Digital Commons Network^™

More U.S. Women Of Childbearing Age, But Fewer Have Given Birth, Kenneth M. Johnson

Carsey Publications

In this brief, Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that, in 2022, there were 21.9 million women aged 20–39 who had not given birth in the United States. This is 4.7 million more childless women of prime child-bearing age than would have been expected given fertility patterns prior to the Great Recession. In 2022, there were 9 percent more women 20 to 39 than in 2006, but the share who had never had a child was up by 37 percent.

The cumulative result of fewer women having children and diminishing fertility levels was 9.6 million fewer U.S. births between 2008 and …

Learning From Women Veterans Who Navigate Invisible Injuries, Caregiving, And Reintegration Challenges, Nicholas A. Rattray, Diana Natividad, Katrina Spontak, Marina Kukla, Ai Nghia L. Do, Leah Danson, Richard M. Frankel, Gala True

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: As women comprise a greater proportion of military service members, there is growing recognition of how their experiences in the early phase of military to civilian transitions have an important influence on their health and reintegration outcomes. Qualitative accounts of women veterans can inform programs that support transitioning service members. Objectives: We examined narratives of civilian reintegration among women veterans to understand their experiences of adjusting to community life while coping with mental health challenges. Methods/Participants: We interviewed 16 post-911 era women who were within 5 years of separating from military service and developed a case study based on …

Looking Into The “Dark Mirror”: Autoethnographic Reflections On The Impact Of Covid-19 And Change Fatigue On The Wellbeing Of Enabling Practitioners, Angela Jones, Susan Hopkins, Ana Larsen, Joanne Lisciandro, Anita Olds, Marguerite Westacott, Rebekah Sturniolo-Baker, Juliette Subramaniam

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic brought global disruptions to the way universities operate. Online learning abruptly took priority, as the physical campuses in Australian universities became deserted. Staff had to instantly adapt to major changes in work practices, whilst continuing to support students’ engagement and maintain quality teaching and learning. This article discusses how change fatigue during the pandemic impacted the wellbeing of staff working in the enabling education sector. As staff and student wellbeing is interdependent, gaining a better understanding of the influences on staff wellbeing in the post-pandemic era is worth exploring in the context of discussions around student wellbeing …

Reimagining A Caregiver-Friendly Society, Jodi L. Southerland

Journal of Appalachian Health

Demographic aging is accelerating in the Appalachian Region, resulting in a growing proportion of caregivers living in areas that lack services to support their needs. Strategies are urgently needed in Appalachia to address deficiencies in the region’s long-term supports and services for older adults and their caregivers. Strengthening equitable access to care and community supports for family caregivers is a policy priority for state and community leaders in Appalachia.

An Assessment Of Sentencing Disparities By Race In The State Of Arkansas, Viola Schaeffer

Theses and Dissertations

Past research has found that there are often disparities in sentencing outcomes due to extralegal factors such as race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, education level, and geographic location. The most prominent and widely studied of these factors, however, is race. Specifically, studies have shown that minority offenders (e.g., African Americans) were more likely to receive a lengthier sentence than their White peers. The purpose of this thesis is thus to examine if there is racial bias in sentences levied to violent offenders in Arkansas. This is be done by analyzing sentencing data from the Arkansas Office of the Courts between …

Stress-Related Biosocial Mechanisms Of Discrimination And African American Health Inequities, Bridget J. Goosby, Jacob E. Cheadle, Colter Mitchell

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This review describes stress-related biological mechanisms linking interpersonal racism to life course health trajectories among African Americans. Interpersonal racism, a form of social exclusion enacted via discrimination, remains a salient issue in the lives of African Americans, and it triggers a cascade of biological processes originating as perceived social exclusion and registering as social pain. Exposure to discrimination increases sympathetic nervous system activation and upregulates the HPA axis, increasing physiological wear and tear and elevating the risks of cardiometabolic conditions. Consequently, discrimination is associated with morbidities including low birth weight, hypertension, abdominal obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Biological measures can provide …

We Built This Country For Free – Using A Phenomenological Approach For (Re) Imagining Mississippi Black Small-Scale Farmers, Destiny Denise Crockett

