Health Professions (Social Work and Nursing) at a large public University leveraged a partnership with a national health and wellbeing company to address social isolation and loneliness in Houston area older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. This intergenerational linkage initiative involved 707 older adults and 177 graduate social work and nursing students. This study describes the process of developing a virtual …

Where There's A Will There's A Way: Examining The Possible Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Incidents Of Mass Violence In The Usa, Gordon A. Crews, Garrison A. Crews, Samantha Leigh Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

“Where there’s a will there’s a way” is a proverb that simply means if someone is determined to do something, he or she will find a way to accomplish it regardless of obstacles. Unfortunately, this is very true for those who wish to commit acts of violence wish to commit acts of violence. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the possible impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidents of mass and multiple victim violence in the US. More specifically, what impact did efforts such as stay-athome/shelter-in-place orders, telecommuting options for workers, school closures, cancellation of large public events, …

Covid-19 And Women-Led Businesses Around The World, Yu Liu, Siqi Wei, Jian Xu

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

The impacts of crises are never gender-neutral, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Using a brand-new dataset covering 24 countries, we document that women-led businesses are subject to a higher likelihood of closure and a longer closure duration than men-led businesses during the pandemic. Women business leaders are also more pessimistic about the future than men business leaders. The disadvantages suffered by women-led businesses widen in high gender inequality economies and developing economies. Our results further indicate that finance and labor factors are likely to be the major contributors to these disadvantages. We suggest that COVID-19′s policy response should …

Covid-19 Y Autismo: Impacto En Las Personas Con Autismo Y Sus Familias En Uruguay, Gabriela Garrido, María Cecilia Montenegro, Cecilia Amigo, Daniel Valdez, Natalia Barrios, Sebastián Cukier, Alexia Rattazzi, Analía Rosoli, Ricardo García, Cristiane S. Paula, Georgina Pérez Liz, Cecilia Montiel-Nava

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

La pandemia de covid-19 y las medidas asociadas determinaron cambios profundos en los individuos con trastorno del espectro autista (TEA) y sus familias. Se busca explorar estos efectos a nivel de las emociones y comportamientos en esta población en Uruguay. Dentro de un estudio multicéntrico de ocho países de Latinoamérica, se utilizó la submuestra de Uruguay para analizar los cambios de los comportamientos exhibidos por los individuos con TEA sobre la base de género y edad. Entre los 269 cuidadores que completaron una encuesta anónima, el 43,9 % reportó mayores problemas de convivencia y el 75,4 % reportó retrocesos. El …

Perceived Weight Gain And Eating Disorder Symptoms Among Lgbtq+ Adults During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Convergent Mixed-Method Study, Jennifer Tabler, Rachel M. Schmitz, Ruby Charak, Eliza Dickinson

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: In this study, we further explore the role of COVID-19 pandemic-related stress, social support, and resilience on self-reported eating disorder symptoms (using the EDE-QS) and perceived weight gain among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ+ adults) in the US context during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Employing a convergent mixed method design, we surveyed 411 individuals, and conducted qualitative semi-structured follow-up interviews with 43 LGBTQ+ -identifying survey respondents. Using OLS regression and multinomial logistic regression, we modeled eating disorder symptoms and perceived weight gain among LGBTQ+ individuals (n = 120) and cisgender and heterosexual-identifying women (n = 230), to …

Empowered Stakeholders: Female University Students’ Leadership During The Covid-19-Triggered On-Campus Evictions In Canada And The United States, Haorui Wu, Marla Perez-Lugo, Cecilio Ortiz Garcia, Frances Gonzalez Crespo, Adriana Castillo

Public Affairs and Security Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The study of disaster-specific leadership of female university students has been largely neglected, especially during on-campus emergency eviction and evacuation. Based on the COVID-19-triggered, on-campus evictions across Canada and the United States, this cross-national partnership examined the out-of-province/state and international female university students’ leadership during the entire eviction process. Through in-depth interviews, this study revealed the female university students’ leadership behaviors during three stages: (1) pre-eviction: their self-preparedness formed an emotional foundation to support others; (2) peri-eviction: their attitude and leadership behavior enabled them to facilitate (psychologically and physically) their peers’ eviction process; and (3) post-eviction: they continued to support …

