Digital Commons Network^™

Can We Sustain Sustainability? A Critical Synthesis Of Pertinent Literature, Jay L. Brand, Sally J. Augustin

Faculty Publications

Architects and designers, along with their corporate clients, generally embrace the importance of environmental stewardship, saving the earth’s ecosystem, and sustainable design. However, research is needed to link sustainable design with relevant human behavior (e.g., in corporate offices and educational settings) to ensure its enduring legacy. Regarding changing people’s behavior, the majority of human experience results from unconscious processes, i.e., brain–environment interactions not available to awareness; thus, in general, people cannot articulate the nature of these associations. Using theoretical roots stemming from William James and running through ecological psychology (e.g., James J. Gibson to Roger Barker), Harry Heft has argued …

Language Variation In The Writing Of African American Students: 6 Factors Predicting Reading Achievement, Lisa Fitton Ph.D., Lakeisha Johnson, Carla Wood, Christopher Schatschneider, Sara A. Hart

Faculty Publications

Purpose

This study aims to examine the predictive relation between measures obtained from African American students' written narrative language samples and reading achievement, as measured by standardized academic assessments.

Method

Written language samples were elicited from 207 African American students in Grades 1–8. The samples were examined for morphosyntactic variations from standardized written Generalized American English (GAE). These variations were categorized as either (a) specific to African American English (AAE) or (b) neutral across AAE and standardized written GAE (i.e., considered ungrammatical both in AAE and in standardized written GAE). Structural equation modeling was employed to then examine the predictive …

Use Of Racial And Ethnic Categories In Medical Testing And Diagnosis: Primum Non Nocere, Jay S. Kaufman, Joanna Merckx, Richard S. Cooper

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Use of race and ethnicity is common in medical tests and procedures, even though these categories are defined by sociological, historical, and political processes, and vary considerably in their definitions over time and place. Because all societies organize themselves around these constructs in some way, they are undeniable facets of the human experience, with myriad health consequences. In the biomedical literature, they are also commonly interpreted as representing biological heterogeneity that is relevant for health and disease. CONTENT: We review the use of race and ethnicity in medical practice, especially in the USA, and provide 2 specific examples to …

And The Heat Goes On: Police Repression And The Modalities Of Power, Howard Liu, Christopher M. Sullivan

Faculty Publications

Among security institutions, police occupy a unique position. In addition to specializing in the repression of dissent, police monitor society and enforce order. Yet within research studying state repression, how police institutions are used and deployed to control domestic threats remain under-explored, particularly as it relates to the dual functionality just described. In this study, we develop and test an explanation of police repression accounting for the bifurcation of Mann’s two modalities of state power: infrastructural power and despotic power. Infrastructural power allocates police resources to surveil dissidents and preemptively limit dissent’s emergence or escalation. Police deploy despotic power through …

Improving Assessment Of Demand For Postpartum Tubal Ligation Among Publicly Insured Women In Texas, Joseph E. Potter, Kristen L. Burke, Kathleen Broussard, Kristine Hopkins, Daniel Grossman, Kari White

Faculty Publications

Objective: To assess an alternative method for estimating demand for postpartum tubal ligation and evaluate reproductive trajectories of low-income women who did not obtain a desired procedure. Study design: In a 2-year cohort study of 1700 publicly insured women who delivered at 8 hospitals in Texas, we identified those who had an unmet demand for tubal ligation prior to discharge from the hospital. We classified unmet demand as explicit or prompted based on survey questions that included a prompt regarding whether the respondent would like to have had a tubal ligation at the time of delivery. We assessed persistence of …

A Contextualization Of Editorial Misconduct In The Library And Information Science Academic Information Ecosystem, Lucy Santos Green, Melissa P. Johnston

Faculty Publications

In the last decade, one of the most effective tools applied in combating the erosion of public trust in academic research has been an increased level of transparency in the peer review and editorial process. Publicly available publication ethics guidelines and policies are vital in creating a transparent process that prevents unethical research, publication misconduct, manipulation of the communication of research to practitioners, and the erosion of public trust. This study investigated how these unethical practices, specifically those coded as editorial misconduct, bring the authenticity and integrity of the library and information science academic research digital record into question. Employing …