Theses and Dissertations

By the early 20th century, in 1920, Black farmers owned 14% of US farmland. Today, in the 21st century, Black farmers own less than 2% of US farmland. The demise of Black farmers and Black farmland in US Agriculture is a direct result of social, political, and racial weaponization against their foodways, culture, and livelihoods. The history concerning the plight of Black farmers goes beyond USDA's historical discrimination but enters a position where racism is embedded and perpetuated within the structure of US agriculture. In effect, Black small-scale farmers have reaped the downfall of this system, enduring racial biases and …

Youth Identity And Postsecondary Decision Making In A Rural State: Evidence Of A College For All Master Narrative, Jayson Seaman, Cindy L. Hartman, Andrew D. Coppens, Erin H. Sharp, Sarah Jusseaume, Molly Donovan

Faculty Publications

This study examined the normative messages that inform youth postsecondary decision making in a predominantly rural state in the northeastern U.S., focusing on the institutionalization and circulation of identity master narratives. Using a multilevel, ecological approach to sampling, the study interviewed 33 key informants in positions of influence in educational, workforce, and quality of life domains. Narrative analysis yielded evidence of a predominant master narrative – College for All – that participants described as a prescriptive expectation that youth and families orient their postsecondary planning toward four-year, residential baccalaureate degree programs. Both general and domain-specific aspects of this master narrative …

Moral Injury, Identity Dissonance, And Reintegration: A Compendium Of Reintegration And Survey Of United States Military Veterans, Thomas Hodges

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

How do military moral injuries affect reintegration? All service members leave the military eventually, but reintegration can be challenging, bringing changes in career, family life, and friendships, potentially prompting a loss of purpose, drive, and connection. Service members may also struggle with a crisis of identity upon separating from the military, feeling their military identity is incompatible with civilian life. While these difficulties are common for service members in reintegration, they may be worsened by moral injury, the adverse biological, social, psychological, and spiritual effects of experiencing an event that deeply offends a person’s sense of right and wrong. People …

Stronger Regulations On Air Pollution Could Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Rates, Yue Sun

Center for Policy Research

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, but there are large disparities in CVD death rates across the country. Air pollution also plays an important role in shaping geographic disparities in CVD mortality, as air pollutants can become absorbed in human circulation systems, and cause inflammation, damage nervous systems, and trigger poor CVD outcomes. This brief reports the results of a study that used data on air pollution and from death certificates to estimate the association between fine particulate matter and cardiovascular disease mortality rates in the U.S. in 2016-2018. Results show that cutting …

Understanding Digital Well-Being And Insights From Technological Impacts On University Students’ Everyday Lives In Bangkok, Chulanee Thianthai, Patrapan Tamdee

Journal of Health Research

Background - Digital wellbeing has been widely discussed due to the influence of digital technology on our life. This paper defined digital wellbeing for university students in Bangkok and reviewed how they engaged with technology, while examining the technological impacts on their everyday lives.

Methods - Qualitative data was collected from university students across different majors and genders, ranging in age from 18-32 years old. The researchers used 30 in-depth individual interviews in conjunction with a brain writing 6-3-5 design thinking technique to gain insight into how digital natives living in Bangkok defined digital wellbeing and experienced daily life impacts …

Polisci 3210f: Feasibility Of A National Disability Insurance Plan (Ndip) In Canada, Twana Hassan, Aditi Priya, Dylan Poole, Samantha Rubin, Ethan Chen

Community Engaged Learning Final Projects

This research report presents an overview of the feasibility and reliability of a National Disability Insurance Plan (NDIP) in Canada. Several Global North countries are leading the way in disability legislation and disability funding in comparison to Canada's inaction on the matter. A National Disability Insurance Plan in Canada will have social and economic benefits for everyone in Canada. The report concluded that Canada is capable of implementing a NDIP and doing so is the right choice.

Stronger Regulations On Air Pollution Could Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Rates, Yue Sun

Population Health Research Brief Series

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, but there are large disparities in CVD death rates across the country. Air pollution also plays an important role in shaping geographic disparities in CVD mortality, as air pollutants can become absorbed in human circulation systems, and cause inflammation, damage nervous systems, and trigger poor CVD outcomes. This brief reports the results of a study that used data on air pollution and from death certificates to estimate the association between fine particulate matter and cardiovascular disease mortality rates in the U.S. in 2016-2018. Results show that cutting …

