Digital Commons Network^™

The Flow Of Family Transitions Of Australian Families, Shana Pribesh, Matthew Usevitch, Elizabeth Koch Sigler, Kaijsa Angerhofer Heninger, Yuanyuan Yue, Mikaela J. Dufur, Jonathan A. Jarvis

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Family structure disruption has been linked to negative child educational and health outcomes (Perales et al. 2016). Australia has relatively stable families, but income disparities between Australians are widening, and single-parent families make up a large proportion of families living in poverty. Cohabitation is also common in Australia with approximately three-quarters of marriages preceded by cohabitation. If substantial family structure churning affects Australian children this may expose a need for special policy interventions aimed at family creation and dissolution to ameliorate the negative effects of such stressful experiences. To highlight family structures and transitions Australian children experience, we use Sankey …

Aberrant Epigenomic Modulation Of Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene (Nr3c1) In Early Life Stress And Major Depressive Disorder Correlation: Systematic Review And Quantitative Evidence Synthesis, Laurens Holmes Jr., Emily Shutman, Chinacherem Chinaka, Kerti Deepika, Lavisha Palaez, Kirk W. Dabney

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Early life stress (ELS) induced by psychological trauma, child maltreatment, maternal separation, and domestic violence predisposes to psycho-behavioral pathologies during adulthood, namely major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety, and bipolar affective disorder. While environmental data are available in illustrating this association, data remain to be established on the epigenomic underpinning of the nexus between ELS and MDD predisposition. Specifically, despite the observed aberrant epigenomic modulation of the NR3C1, a glucocorticoid receptor gene, in early social adversity and social threats in animal and human models, reliable scientific data for intervention mapping in reducing social adversity and improving human health is required. We …

Medical Students' Experiences And Outcomes Using A Virtual Human Simulation To Improve Communication Skills: Mixed Methods Study, Timothy Guetterman, Rae Sakakibara, Srikar Baireddy, Frederick W. Kron, Mark W. Scerbo, James F. Cleary, Michael D. Fetters

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Attending to the wide range of communication behaviors that convey empathy is an important but often underemphasized concept to reduce errors in care, improve patient satisfaction, and improve cancer patient outcomes. A virtual human (VH)–based simulation, MPathic-VR, was developed to train health care providers in empathic communication with patients and in interprofessional settings and evaluated through a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This mixed methods study aimed to investigate the differential effects of a VH-based simulation developed to train health care providers in empathic patient-provider and interprofessional communication.

Methods: We employed a mixed methods intervention design, involving a comparison of …

The Role Of Elites In The Diffusion Of Social Norms Of Humanitarianism, Khadijeh Salimi, Erika Frydenlund, Jose J. Padilla, Hanne Haaland, Hege Wallevik

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Certain social norms evolve without punishment as conventions that do not adversely affect society. In this paper, we depart from the notion that humanitarianism is one such social norm, where peer pressure may be the only type of punishment that encourages individuals to conform. Using an agent-based modeling approach, we examine the role that networked elites have in diffusing a non-punishment-enforced norm through an artificial society. The model considers norm advocates who promote a norm of humanitarianism, elites who have wide networks to spread the new norm, and general individuals who evaluate the norm pushed from elites and adopted by …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #2: Economic Conditions And Perceptions Of Employment, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[Introductory paragraph]

Survey respondents were asked to rate the economic conditions in Hampton Roads today. The percentage of respondents who feel the economy is doing ‘excellent’ remains fairly steady at 6.6 percent (7.4% in 2018). On the other hand, the percent rating the economy as poor since 2015 has been on the rise, increasing from 6.8% to 10.9%. There is a relatively even split this year when combining responses for “excellent/good” (49.9%) and “fair/poor” (48.4%).