Black Lives Matter In Teaching English As A Second Language!, Kristin Lems

Faculty Publications

The Winter 2020 issue of theIllinois Reading Council Journal published a special issue focusing on “action for equity,” with thoughtful articles and abundant family and classroom resources. This issue of the “wELLcome”column, which is dedicated to topics regarding English language learners (ELLs), continues in that same vein. In this issue, we place the spotlight on ELLs of African descent, their teachers, and their schools.

Anticipating And Adapting To The Future Impacts Of Climate Change On The Health, Security And Welfare Of Low Elevation Coastal Zone (Lecz) Communities In Southeastern Usa, Thomas Allen, Joshua Behr, Anamaria Bukvic, Ryan S.D. Calder, Kiki Caruson, Charles Connor, Christopher D’Elia, David Dismukes, Robin Ersing

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Puerto Ricans And Mexican Immigrants Differ In Their Psychological Responses To Patterns Of Lifetime Adversity, Daniel K. Cooper, Mayra Bámaca-Colbert, Eric K. Layland, Emily G. Simpson, Benjamin L. Bayly

Faculty Publications

Background Puerto Ricans and Mexican immigrants are often exposed to multiple types of adversity across their lifetime (e.g., maltreatment, household dysfunction, discrimination) and this exposure can increase the risk for adult mental health problems. Purpose The objective of this study was to (a) identify subgroups of individuals exposed to unique combinations of childhood adversity and lifetime discrimination among Puerto Ricans and Mexican immigrants, and (b) compare the prevalence of mental health problems across different risk profiles. Method We used existing data from the HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study. Participants included Puerto Rican (N = 402) and Mexican adults (N = 1351) …

Teaching With Quantitative Data In The Social Sciences At The University Of New Hampshire: An Ithaka S+R Local Report, Patricia Condon, Eleta Exline, Louise Buckley

Faculty Publications

This exploratory study investigated the teaching practices of social science instructors at the University of New Hampshire who engage with undergraduate students using quantitative data in the classroom. The participants interviewed teach both general and discipline-specific data concepts as academic, work, and life skills. Primary challenges discussed by the participants that students face in engaging with these topics are understanding math and statistical concepts, learning new software and computing skills, limited prior exposure to data, and lack of retention of content from earlier courses. Participants addressed challenges in several ways in order to lower barriers to learning, including finding, vetting, …

How Analogizing Socio-Legal Responses To Organ Transplantation Can Further The Legalization Of Reproductive Genetic Innovation, Myrisha S. Lewis

Faculty Publications

The Nobel Foundation emphasized the significance of genetic innovation to society, science, and medicine by awarding the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to “the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors.” This Article focuses on “reproductive genetic innovation,” a term that includes cytoplasmic transfer, mitochondrial transfer, and germline or heritable gene editing techniques that are all categorized as “experimental” in the United States. These techniques all use in vitro fertilization, a legal and widely available practice. Yet reproductive genetic innovation has resulted in controversy and numerous barriers including a recurring federal budget rider, threats of federal enforcement action, and the unavailability of federal funding. …

Recognizing And Preventing Elder Abuse, Shannon M. Trecartin, Allison Sauceda

Faculty Publications

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and sadly, older adults are not immune to the tragedy of abuse. Approximately one in ten Americans aged 60 and over have experienced some form of abuse or neglect reports the National Council on Aging. Yet research indicates that out of every 24 actual cases of abuse or neglect, only 1 is reported.

The Assessment Of An Extended Set Of Socio-Economic Determinants To Explain Anxiety And Uncertainty, Insufficient Quality And Food Intake Of Afghan Refugees, Mohammad Reza Pakravan-Charvadeh, Hassan Vatanparast, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Mahasti Khakpour, Cornelia Flora

Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES:

In this study, socio-economic factors associated with Afghan refugee households' food insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty, insufficient quality and food intake were determined.