The Public Performativity Of Trust, Lynette Hammond Gerido

Faculty Scholarship

Building trust between academic medical centers and certain communities they depend on in the research process is hard, particularly when those communities consist of minoritized or historically marginalized populations. Some believe that engagement activities like the creation of advisory boards, town halls, or a research workforce that looks more like community members will establish or reestablish trust between academic medical centers and racialized communities. However, without systematic approaches to dismantle racism, those well-intended actions become public performativity, and trust building will fail. In this essay, we draw upon foundational ethical principles of trust, distrust, and trust building; apply the concept …

College Student Mental Health In The Covid-19 Era: Results Of An Expressive Writing Prompt, Carissa Daniello-Heyda, Kevin Hynes, Rachel R. Tambling

The Qualitative Report

The novel SARS-CoV-2, or coronavirus, has greatly altered the landscape of college life for students across the United States. The ever-present health concerns and quarantine have been linked to increased anxiety, depression, stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder. To this end, we examined the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychosocial health of college students. We explored the impact of COVID-19 on levels of stress and distress in college students using a qualitative expressive writing methodology. Results of this study suggested that the college students included in the sample were moderately distressed – their scores on inventories of depression, anxiety, …

Economic Governance And Violence: A Cross-National Analysis, Steven Mccain

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how economic governance influences routine activities is crucial within the field of criminology to better understand how grounds for violence emerge. Literature of cross-national studies concerning the effects of economic governance has recently developed to study its relationship with violence, specifically homicide. However, there is a deficit of frameworks related to criminological theory in this literature. Using a routine activity framework, the current dissertation seeks understand how different degrees of economic governance in general and, more specifically, the five areas of economic governance – size of government, legal system and property rights, sound money, freedom to international trade, and …

Demographic Profile Of Accidental Drug Overdoses In 2020, Jacquelyn Reiss Phd, Amy Donley Phd, Alexandria Mcclarty Ba

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

This white paper presents a demographic profile of accidental drug overdoses in Orange County, Florida for the year 2020.

Doctoral Students Balancing The Roles And Relationships Of Counselor Education, Isabel C. Farrell, Casey A. Barrio Minton, Amanda C. Dediego

The Qualitative Report

Aspiring counselor educators in Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP)-accredited programs must learn to be counselors, teachers, supervisors, researchers, and leaders. These roles can overlap, creating multiple complex relationships during their programs. To examine these roles, we conducted a constructivist grounded theory investigation of how counselor education doctoral students (n = 9) balanced multiple roles and relationships and boundary crossings. We utilized chain referral sampling and continued until we reached theoretical saturation. We used semi-structured interviews conducted via videoconferencing (Zoom) for data collection and coded the interviews using two main phases: an initial phase and …

Poetic Representations Of Covid-19 Narratives: An Exploration Of Emotional Experiences During The Pandemic, Isha Harshe, Lindy Davidson

The Qualitative Report

In pivotal moments of history like the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical to attend to and preserve the stories of different people experiencing the same phenomenon in their own ways. This project analyzed the public’s emotional experiences during the pandemic using methods of narrative and poetic inquiry. After reading 105 entries from the Pandemic Journaling Project, an online platform where people anonymously published journal entries reflecting on their pandemic experiences, narratives were categorized based on ten prominent emotional themes: anger, anxiety, fatigue, fear, loneliness, longing, loss, loss of control, stress, and uncertainty. Found poems were constructed for each emotion …

The Experience Of Faculty Strikers: Factors That Could Impact Higher Education Strikes, Giovanna Follo, Diane Huelskamp

The Qualitative Report

Higher education is being challenged as is the unionization of faculty. This combination could create a climate where faculty may need to strike. The purpose of this research is to describe the lived experiences of striking faculty to bring a greater understanding of what faculty may incur. This research utilized a phenomenological approach with a combination of composite narratives and in vivo coding to describe the lived experiences of striking. With the number of layoffs, strikes and threats of striking, this research is timely in understanding what striking entails and how it can best be navigated for the benefit of …

Guidelines For The Integration Of Large Language Models In Developing And Refining Interview Protocols, Jessica L. Parker Edd, Veronica M. Richard, Kimberly Becker

The Qualitative Report

Rapid advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI), specifically large language models (LLMs), offer unprecedented opportunities and challenges for qualitative researchers. This paper presents comprehensive guidelines for the ethical and effective use of LLMs in the development and refinement of interview protocols. Through a multidisciplinary lens, this paper explores potential pitfalls, ethical considerations, and best practices to ensure the responsible integration of LLMs in the research process. The guidelines proposed serve not only as a methodological roadmap for researchers but also as a catalyst for dialogue on the ethical dimensions of LLMs in qualitative research. Furthermore, the authors describe and share …