Life In Hampton Roads Report: The Tenth Annual Life In Hampton Roads Survey, Steve Parker, Randy R. Gainey, Tancy Vandecar-Burdin, Wendi Wilson-John, Shania Williams, James Valliere

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[From the Executive Summary]

The Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at Old Dominion University recently completed data collection for the tenth annual Life in Hampton Roads (LIHR) telephone survey. The purpose of the survey was to gain insight into residents’ perceptions of the quality of life in Hampton Roads. As in previous years, the project also investigated attitudes and perceptions of citizens regarding topics of local interest such as transportation and traffic, perceptions of police, health, community, education, work, experiences with flooding, and other issues. These are presented independently or as trending with previous years when appropriate. This year, the …

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #3: Health And Public Schools, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[Introductory paragraph]

The health of Hampton Roads residents is vital to ensuring that the community thrives. The 2019 Life in Hampton Roads survey asked residents of the Hampton Roads area about their general health and certain health conditions.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #4: Neighborhood Flooding And Flood Insurance, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[Introductory paragraph]

Respondents were asked whether or not they own or are in the process of buying their home, rent, or have some other arrangement. Similar to past years, the majority of residents reported that they own or are in the process of buying their home (66.8%), marking the second highest percentage in the past five years, only behind last year’s percentage of 67.7. Another 28.6 percent indicated that they rent, while only 2.8 percent reported having another arrangement.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #5: Politics, Perceptions Of The Police, And Related Issues, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[Introductory paragraph]

The political climate is one factor in understanding attitudes on a variety of social and political issues. Respondents were asked an array of questions including party affiliation, political attitudes and voter registration. The 822 participants gave a wide variety of answers to these questions, but much of the data reflects response patterns seen in years past.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #6: Transportation, Social Science Research Center

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[Introductory paragraph]

Every day, people traverse the eleven bridges and five tunnels in the Hampton Roads area, commuting for work, family, and other activities. The 2019 Life in Hampton Roads survey asked residents of the Hampton Roads area about their commute times and opinions on bridge and tunnels.

Life In Hampton Roads Survey Press Release #1: Overall Quality Of Life, Social Science Research Center, Old Dominion University

Life in Hampton Roads Survey Report

[Introductory paragraph]

The overall quality of life in Hampton Roads has remained steady. The 2019 Life in Hampton Roads (LIHR) survey continues to show a generally good regional quality of life, though there has been a very slow decline over the past couple of years. The majority of those interviewed (68.2%) reported that the overall quality of life in Hampton Roads is excellent or good, while 31.3 percent found it to be fair or poor. The portion of respondents rating regional quality of life as good or excellent is slightly lower than last year’s portion (70.1%).

Color-Blind Racial Attitudes In Dental Hygiene Students: A Pilot Study, Emily A. Ludwig, Jessica R. Suedbeck, Susan L. Tolle

Dental Hygiene Faculty Publications

Purpose: Color-blind racial attitudes and biases have been linked to racial prejudice which may potentially affect dental hygiene care to diverse patients. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the color-blind racial attitudes of dental hygiene students.

Methods: A 20-item, Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS) electronic survey was sent to a convenience sample of 41 first-year and 30 second-year dental hygiene students (n=71) in a dental hygiene program in Virginia. The CoBRAS instrument measures contemporary racial attitudes and stereotyping in three subcategories: Unawareness of Racial Privilege, Institutional Discrimination, and Blatant Racial Issues. CoBRAS scores range from 20-120, with …

Iron Deficiency Anemia, Population Health And Frailty In A Modern Portuguese Skeletal Sample, Samantha M. Hens, Kanya Godde, Kristin M. Macak

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION

Portugal underwent significant political, demographic and epidemiological transitions during the 20th century resulting in migration to urban areas with subsequent overcrowding and issues with water sanitation. This study investigates population health during these transitions and interprets results within a framework of recent history and present-day public health information. We investigate skeletal evidence for anemia (cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis) as indicators of stress and frailty-i.e., whether the lesions contribute to susceptibility for disease or increased risk of death.

METHODS

The presence and severity of skeletal lesions were compared against known sex and cause of death data to investigate potential …