Digital Commons Network^™

Power In A Pandemic: Teachers’ Unions And Their Responses To School Reopening, Bradley D. Marianno, Annie A. Hemphill, Ana Paula S. Loures-Elias, Libna Garcia, Deanna Cooper, Emily Coombes

Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education Faculty Research

Drawing on Bachrach and Baratz’s first and second faces of interest group power, we explore the relationship between teachers’ union power and reopening decisions during the fall 2020 semester in 250 large districts around the United States. We leverage a self-collected panel data set of reopening decisions coupled with measures of teachers’ union first face power (drawn from social media postings on teachers’ unions’ Facebook pages) and second face power (operationalized as district size, whether the school district negotiates a collective bargaining agreement with the teachers’ union, the length of the collective bargaining agreement, and the amount of revenue raised …

How Single Mothers Navigated Changes In Role Strain And Role Conflict In Rural Areas During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Scott Miller

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Metajournalistic Discourse As A Stabilizer Within The Journalistic Field: Journalistic Practice In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Gregory P. Perreault, Mildred F. Perreault, Phoebe Maares

School of Advertising & Mass Communications Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 Pandemic created a two-fold challenge for journalists: first, the task of gathering and distributing information vital to the responses of the public, and second, the challenge of mitigating the complexities of the journalism field. The purpose of this study is to connect the theoretical frameworks of metajournalistic discourse and field theory, using the touch point of journalistic practice. Prior research has postulated that metajournalistic discourse operates as a stabilizing force in the journalistic field. Using the timely test of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study seeks to explore the discursive construction of journalistic practice during a pandemic through the …

The Community School Initiative In Toronto: Mitigating Opportunity Gaps In The Jane And Finch Community In The Wake Of Covid-19, Ardavan Eizadirad, Sally Abudiab, Brice Baartman

Education Faculty Publications

COVID-19 significantly impacted the delivery of education with widespread disruptions, particularly disadvantaging racialized and low-income families. Our research project explored how community-based programming can be adapted and mobilized to mitigate opportunity and achievement gaps for Black, Indigenous, people of colour (BIPOC), and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The project as a case study examined an afternoon and weekend supplementary academic program called the Community School Initiative (CSI), offered from September 2020 to May 2021 to members of the Jane and Finch community in Toronto, Canada at a subsidized cost. CSI is a partnership between the non-profit organization Youth Association for …

Parental Status As A Modifying Factor In Covid-19 Vaccination Status: A Mixed Methods Approach, Mackenzie Carter

All Master's Theses

Introduction: Vaccines are the best protection against COVID-19 and have been proven to be safe and effective. Parental efforts to protect their children by complying with or refusing pediatric vaccinations have previously been studied. However, the author found little research on how parental status affects the vaccination decisions for the parents. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach and the Health Belief Model, this study examines how parental status influences parental COVID-19 vaccination status. Methods: A local health department conducted a quantitative survey on COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and beliefs from September to October 2021. The COVID-19 vaccination status of parents of …

The Interplay Between Cognitive And Affective Risks In Predicting Covid-19 Precautions: A Longitudinal Representative Study Of Americans, Marie Helweg-Larsen, Laurel M. Peterson, Sarah H. Dimuccio

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Objective

Cognitive risk figures prominently in models predicting health behaviors, but affective risk is also important. We examined the interplay between cognitive risk (personal likelihood of COVID-19 infection or death) and affective risk (worry about COVID-19) in predicting COVID-19 precautionary behaviors. We also examined how outbreak severity bias (overestimation of the severity of COVID-19 in one’s community) predicted these outcomes.

Design

In a representative sample of U.S. adults (N = 738; Mage = 46.8; 52% women; 78% white), participants who had not had COVID-19 took two online surveys two weeks apart in April 2020.