DESIGN:

Household Food Insecurity Assess Scale measurement was applied to assess food insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty, insufficient quality and insufficient food intake. Descriptive analysis and multivariable regression models were used to determine the associated factors.

SETTING:

The study was carried out in urban areas of Tehran province in Iran. PARTICIPANTS: To collect data, interviews were conducted among 317 Afghan households. The questionnaire was administered via face-to-face interviews to either the breadwinner of the selected households or a …

Agency: What Does It Mean To Be A Human Being?, Richard N. Williams, Edwin E. Gantt, Lane Fischer

Faculty Publications

This paper will look at the results of what has been termed “the crisis of modernism” and the related rise of postmodern perspectives in the 19th and 20th centuries. It concentrates on what is arguably the chief casualty of this crisis – human agency – and the social science that has developed out of the crisis. We argue that modern and postmodern social science ultimately obviate human agency in the understanding of what it means to be a human being. Attention is given to the contemporary intellectual world and the way in which it has been deeply informed by neo-Hegelian …

Adolescent Victim Types Across The Popularity Status Hierarchy: Differences In Internalizing Symptoms, Sarah T. Malamut, Molly Dawes, Yvonne Van Den Berg, Tessa A.M. Lansu, David Schwartz, Antonius H.N. Cillessen

Faculty Publications

Previous studies have called attention to the fact that popular youth are not immune to peer victimization, suggesting there is heterogeneity in the popularity of victims. Yet, no study to date has determined whether victims with different levels of popularity status can be identified using person-oriented analysis. Such analysis is critically needed to confirm the existence of popular victims. Further, there remains a paucity of research on internalizing indices of such popular victims, especially compared to other victim and non-victim groups. To address this gap in the research literature, the current study used latent profile analysis to identify subgroups of …

Functions Of Social Networks In Maternal Food Choice For Children In Mexico, Ligia I. Reyes, Edward A. Frongillo, Spencer Moore, Christine E. Blake, Wendy Gonzalez, Anabelle Bonvecchio

Faculty Publications

Food choice for children has important implications in establishing early-life dietary habits and preferences. Food choice for children has been studied as parent–child dyad dynamics, but little is known about the extended system of relationships in maternal food choice for children. The objective of this study was to understand the functions of mothers' social networks in the food choices that mothers make for their children ages 1 to 5 years old in rural Mexico. In-depth interviews were conducted with 46 participants in three rural communities. The interviews inquired about participants' child-feeding practices, personal and local beliefs about child feeding and …

Maternal Resources For Care Are Associated With Child Growth And Early Childhood Development In Bangladesh And Vietnam, Sulochana Basnet, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Phuong Hong Nguyen, Spencer Moore, Mandana Arabi

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

Suboptimal child growth and development are significant problems in low- and middle-income countries. Maternal resources for care may help to improve growth and development. This study examined the association of maternal resources for care on child length, motor development and language development of children 12-23.9 months old.

METHODS:

We used baseline data from the Alive & Thrive household surveys collected in Bangladesh (n = 803) and Vietnam (n = 635). Resources for care were represented by maternal education, knowledge, height, well-nourishment, mental well-being, decision-making, employment, support in chores and perceived support. The regression analyses were adjusted for household wealth …

The Power Of Tolerance Vs. Unselfishness As A Cultural Determinant Of Cooperation, Kimmo Eriksson, Brent Simpson, Irina Vartanova

Faculty Publications

Cooperation in collective action problems and resource dilemmas is often assumed to depend on the values of the individuals involved, such as their degree of unselfishness and tolerance. Societal differences in cooperation and cooperative norms may therefore result from cultural variation in emphasis on these personal values. Here we draw on several cross-national datasets to examine whether society-level emphasis on unselfishness and tolerance and respect for other people predict how societies vary in cooperation [in a continuous prisoner’s dilemma (PD)] and in norms governing cooperation [in a common pool resource dilemma (CPR)]. The results suggest that high levels of cooperation …

