Digital Commons Network^™

Etchings Of The Exiled, Jan A. Wozniak

Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture

No abstract provided.

Building A Theory-Based Understanding Of Sexual Health Provider Stigma: A Phenomenological Study, Harit Agroia, Rebecca Reno, Maytal Bach, Jenette Spezeski, Erin Starzyk

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Unraveling provider-level sexual health stigma requires building an understanding of contributing factors, such as provider knowledge, values, beliefs, medical training, and other intrapersonal or interpersonal factors that may influence its manifestation at the clinic level during patient–provider interactions. Healthcare provider stigma has not been sufficiently understood or explained using classic psychological theories, such as Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT) or Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). We build a theory-based understanding of sexual health-provider stigma by proposing modifications to the SCT to develop the Modified SCT (M-SCT) model, where cognitive dissonance is hypothesized to influence the personal/cognitive and behavioral factors of the M-SCT. …

Refugee Student Perspectives On Educators’ Role In Fostering Resilience In U.S. Schools, Ann Marsh, Clementine Msengi, Sandra Harris

Tapestry: Journal of Research in Education

This qualitative study focused on five individuals who arrived in the United States either as refugees from conflict areas or as asylum seekers already residing in the country. The refugees were from Afghanistan, and the asylum seekers were from Iran. The researchers employed a phenomenological approach to conduct in-depth interviews with refugees, asylum seekers, and parents of such students, all of whom had experienced attending school after their arrival in the United States. The research question explored the role of teachers, instructors, and professors in fostering resilience among refugee students. Consistent with existing literature, the findings indicated that the teachers' …

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction And Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy As Interventions For Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Review, Amitojeroop Kaur

Honors Scholar Theses

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), specifically Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), in reducing anxiety symptoms in individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). A review of the literature revealed that while GAD affects millions globally, many individuals diagnosed with GAD do not receive treatment. This review evaluated the effectiveness of MBIs using randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs, focusing on effect sizes, study quality, and control conditions. The central hypothesis was that MBCT would significantly reduce anxiety symptoms, particularly in comparison to inactive control groups. Meta-analytic results showed that MBSR …

Masculine Traits In Female Serial Killers: A Qualitative Analysis, Ashley Polk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Female serial killers represent a minority in criminal statistics; their cases offer significant insights regarding broader patterns of serial killing behavior. The purpose of this study is to understand the role masculine traits play in the lives of female serial killers. This study involved using a qualitative research method to understand specific characteristics of female serial killers with common masculine traits and childhood experiences. Common masculine traits researched in this study were lack of emotions, aggression, control, dominance, and manipulation. The trauma control model and the gender scheme theory were the theoretical frameworks for this study. Data were collected by …

Asset Building For All, Starting At Birth: Emergence Of A Federal Policy And A Key Design Lesson, Michael Sherraden, Margaret M. Clancy, Jin Huang, Ray Boshara, Lissa Johnson

Center for Social Development Research

A proposal in the 2025 tax-reconciliation bill would provide federal Child Development Account–like accounts for all children born between 2024 and 2028, with a provision enabling children born in 2028 or after to open accounts. This Policy Brief is designed to inform public debate about the legislation through a discussion of the evidence underpinning the most fundamental of many lessons learned from SEED for Oklahoma Kids, the Center for Social Development’s long-running, randomized experiment with Child Development Account policy: the need for a centralized savings-plan platform.

Autism Spectrum Disorder-Specific Knowledge And Self-Efficacy Among Early Interventionists In Alabama, Greta R. Conlon

All ETDs from UAB

Young children diagnosed with autism and those who will go on to receive an autism diagnosis are frequently enrolled in early intervention services under Part C of IDEA. ASD-specific knowledge and self-efficacy have been shown to vary among providers working with autistic children, including those providing early intervention services (i.e., early interventionists). The current study aimed to characterize ASD-specific knowledge and self-efficacy in a sample of early interventionists in Alabama. In addition, it sought to identify differences in knowledge and self-efficacy between early interventionists serving different roles and to identify predictors of identified knowledge levels and self-efficacy ratings among participants. …

An Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Black Female Kinship Caregivers In Parenting Youth Aged 13-18, Tyla Wilder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative phenomenological study explored how the intersection of identities related to race and gender shapes the lived experiences of Black female kinship caregivers raising youth aged 13–18. Drawing on Intersectionality Theory, the study sought to understand the caregiving challenges, emotional resilience, and systemic barriers encountered by this underrepresented population. Nine participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling and engaged in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed that cultural norms and racialized gender expectations often compelled Black females to assume caregiving roles without institutional recognition or support. Participants described emotional isolation, financial instability, and limited access to legal and …

No. 42: Remittance Practices, Digital Technologies And The Ghana-Canada Migration Corridor, Naomi Sunu, Sujata Ramachandran