Main outcome measures

We assessed cognitive …

Faculty Perceptions Of Safety And The Impact Of Online Classroom Modalities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mary E. Ogidigben, Ernesto R. Rivera, Robert S. Keyser

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected a number of institutions – one of which is Kennesaw State University (KSU). In the fall 2020 semester, KSU implemented safety protocols following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the University System of Georgia (USG) guidelines. A cross-sectional survey was sent out for faculty to complete at their own will regarding their thoughts on how the new guidelines are affecting their work as well as their safety while on campus. The survey consisted of 18 Likert-scale questions and eight free response questions. The survey results showed that 60.42% of …

Impact Of Covid-19 On The Mental Health Of Resettled Refugee Children, Joseph Lawsel Williams

Public Health Theses

Background: Mental health difficulties disproportionately impact resettled refugee children (RRC). Little is known regarding the impact between COVID-19 and RRC mental health. A mixed-methods retrospective pilot study was conducted to examine the impact of COVID-19 on RRC mental health.

Methods: Families were recruited in partnership with Elena’s Light, a refugee resettlement community-stakeholder. Participants included 20 RRC (N=11 ages 4-11; N=9 ages 11-15; equal gender distribution) from 10 families (N=6 Afghanistan; N=1 Turkey; N=1 Syria; N=2 non-disclosed) resettled to New Haven, CT before March 2019. Pre-Covid (PC) and During-Covid (DC) maternal responses for three Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) dimensions (Emotional, …

Worth A Shot: Encouraging Vaccine Uptake Through "Empathy", Jody L. Madeira

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Pro- and anti-vaccine organizations and individuals have frequently invoked empathy as a strategy for increasing uptake of COVID-19 precautions, including vaccinations. On one hand, vaccine supporters deployed empathy to defuse conflict, prioritize safeguarding the collective welfare, and avoid government mandates. On the other hand, vaccine opponents used empathy to emphasize the alleged individual effects of pandemic precautions, mobilize public voices, and stress the importance of medical freedom in policy-making contexts.

This Article first defines empathy and reviews empathy scholarship, paying particular attention to its relationship with narrative and the contexts where empathy can be difficult or dangerous. It then applies …

Literacy And Covid-19 : Elementary Students' Reading Performance Through A Global Pandemic, Emmett Mcgregor Schweiger

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The critical area of literacy instruction has long relied on the use of measurement tools and the resulting data to identify at-risk readers and deliver needed supports. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to education, measurement practices were altered and there was limited existing research available to predict the potential impact of the pandemic on literacy development. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the reading performance of students in a Southern Tier New York elementary school before and during the pandemic, utilizing existing data from fall 2019 to spring 2021. Additionally, this study sought to evaluate the …

Black Mothering In The Bay Area While Unseen And Unheard: Navigating Black Mothering In The Midst Of A Pandemic & Social Unrest, Kassie Michelle Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations

Black Mothering In The Bay Area While Unseen And Unheard: Navigating Black Mothering In The Midst Of A Pandemic & Social Unrest This narrative research study was conducted in Northern California while attending the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. Introducing a new theoretical framework called Black-Crit Mothering, this study examined the relationships of single and married Black Mothers living in the Bay Area and how Black Mothering has been directly impacted by the various pandemics that continue to take over the Black communities. These stories provided counter-narratives to the traditional views of our women in history …

Information And Communications Technology Integration In Bahamian Public High School Biology Classrooms, Cynthia Carmen Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More research on information and communications technology (ICT) use for teaching and learning is needed, particularly since the almost global transition from traditional face-to-face to virtual classrooms forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem addressed in this current qualitative project study was the reported challenges experienced by teachers integrating ICT into the delivery of the biology curriculum in Bahamian public high school classrooms. The purpose of the study was to explore the biology teachers’ ICT integration into their virtual classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was grounded in the technological pedagogical and content knowledge conceptual framework. Three research questions …

A Phenomenological Study Exploring The Client And Stylist Interaction As A Culturally Specific Form Of Coping With Stress For Black Women In The United States, Nicole Michelle Holden