Multilevel Modeling Of Interval-Contingent Data In Neuropsychology Research Using The Imertest Package In R, Richard S. Pond Jr., Matison W. Mccool, Brian A. Bulla

Faculty Publications

Intensive longitudinal research designs are becoming more common in the field of neuropsychology. They are a powerful approach to studying development and change in naturally occurring phenomena. However, to fully capitalize on the wealth of data yielded by these designs, researchers have to understand the nature of multilevel data structures. The purpose of the present article is to describe some of the basic concepts and techniques involved in modeling multilevel data structures. In addition, this article serves as a step-by-step tutorial to demonstrate how neuropsychologists can implement basic multilevel modeling techniques with real data and the R package, lmerTest. R …

The Violent Fecundity Of Mohja Kahl's Translingual Texts, Rachel Norman

Faculty Publications

From publisher: "Scholars writing on US multiethnic literature have described the inclusion of "foreign" languages in fiction as a method for reclaiming power by making the subject impassable, unknowable, or opaque to the monolingual reader. However, these analyses have focused on the incommensurate positions of linguistic insiders and outsiders. This essay contends that Arab American authorMohja Kahfdelivers an alternate ideology in hertranslingualtexts. Writing in a national context that conflates "Arab," "Muslim," and "terrorist" and that uses Arabic as a cultural symbol to denote all three, Kahf employs an aesthetic paradigm to teach her monolingual English-speaking readers Arabic. In doing so, …

Financial Behaviors, Financial Satisfaction, And Goal Attainment Among College-Educated Young Adults: A Mediating Analysis With Latent Change Scores, Xiaomin Li, Melissa Curran, Joyce Serido, Ashley B. Lebaron, Soyeon Shim, Nan Zhou

Faculty Publications

The aim of the study is to investigate how 2,084 U.S. college-educated young adults (61.9% female, and 69.5% non-Hispanic White) navigated the goal attainment process during the transition to adulthood. Using four-wave data collected across eight years, we examined how financial behaviors (self-regulating behaviors) predicted both depressive symptoms (affective goal attainment evaluations) and financial obstacles to goal attainment (cognitive goal attainment evaluations) via financial satisfaction (resources). Given the variability in developmental trajectories (i.e., initial levels and rates of over-time changes) among young adults, we conducted an exploratory mediational analysis with Latent Change Scores. The results revealed indirect-only mediation patterns, and …

Family Resilience: Being Refined By The Fire, Alina M. Baltazar

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Relationship Form And Function: Exploring Meaning-Making In Young Adults' Romantic Histories, Tyler B. Jamison, Caroline M. Sanner

Faculty Publications

Forming stable, supportive romantic relationships is an important determinant of well-being for adults. Yet, there has been limited research about if and how prior romantic experiences help individuals develop the capacity to enter into such unions. Using grounded theory methods, relationship history interviews were conducted with 35 young adults who provided data about 256 romantic and sexual relationships. The different relationship forms (e.g., hooking up, casual dating, committed partnering) were found to contribute in nuanced ways to romantic development. Specifically, romantic development was characterized by gaining romantic experience, identifying preferences for partners and partnership, and learning to maintain healthy relational …

‘Access Necessitates Being Seen’: Queer Visibility And Intersectional Embodiment Within The Health Information Practices Of Queer Community Leaders, Travis L. Wagner, Vanessa Kitzie

Faculty Publications

Navigating healthcare infrastructures is particularly challenging for queer-identifying individuals, with significant barriers emerging around stigma and practitioner ignorance. Further intersecting, historically marginalised identities such as one’s race, age or ability exacerbate such engagement with healthcare, particularly the access to and use of reliable and appropriate health information. We explore the salience of one’s queer identity relative to other embodied identities when navigating health information and care for themselves and their communities. Thirty semi-structured interviews with queer community leaders from South Carolina inform our discussion of the role one’s queer visibility plays relational to the visibility of other identities. We find …