Migration and Food Security (MiFOOD) Network

Migrant remittances have been recognized as vital resources for the well-being of recipient households and communities, as well as for sustainable development in the Global South. However, these flows can be impeded by limitations in the infrastructure, financial systems, and regulatory environments of both sending and receiving countries, as exemplified by the high costs associated with remitting to sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, the use of less secure but more affordable informal remittance channels persists. Driven by the rapid growth of fintech technologies in recent years, including mobile money and web-based platforms, the digitalization of remittance-sending and receiving processes has the potential …

A Qualitative Analysis Of A Culturally Adapted Pcit Training For Black And Latine Clinicians: Creating Communities For Providers Of Autistic Youth, Harlee Onovbiona, Felipa Chavez, Lauren Quetsch, Ashley Scudder

Psychology Faculty Publications

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a widely known evidenced-based treatment (EBT) that has been used with Latine, Black, and neurodiverse children to improve the parent-child relationship and reduce challenging behaviors. Although considerable efforts have been made to disseminate PCIT to the wider community, fewer strides have been made to reach Black and Latine families in underserved communities—especially for families with neurodiverse children. One method to bridge the service gap for Black and Latine families is to train Black and Latine clinicians who primarily serve Black and Latine communities. Thus, the current pilot utilized a qualitative design and the Ecological Validity …

Community-Engaged Learning For Online Courses, Marsha W. Maxwell Phd, Katarina Friberg-Felsted Phd, Jacqueline L. Eaton Phd, Megan R. Medina, Denise Crismon

Transforming Communities

This article explores how to ensure the quality of community-engaged learning (CEL) course outcomes for online courses. We share insights and knowledge of three instructors who have successfully integrated CEL into their online courses. Based on these instructors' experiences, this article discusses four key topics related to online CEL courses: finding mutually beneficial partnerships, managing expectations, managing student-partner interactions, and following up with students. While we have found that the benefits of CEL outweigh the drawbacks, adding CEL to the dynamics of an online course can prove complicated for instructors, who must consider the time commitment, communication challenges, and course …

Education In Advance Care Planning: A Novel Equity-Based, Interprofessional Service-Learning Approach, Dorothy Yam, Sriya Kudaravalli, Elizabeth A. Mulvaney, Leslie Scheunemann, Grace W. Orsatti

Journal of Innovation in Health Sciences Education

Introduction: Despite health sciences graduate schools emphasizing service-learning and interprofessionalism, they often struggle to integrate these values into the curricula effectively. Advance care planning is inherently interdisciplinary and presents an opportunity to address equity gaps through service-learning. This report describes a novel interdisciplinary service-learning initiative for graduate student trainees, focused on advance care planning in underserved communities.

Methods: After targeted training, teams of medical, law, and social work students, and professionals from their respective fields, took part in two Life Planning Fairs in historically underserved neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Using a form developed by the Allegheny County Bar Association …

How Far-Right Populism Harms Ethnic Minorities’ Health: The Case Of The United States, Dina Rosenberg

Working Papers Series

Public health is a political issue, and the health of ethnic minorities is a key component of it. We argue that far-right populism, whether grassroots or elitist, harms the health of immigrants and minorities. Anti-minority attitudes and policies—such as health chauvinism promoted by far-right populists—along with hate rhetoric and ensuing personal and institutional discrimination create a climate of hostility that negatively affects health outcomes in underprivileged communities. We hypothesize that immigrants and ethnic minorities living in such a climate are more likely to experience health problems and underutilize healthcare. To test this, we leverage the significant variation between U.S. states …

Social-Emotional Learning (Sel) Support Through Social Work Case Management In K-12 Schools, Dina Michelle Garrett-Parker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Existing research revealed that K-12, school-based social work clinicians were utilized in various ways to support students' social-emotional learning (SEL) needs in public K-12 schools in the United States. However, there was a gap in knowledge about the unique approaches K-12 school-based social work clinicians employed to address the SEL needs of non-at-risk students. This basic qualitative study explored how K-12 school-based social work clinicians used empowerment case management practices to address the SEL needs of non-at-risk students. The theoretical framework grounding this study was empowerment theory. Using purposive sampling, semistructured interviews were conducted with five K-12 school-based social work …

Newsletter, Wku Staff Senate

Staff Council

Newsletter created by WKU Staff Council to report on work accomplished.