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to describe the experience of Black women who visit the salon regularly in the United States. This study is constructed around the culturally intimate relationship of the stylist-client interaction in the Black community as a historical coping mechanism in which Black women utilize for stress and life challenges rather than seek professional mental health services. Although COVID-19 continues to mount a significant mortality rate and financial hardships, its disproportionate effects on communities of color will have lasting implications on their mental health. The need for mental health services has increased due to the mental …

Exploring Vaccination Hesitancy Among Nonmandated Nurses And Health Care Workers, Germaine Lazett Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

COVID-19 vaccinations have been mandated for most healthcare professionals providing direct patient care, but there are a group of nonmandated healthcare professionals who have been hesitant to receive the vaccine. Given prolonged hesitancy among key health professionals charged with providing direct patient care, it is crucial to understand why they are hesitant; their apprehension may impact the pool of professionals available to provide direct patient care. This is a cross-sectional quantitative study that included an online survey. The health belief model served as the theoretical framework. The research questions addressed whether there is an association between type of patient care …

The Relationships Between Prosocial Consumer Behavior, Consumer Resilience, Consumer Risk Taking Propensity And Consumer Hoarding During Covid-19, Christy M. Cook, Pia A. Albinsson, James E. Stoddard

AMTP Proceedings 2022

The Relationships Between Prosocial Consumer Behavior, Consumer Resilience, Consumer Risk Taking Propensity and Consumer Hoarding During COVID-19

Exploring How Public Health Partnerships With Community-Based Organizations (Cbos) Can Be Leveraged For Health Promotion And Community Health., Senila Yasmin, Rayna Haque, Kaneza Kadambaya, Marzia Maliha, Maha Sheikh

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

The Academic Public Health Corps (APHC) works to support local public health in Massachusetts through varying models of collaboration. In the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, one initiative of the APHC has been to partner with community-based organizations (CBOs) to address vaccine hesitancy and improve overall community health. The purpose of this article is to share how the APHC partnered with CBOs in Massachusetts to address COVID-19 concerns within their respective communities, and present strategies to empower communities, share resources, and increase health promotion. The APHC partnered with 2 CBOs who received the Massachusetts COVID-19 Community Grants distributed by Health …

Liquidity Outbreak: A 49 Country Analysis Of The Money Supply’S Effect On Stock Markets During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Dylan Porter

CMC Senior Theses

This paper compares the effects of monthly money growth on monthly stock market performance in 49 countries around the world before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries are grouped in aggregate, by continent, and development status. OLS panel regressions show that lagged monetary growth variables are better monetary indicators of stock market performance than contemporaneous values. Variables that measure the pandemic’s progress (infections/deaths and government responses) are included alongside macro-economic variables but are seldom significant. Monetary growth had less correlation with the stock market during the pre-pandemic period (January 2018 - December 2020), suggesting that the uncertain economic conditions of …

Exploring The Politics Of Fear And Its Intersection With Anti-Asian Violence And Discrimination In The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Madelyn Kwun

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the linkage between the politics of fear and anti-Asian sentiment and violence following the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada and Australia. While anti-Asian sentiment is not new, society does not always address it or educate people on the Asian experience. Throughout the history in which Asians arrived in both Canada and Australia, what started with Chinese exclusion in the late 1800s, led to further discrimination in society leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. The early foundations of mistrust and disgust towards Asians in Canada and Australia made the onset of the COVID- 19 pandemic worse …

Seeing Forced Isolation Through New Eyes: Covid-19, Anne Frank, And The Violence Of The Nation-State, Anna Raines

CMC Senior Theses

In my senior thesis, I explore the social, political, and cultural effects and consequences of forced isolation. Forced isolation is a strategy adopted by governments in order to deal with a range of issues in contemporary history, often resulting in exclusionary practices, the redefinition or assertion of national sovereignty and nation-state boundaries, contagion, detention, and imprisonment. As a consequence of these varied processes and actions, when an individual or a social group is forced into an isolated space and ostracized from society, they are cast out of routine socialization, and the effects of this can endure even if a return …

Board Governance In Crisis: Director Influence In Executive Crisis Leadership, Kevin Schaller