Covid-19 Student Mental Health Check Ii, Dianna Blankenship, Irma S. Jones

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The year 2020 will forever be known as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the entire population in one way or another. What began in January 2020 still has the world population firmly in its grip a year later. The students’ responses, in their own words, to changes in living, daily `routines, and health fears can be seen in the following paper. In this article, the responses of students in several undergraduate classes at a Hispanic serving institution in south Texas were collected and synthesized. The 155 responses were divided into seven frequently observed and repeated themes: …

Media Framing, Moral Panic And Covid-19: A Comparative Analysis Of China, South Korea, And The Us., Deena Devore, Sinyong Choi, Yudu Li, Hong Lu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

COVID-19 is perhaps the single most impactful event defining 2020 globally. Drawing on theory on media typology involving freedom and responsibility, media framing and moral panic theories, this paper examines media coverage on COVID-19 in three countries, China, South Korea and the United States. Data were obtained from six news outlets, Xinhua News, South China Morning Post, Chosun, Hankyoreh, CNN and Breitbart, two from each of the three countries. More than 1,000 COVID-19 related reports, spanning six days (the last day of January to June, 2020) were selected and coded based on common priming themes such as tone, the othering, …

Organizational Resources, Country Institutions, And National Culture Behind Firm Survival And Growth During Covid-19, Yu Liu, Mike W. Peng, Zuobao Wei, Jian Xu, Lixin Colin Xu

Economics and Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper provides one of the first comprehensive and most updated studies on the effects of firms’ organizational resources, country institutions, and national culture on the survival and growth of private firms around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing World Bank Enterprise Follow-up Surveys on COVID-19 that cover 18,770 firms in 36 countries, the paper documents four sets of findings. (1) During the pandemic, firms with favorable organizational resources (state ownership and affiliation with parent companies) are more likely to survive and grow, whereas firms with foreign ownership or more financial obstacles are less likely to survive or grow. …

Covid-19 Student Mental Health Check, Dianna Blankenship, Irma S. Jones

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced many changes in the lives of our students and families. In this article, the responses of students in criminal justice classes at a Hispanic serving institution in south Texas were collected and synthesized. The 252 responses were divided into seven frequently observed and repeated themes: jobs and job related, school and courses, graduation, routine, family, positivity, and groceries/shopping. Findings for this time period matched what much of what the national and international news and reports have all reported. It indicates that, as teaching professionals, we must be mindful to provide the added support to assist …

Youth-Led Resilience Promotion During Disaster Recovery: A Proposed Framework, Innovative Program, And Lessons Learned, Shane Mccarty, Kyle Pacque, Alyssa J. Gatto, Kaylynn Hill, Ruby Charak

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: Disasters, such as a school shooting or a global pandemic, harm psychological health and necessitate recovery. To complement adult-led disaster recovery and traumaspecific approaches, we propose a Youth-Led Resilience Promotion (YLRP) framework focusing on: 1) multi-tiered change, 2) resilience goals, 3) a promotion mindset, 4) youth strengths, 5) prosocial behaviors, and 6) capacity building through partnerships. The YLRP framework guided the development of a YLRP program in the aftermath of the Chardon High School shooting in Chardon, Ohio, which is detailed in a case study.

Method: As part of a Community-Academic Partnership, twenty college student trainers delivered a …

The Mental Health Of Latinx Adults In The United States During The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Snapshot Of Anxiety, Depression, And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Bianca T. Villalobos, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current study documented levels of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, and COVID-19 fears and impacts among Latinxs in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants of this cross-sectional study were 388 Latinx adults who completed an online survey between June and November 2020. Almost half of participants showed clinical levels of anxiety and depression and more than a quarter of participants showed clinical levels of posttraumatic stress. Latinxs reported on average 22 types of negative pandemic life impacts. Group differences based on gender, educational attainment, income, vulnerability to COVID-19, and essential worker status were found for mental health symptoms. Severity …