Building Youth Hope: Assessing Community Assets And Opportunities For Supporting Youth Well-Being In The Sagadahoc County Area, Emma Schwartz, Jillian Foley, Timothy Atkinson

Justice Policy

This report aims to build upon previous research and provides updated information on community assets to support youth in the Sagadahoc County area. The report examines the strengths, challenges, and opportunities for community investment with the goal of improving outcomes related to youth hopefulness, belonging, and well-being. The project team engaged community members in a variety of asset mapping and data collection activities which are summarized in this report. The report authors also make recommendations related to expanding youth connections to informal supports and third places, ensuring access to a variety of assets that are responsive to their holistic needs, …

Rationale And Justification Of The Overarching Principles In The Governance Maturity Framework, Janna Wong, Eugene K. B. Tan, Steve Loh

Lien Centre for Social Innovation: Research

This research addresses the lack of a unified framework for measuring the governance maturity of impact organisations across countries with diverse legal landscapes and cultures, which complicates international assessment and collaboration. In response, we propose a governance framework tailored to the legal context of six countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Our analysis identifies six overarching principles embedded in the non-profit laws of the six countries: (1) purpose and impact, (2) leadership, (3) integrity, (4) communication, (5) efficacy, and (6) financial transparency and accountability. These six overarching principles form the proposed framework, which was operationalised and further …

Reciprocal Legibility: How School Social Workers Broker Equity For Legally Precarious Immigrant Students, Benjamin Roth, Leticia Villarreal Sosa

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

In this article, we explore how school social workers recognize and respond to the precarity of immigrant students in their schools, with particular attention to how they broker resources to improve educational equity for those who are undocumented. We introduce the concept of “reciprocal legibility,” which we define as the ability of school social workers to recognize the multidimensional needs of immigrant students while concurrently elevating their own visibility and trustworthiness among students who may otherwise avoid seeking help from mainstream institutions. Drawing on qualitative responses from a survey of school social workers (𝑛=324), we aim to answer the following …

Prenatal Substance Exposure And Positive Developmental Delay Screening Among Patients In Foster Care, Lauren Malthaner, Jill Mcleigh, Gregory Knell, Katelyn Jetelina, Folefac Atem, Sarah Messiah

Behavioral Health/Developmental Delay

Prenatal substance exposure (PSE) is a known risk factor for negative birth outcomes and long-term health outcomes like neurodevelopmental problems. Children in foster care have increased exposure to PSE and higher proportions of developmental delay compared with the general population. It is unclear whether differences still exist among developmental delay screening among children in foster care with and without PSE.

For questions about this study or others, please email [email protected]

childrens.com/fostercare

Aging In Harwich: A Community Needs Assessment, Claire E. Wickersham, Caitlin E. Coyle

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

At a time of such significant population aging, the Harwich Council on Aging commissioned a community-wide needs assessment with support from the Friends of the Harwich Council on Aging. The specific goal of this report is to support the strategic planning of the Harwich Council on Aging. An additional goal is to present information useful to other Harwich departments and organizations interacting with older residents planning for the future of Harwich. This report presents the results of a comprehensive examination of issues relating to aging in Harwich. Results presented here focus on the characteristics and needs of Harwich residents aged …

Using Industry-Level Characteristics To Assess The Degree To Which Interventions Engage An Employee Population, Haley C. Trust, Brett Amazon, Anthony Puline, Evan Sassenberger, Kristin Horan

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

Participation is an essential component in workplace health and safety programs or interventions. While those who conduct interventions often report participation rates among the overall organization, it could be useful to compare participants to industry statistics, given that health and safety risks can diverge widely among industries. Research students from Kennesaw State University analyzed a sample of published papers that focus on occupational health psychology interventions. This narrative review analyzed existing studies to look for similarities or dissimilarities between a sample of intervention participants and employees of their industry as a whole. The students considered demographic, socioeconomic, job-related, and health-related …

From Unmotivated To Motivated: Hermeneutic Inquiries Of Experience Of Community-Based Bsw Students In An Innovative Internship Seminar, Hyungjung Shin, Rana Hong, Philip Young P. Hong

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Providing a pathway for disadvantaged community college students in social work education aligns with the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion in social work education. This hermeneutic phenomenological study aims to explore the experiences of an innovative internship seminar incorporating an evidence-based workforce training model, Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP), in a community college-based bachelor’s of social work program in South Korea. Of the 59 students who attended the TIP-infused social work internship seminar course in Spring 2018, 11 students participated in repeated in-depth interviews. The results revealed the themes of perception changes in self, others, and the lifeworld and …

Representations Of Residential Child Care In The Irish Times Newspaper From 1870 To 2022, Niamh Caldwell

Masters

Guided by Social Representations Theory, this study explores how representation of residential childcare in The Irish Times have changed over time. A newspaper was chosen as the data source as mass media is proposed to have power over creating and communicating representations to the public. The representations explored include those of children, the construction of childhood and children’s needs, and the role of other people/parties in the lives of children in care. Grounded in the pragmatic paradigm, quantitative and qualitative content analyses were conducted. Data was collected from ten time periods between 1870 to 2022 from The Irish Times Digital …

The Relationship Between Perceived Stress, Psychological Distress And Thwarted Belongingness Among Military Service Members, Isaac Greenblatt