Spatial Disparities Of Covid-19 Cases And Fatalities In United States Counties, Sarah L. Jackson, Sahar Derakhshan, Leah Blackwood, Logan Lee, Qian Huang, Margot Habets, Susan L. Cutter

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the spatial and temporal trends in county-level COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the United States during the first year of the pandemic (January 2020–January 2021). Statistical and geospatial analyses highlight greater impacts in the Great Plains, Southwestern and Southern regions based on cases and fatalities per 100,000 population. Significant case and fatality spatial clusters were most prevalent between November 2020 and January 2021. Distinct urban–rural differences in COVID-19 experiences uncovered higher rural cases and fatalities per 100,000 population and fewer government mitigation actions enacted in rural counties. High levels of social vulnerability and the absence of mitigation …

Play, Chat, Date, Learn, And Suffer? Merton’S Law Of Unintended Consequences And Digital Technology Failures, Mark Rosenbaum, Gabby Walters, Karen Edwards J.D., Claudia Gonzalez, Germán Contreras Ramírez

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Elite Cues And The Rapid Decline Of Trust In Science Agencies On Covid-19, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Thomas G. Safford

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has been marked by political divisions in US public trust of scientists. Such divisions are well known on other science topics, but regarding COVID-19 they arose suddenly, with disastrous results. Public distrust of scientists has been variously explained in terms of conflicts with belief systems, psychology, peer influences, or communication from elites. Three surveys conducted from March to July 2020 in the US state of New Hampshire observed changing perceptions on COVID-19, providing a test of alternative explanations. Over this period trust in science agencies such as the CDC for information on the coronavirus fell dramatically among …

Framing Sports' Corporate Social Responsibility: Us Women's Vs Men's Soccer Leagues, David Painter, Brittani Sahm, Paul Schattschneider

Faculty Publications

Purpose – This investigation’s purpose is to compare coverage of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviors of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Major League Soccer (MLS). The goals are (1) to extend CSR analyses beyond organizational reports and (2) to compare coverage of professional sports teams’ CSR behaviors across genders.

Design/methodology/approach – Specifically, this quantitative content analysis compared local newspaper coverage of the socially responsible behaviors of the three NWSL and MLS teams owned and operated by the same organizations in Portland, Houston and Orlando.

Findings – The NWSL teams received significantly less and more negative coverage than …

Increased Risk Of Death Triggered By Domestic Violence, Hunger, Suicide, Exhausted Health System During Covid-19 Pandemic: Why, How And Solutions, Kenneth Bitrus David, Abdullahi Tunde Aborode, Damilola Quazeem Olaoye, Ndikpongkeabasi Victor Enang, Aboaba Kazeem Oriyomi, Ismaeel Yunusa

Faculty Publications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, just like many other public health emergencies, is a well-established global health burden that has resulted in several changes in routines and lifestyles of people globally. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has directly or indirectly involved in the loss of lives of more than 3.24 million as of 6th May, 2021. The increasing threats posed by this pandemic were subsided by the swift and drastic measures put in place by different countries. As other causes of death before the emergence of COVID-19 still exist, the pandemic has further worsened …

Using Tree-Ring Research To Introduce Students To Geoscience Fieldwork, Clay S. Tucker, Jill C. Trepanier, Pamela B. Blanchard, Ed Bush, James W. Jordan, Mark J. Schafer, John Andrew Nyman

Faculty Publications

Environmental education is key in solving environmental problems and for producing a future workforce capable of solving issues of climate change. Over the last two decades, the Coastal Roots Program at Louisiana State University (LSU) has reached more than 26,676 K-12 students in Louisiana to teach them environmental science and has brought them to restoration sites to plant 194,336 school-grown trees and grasses. The codirectors of Coastal Roots are continually searching for opportunities to enrich the experience of teachers and students in connecting school subjects, Coastal Roots, and stewardship. In school year 2018/19, students in five local schools entered a …