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 global pandemic is the most far-reaching crisis of the modern era and the cascading impacts on organizations is tantamount to a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment for decision-making by board directors and top management team (TMT) leaders. The pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity to expand upon the disparate research associated with decision-making by board directors and TMT leaders during crises. This phenomenological study explored how the pandemic influenced decision-making distinctly from previous crisis events and how executive decisions on firm policies and strategies transpired throughout the crisis. A sample of 32 board directors and senior executives …

An Examination Of Capacity Building For Sanitary And Phytosanitary Measures For Women In Sub-Saharan Africa: Empowerment Theory At The Individual, Organizational, And Community Levels, Lisa De Leon

Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge and application gaps exist for women farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa who are key agricultural players for economic growth and food security. This study examined capacity development for Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and empowerment of women farmers considering Rappaport (1984) and Zimmerman’s (1995, 2000) lenses of empowerment theory. The central research question was, how does capacity development for sanitary and phytosanitary measures empower women at the individual, organizational, and community levels in Sub-Saharan Africa? The study employed an embedded mixed methods design collecting data via an electronic survey from 23 Sub-Saharan women farmers; 22 from Ghana and one from …

Beyond Compulsory Licensing: Pfizer Shares Its Covid-19 Medicines With The Patent Pool, Chenglin Liu

Faculty Articles

On March 15, 2022, the United States, European Union, India, and South Africa reached an agreement on the waiver of intellectual property rights (IP rights) for COVID-19 vaccines. The waiver agreement has rekindled the debate on the balance between IP rights protection and equitable access to medicines during a public health crisis. India, South Africa, and other developing countries maintain that a waiver was the only way to make vaccines affordable and accessible. Leading pharmaceutical companies argue that the waiver will stifle innovation and make lifesaving medicines less accessible. Both sides have seemingly overlooked Pfizer's voluntary agreement with the Medicines …

One Vaccine To Counter Many Diseases? Modeling The Economics Of Oral Polio Vaccine Against Child Mortality And Covid-19, Angela Y Chang, Peter Aaby, Michael S Avidan, Christine S Benn, Stefano M Bertozzi, Lawrence Blatt, Konstantin Chumakov, Shabaana A Khader, Shyam Kottilil, Madhav Nekkar, Mihai G Netea, Annie Sparrow, Dean T Jamison

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Recent reviews summarize evidence that some vaccines have heterologous or non-specific effects (NSE), potentially offering protection against multiple pathogens. Numerous economic evaluations examine vaccines' pathogen-specific effects, but less than a handful focus on NSE. This paper addresses that gap by reporting economic evaluations of the NSE of oral polio vaccine (OPV) against under-five mortality and COVID-19.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied two settings: (1) reducing child mortality in a high-mortality setting (Guinea-Bissau) and (2) preventing COVID-19 in India. In the former, the intervention involves three annual campaigns in which children receive OPV incremental to routine immunization. In the latter, …

Factors Associated With Mask Use In New York City Neighborhood Parks During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Field Audit Study, Lisa Hitch, Marie A. Sillice, Hanish Kodali, Katarzyna E. Wyka, Javier Otero Peña, Terry Tk Huang

Publications and Research

Background: Mask use is a cost-effective measure to decrease COVID-19 transmission. Mask mandates intend to increase mask compliance but are often ambiguous when it comes to public outdoor spaces.

Methods: We used a field audit study to examine mask use in New York City neighborhood parks during COVID-19. 1453 park visitors were observed in 13 parks during July–August 2020 using a modified and validated park use audit tool (System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities) that included items on general and proper mask use (i.e., mask covering both nose and mouth). Generalized estimating equation regression was used to determine …

The World Health Organization, The Trump Administration, American Public Opinion, And China: A Principal-Agent Problem, Megan Patrice Larson