University Honors Theses

Suicide remains a leading cause of death among members of the military, with psychological distress, perceived stress and thwarted belongingness emerging as key variables which impact this behavior. This thesis aimed to investigate the relationship between perceived stress, psychological distress and thwarted belongingness in a population of Active Duty Army Service Members (ADASM) at baseline and longitudinally. The Resilience-Supportive Leadership Training (RESULT) dataset was originally collected to assess the effectiveness of an intervention in the military. However, this thesis is a secondary data analysis of this dataset, including 273 ADASM participants. The K6 psychological distress test was used to measure …

Access To Healthcare For Rural Transgender Adults In The United States, Devon Smith

University Honors Theses

Urban and rural healthcare differ significantly in the amount of facilities, providers and kinds of specialty care that are offered in each environment. The United States is split into urban and rural counties in any given region, and based on those population sizes, are the allocation of healthcare resources for residents. In rural areas in the U.S., transgender adults lack access to gender-affirming care and encounter a lack of gender-affirming care providers due to workforce shortages, discrimination, and a lack of cultural competency. To determine if these residents lacked access to care compared with their urban counterparts, I performed a …

Exploring Advanced Theory Of Mind Development Across Sociocultural Contexts: An Evaluation Of The Strange Stories In Children From Mexico And Us–Mexico Border Communities, Katherine Rice Warnell, Amy A. Weimer, Rong Huang, Daniela Kuri

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Recent research on advanced theory of mind (ToM) has questioned the extent to which existing ToM measures capture a single construct, particularly for groups understudied in developmental research. The present study examined the factor structure of one of the most commonly used advanced ToM measures, the Strange Stories task, in samples of low- and middle-income children in dual-language Spanish-English schools in US–Mexico border communities and in Mexico (N = 237 children, n = 108 male, n = 129 female, Mage = 10.05 years, SD = 1.15 years; 96.3% Hispanic/Latine). No clear factor structure emerged for the Strange Stories …

The Relationship Between Lifetime Trauma Exposure And Psychosis In A Multi-Country Case-Control Study In Africa, Anne Stevenson, Supriya Misra, Engida Girma, Dickens Akena, Melkam Alemayehu, Amantia Ametaj, Bizu Gelaye, Stella Gichuru, Symon Kariuki, Lukoye Atwoli

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background: Exposure to traumatic events is a known risk factor for psychosis. Additionally, psychosis may be a risk factor for exposure to traumatic events. There are little data on the relationship between traumatic events and psychosis in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in large, cross-country samples using the same instrument.

Methods: In a case-control study, 21,606 adults were recruited with psychosis (cases) and 21,329 adults without any history of psychosis (controls) in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda from 2018 to 2023 (n = 42,935). Lifetime trauma exposure was assessed using the Life Events Checklist-5. Regression models included the: i) prevalence of …

Generative Ai For College Students: A Collaboratively Developed Online Microcourse On Genai In The College Classroom, Amber Willenborg, Tessa Withorn

Communications in Information Literacy

Academic libraries have taken a variety of approaches to addressing the opportunities and challenges of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in higher education. For universities that have no standard policy around GenAI, instructors are left with little guidance on how to teach students about GenAI in the classroom and may have varying levels of comfort with GenAI and its applications. To address the need for more instruction around GenAI, a team of librarians and university writing center and digital media suite staff took an innovative approach to teaching AI literacy by creating a six-lesson microcourse in their learning management system all …

Enditnow Impact Study Findings, Shannon M. Trecartin, René Drumm, Petr Cincala, Ellen Nogueira Rodrigues, Yazmik Cantillano, Kayla-Hope Bruno, Lalramliani Ralte

Faculty Publications

In January 2025, researchers at Andrews University (AU) initiated a study to evaluate Seventh-day Adventist churches’ engagement with the 2024 Abuse Prevention or enditnow Sabbath. The purpose of the study was initially to assess visibility and participation through the publicly available digital platforms of the sampled churches. The findings from that investigation were reported to the Departments of Archives and Statistics and Women’s Ministries in June 2025. The study’s scope expanded when researchers received a faculty research grant from Andrews University’s Office of Research to further investigate how Adventist churches across the NAD participate in the enditnow Sabbath. This report …

Understanding Anti-Racism In Counselor Education: A Narratology Of Anti-Racist Pedagogy In Sociocultural Courses, Danielle G. Rodgers

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Counselors have the privilege to join children, adolescents, and adults from all walks of life in a journey of working towards mental and emotional wellness. Our code of ethics outlines “honoring diversity and embracing a multicultural approach in support of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of people within their social and cultural contexts” (p.3) and promoting social justice as two of our core professional values (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014). The ACA also stated in their Antiracist Statement in 2020 that “we have a moral and professional obligation to deconstruct institutions which have historically been designed to benefit White …