"Well You Know...": Parents' Perceptions Of Morality In Aaa Youth Ice Hockey, Zachary Mccarver, Danielle Wong Vickland, Megan B. Stellino

The Qualitative Report

Parents’ involvement patterns serve as a catalyst to their children’s moral development (Bandura, 1991). Yet, sport culture may convolute parents’ authentic ability to socialize their children’s moral development within a compliant structure focused on performance excellence (Hughes & Coakley, 1991). The purpose of the current study was to examine how parents conceptualize morality while entrenched in a conformity-driven elite youth ice hockey environment. The following research question was explored: how do parents ascribe meaning to, and learn the behavioral representations of, moral and immoral behaviors in youth ice hockey? Parents’ (N = 8, M_age = 53.13) perspectives of …

Assessing The Sustainable Development Dimensions Of Environmental Public Policies For Protected Natural Areas In Mexico: A 1970-2018 Perspective, Cielo María Ávila López, José Israel Herrera

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract: This abstract discusses the challenges and issues related to the implementation of Environmental Public Policies (EPP) for Protected Natural Areas (PNA) in Mexico from 1970 to 2018. EPPs aim to achieve sustainable development by balancing economic, environmental, and social dimensions while reconciling conservation and the use of natural resources with restrictions on their use and economic compensation to communities. However, the results of this study reveal that the establishment of PNA has been unilateral and without consensus, leading to limitations on communities' use of the environment without granting them economic compensation or productive alternatives. This has resulted in conflicts …

Puerto Ricans In The United States 2022, Center For Puerto Rican Studies

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

No abstract provided.

Puerto Ricans In New York City 2022, Center For Puerto Rican Studies

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

No abstract provided.

Bridging The Gap: Understanding And Addressing Intimate Partner Violence In Deaf Communities, Catherine Pellini

Washington Semester Program

The Violence Against Women Act, one of the largest pieces of federal legislation aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence, does not always adequately address or serve those in the Deaf community who are affected by domestic violence. This observation led to the question “under what conditions can and does the Violence Against Women Act effectively serve and protect deaf survivors?” Through conducting interviews with policy experts and advocates as well as analyzing Biennial Reports to Congress on the Effectiveness of Grant Programs Under the Violence Against Women Act, it is evident that the Violence Against Women Act can only …

Puerto Ricans In New York 2022, Center For Puerto Rican Studies

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

No abstract provided.

Puerto Ricans In New York 2023, Center For Puerto Rican Studies

CUNY Centro, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies

Centro’s Infographics are visual representation of the most-up-to-date socio-demographic information about the Puerto Rican population in the United States. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau is summarized through a series of charts, tables and maps to illustrate major points and changes within the Puerto Rican population. The infographics below use U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-year and 5-year estimates data.

Centro’s infographics are recurrent projects that are released by our Data Hub in response to the release of data by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Perceptions Of The Farm Bill Among Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans, Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley D. Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz

Nebraska Rural Poll

The federal legislation known as the farm bill encompasses all things related to agriculture and food. This includes not only farm income safety net and conservation programs that typically come to mind when thinking about the farm bill, but also domestic food assistance programs (like SNAP), rural development (providing funding for items like broadband service, utilities, and housing programs) as well as programs that are focused on specific producers and crops. Given the variety of programs it entails, how familiar are rural Nebraskans with the farm bill and federal agricultural policy? Do rural Nebraskans support federal spending on the various …

The Socialization Of Social Media: Examining The Impact Of Social Media Use On Interpersonal Skills During Face-To-Face Interaction, Tenille Thomas

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research has well established that the use of social networking sites (SNS) has increased accessibility and connectivity to people with limitless boundaries. SNS have progressively become the preferred source of communication. However, often overlooked is the impact SNS use has on face-to-face interactions, specifically on interpersonal skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between SNS use and face-to-face interaction. Specifically, this study examines the participant’s ability to recognize and interpret nonverbal cues with increased SNS use. This was a correlational study utilizing a quantitative design of self-reported questionnaires. A total of 178 participants, ranging in age …