Master's Theses

Why did the United States perceive the World Health Organization as ineffective during the COVID-19 pandemic? To answer this question, this research delves into current principal-agent model literature to reproduce mechanisms present by the WHO and the United States. Current research fails to explain the WHO's effectiveness. By borrowing from realist theory and political psychology and analyzing various declarations made by the United States, this analysis found preliminary evidence that the idea of WHO's ineffectiveness was primarily shaped by the Trump Administration and American public opinion. Moreover, because of the disinformation and misinformation spread by the Trump Administration, the WHO …

Social Determinants Of Disease: Hiv And Covid-19 Experiences, Raiza M. Beltran, Ian W. Holloway, Chenglin Hong, Ayako Miyashita, Luisita Cordero, Elizabeth Wu, Katherine Burris, Paula M. Frew

Epidemiology & Biostatistics Faculty Research

Purpose of Review: The differential impact of the COVID-19 and HIV pandemics on marginalized communities has renewed calls for more robust and deeper investigation into structural and social causes of health inequities contributing to these infections, including underlying factors related to systematic racism. Using the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) framework, we analyzed parallel and divergent factors associated with COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS and the prevalence of disparate disease in diverse communities. We utilized PRISMA guidelines to identify relevant literature (N = 210 articles) that resulted in a review of 125 articles included in our synthesis. Recent Findings: With racial health …

A Plague Of Their Own: Injury Incidence Remains Elevated In The 2021 Major League Baseball Season Compared To Pre-Covid-19 Seasons, Brooks N. Platt, Breanna Sullivan, Shawn Dripchak, Timothy L. Uhl, Aaron Sciascia, William B. Kibler, Austin V. Stone

Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Faculty Publications

Background Significant increases in injuries were observed in the 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) season; these were attributed to an increased acute to chronic workload due to the interrupted preseason and compressed season during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2021, the MLB resumed its regular schedule.

Hypothesis/Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the injury incidence and epidemiology of the 2021 MLB season compared to the injury incidence in the 2020 season and pre-COVID-19 seasons. The hypothesis was that, with the return to normal preseason training, injury incidence in 2021 would return to pre-COVID-19 rates. …

Disparities In Uptake Of The Primary Sars-Cov-2 Vaccine Series In A Southern Indiana Vaccine Clinic, Cassidy Padgett

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Objective: COVID-19 is a potentially severe respiratory disease caused by infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. COVID-19 was first discovered in 2019 and vaccines against the virus began development in early 2020. COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Clark Memorial Health is a 236-bed community health system located in southern Indiana. As one of the first four hospitals in the state of Indiana to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine in December of 2020, this health system led the area in vaccine administration. Prior to the emergency use authorization (EUA) of the COVID-19 vaccines, …

Effects Of Covid Prevention And Control Policies In Kentucky Schools During The Fall 2020 Semester, Ciaran Allen-Guy

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Schools are reopening or have already reopened while implementing precautions intended to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. However, evidence on the effects of these strategies or their benefits relative to each other in the school environment is indirect or lacking. This study investigated the effects of some of these strategies as employed by Kentucky schools in the fall 2020 semester using a linear mixed effects regression model using publicly available fall 2020 school incidence data, survey data from school staff, and Kentucky Department of Education data on school faculty and primary enrollment.

Compassion, Discrimination, And Prosocial Behaviors: Young Diasporic Chinese During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Youli Chen, Zicong Wang, Qi Zhang, Weizhen Dong, Jia Huei, Chen Xu, Sizhe Ji Wu, Xiangyang Zhang, Chun Chen

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has fueled anti-Asian, especially anti-Chinese sentiments worldwide, which may negatively impact diasporic Chinese youths' adjustment and prosocial development. This study examined the association between compassion, discrimination and prosocial behaviors in diasporic Chinese youths during the COVID-19 pandemic. 360 participants participated and completed the multi-country, cross-sectional, web-based survey between April 22 and May 9, 2020, the escalating stage of the pandemic. This study found compassion as prosocial behaviors' proximal predictor, while discrimination independently predicted participation in volunteering, and could potentially enhance the association between compassion and charitable giving. These findings suggest that prosociality among young …