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Examining Mental Health And Resiliency Factors Of Gifted And Talented Students Participating In An Accelerative, Residential Program, Kevin Kusy

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Early intervention around mental health and wellness is a vital piece for the school system to address when working holistically with students. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) emphasize the importance for schools to develop a comprehensive systemic framework around the academic, social, and emotional needs of students. By using the Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS), school districts can administer Universal Mental Health Screening (UMHS), a Tier 1 intervention, to help identify students who may be considered at risk for mental health and wellness issues. Unfortunately, less than 15% of …

Adolescents, Mental Health, And The Benefits Of Private Religious Worship, Mark D. Ogletree, W. Justin Dyer

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Over the years, there has been a wealth of research on religious participation[1] among adolescents and their mental health.[2] The impact of public religious behaviors, such as attending church services and participating in church activities, has been beneficial to teenagers. However, are there benefits to private religious practices, such as personal prayer and personal scripture study, to adolescent mental health? Can private religious practices provide youth with the spiritual strength and fortitude to mediate anxiety or depression? These questions will be explored in our study on adolescent mental health and religion.

What Can Mental Health Teach Us About Social Media Screen Time Misestimation?, Mark Keith, Parker Nokes, Alexandra Spruill

Faculty Publications

Mobile platform providers have provided the ability to measure the time consumers spend on each app. This provides the opportunity to measure a consumer’s misestimation of their screentime which is a concept relevant to several mental health attributes such as depression, anxiety, and addiction. We provide additional evidence about the effect of objective screentime on mental health, but add a unique perspective on how screentime misestimation is determined by various mental health attributes. We collected data from a student sample (n=1005) who are from the demographic who most commonly use social media apps (18-29 yr olds). We measured our model …

Modeling Substance Use And Mental Disorder Comorbidity Using Latent Variable And Network Approaches, Courtney T. Blondino

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction. Substance use disorder (SUD) is a common condition that affects millions of Americans. Addressing SUD has been complicated by comorbid mental disorders and co-occurring substance use. Consequently, detailing and addressing SUD and comorbid SUD represent an important goal to improve the health of Americans.

Objective. The research goal of this dissertation was to characterize the comorbidity between substance use, including tobacco use, and mental disorder symptoms measured as negative affect and externalizing symptoms in a population-based sample using latent variable and network approaches.

Methods. Waves 1 – 3 from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study were used. …

Interpersonal Trauma And Mental Health Among Lgbq+ College Students: Examining Social Support And Trauma-Related Drinking As Mediators, Eryn Delaney

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the increased risk of childhood, adulthood, and lifetime interpersonal trauma among LGBQ+ individuals, existing research that has examined the influence of interpersonal trauma on mental health has primarily focused on LGBQ+ adolescents and samples of LGBQ+ community-based adults, and less on LGBQ+ emerging adults in college. Additionally, limited work has focused on mechanisms that might explain the relations between these variables. Thus, the current study tested the relations between interpersonal trauma (i.e., childhood sexual abuse, adulthood sexual victimization, and lifetime physical assault and IPV) and mental health outcomes (i.e., anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and PTSD symptoms), and examined social …

The Impact Of Social Media On Teenage Females Self-Esteem, Amanda C. Perkovich

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Social media has become the way we connect with the world. Social networking sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok, allow users to share intimate details of their lives, upload photographs, initiate and maintain relationships, plan social gatherings, observe the lives of others and express beliefs, values and emotions. In the last ten years, numerous articles have focused on the relationship between social media use and mental health however, very few studies have concentrated on self-esteem, especially in teenage females. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the associations between increased social media activity (greater than 2 …

Applying Machine Learning Approaches To Suicide Prediction Using Healthcare Data: Overview And Future Directions, Edwin D Boudreaux, Elke Rundensteiner, Feifan Liu, Bo Wang, Celine Larkin, Emmanuel Agu, Samiran Ghosh, Joshua Semeter, Gregory Simon, Rachel E Davis-Martin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Early identification of individuals who are at risk for suicide is crucial in supporting suicide prevention. Machine learning is emerging as a promising approach to support this objective. Machine learning is broadly defined as a set of mathematical models and computational algorithms designed to automatically learn complex patterns between predictors and outcomes from example data, without being explicitly programmed to do so. The model's performance continuously improves over time by learning from newly available data.

Method: This concept paper explores how machine learning approaches applied to healthcare data obtained from electronic health records, including billing and claims data, can …

Examining The Impact Of Mental Health Education On Bias And Stigma In Cit Trained Officers, Jennifer L. Krause

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational nonexperimental research was to examine the relationship between the mental health education received through Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and the perceptions of public mental health stigma, self-stigma, and attitudes toward seeking mental health services among law enforcement officers. The study’s theoretical framework integrated gender-role conflict theory and Goffman’s stigma theory in explaining the influence of the police culture on officers’ adoption of more traditional masculine roles. This research used three instruments: the Attitudes to Mental Illness questionnaire to measure perceptions of public stigma, the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale to measure self-stigma, and …

Lived Experiences Of Haitian Immigrants In The United States During The Trump Administration, Klaudya Phillips

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Racism that is either blatant or perceived has contributed to all contemporary markings of group advantage and disadvantage along ethnic and racial lines, which includes differences in education, employment, housing, health, and health care. Understanding how these elements are impacting immigrants will be the key to helping this population overcome problems they might experience. One demographic whose emotional experiences have yet to be fully explored are Haitian immigrants. The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to explore how the political climate under the Trump administration impacted the psychosocial lived experiences of Haitian immigrants who immigrated to the United States …

Reluctance To Seek Mental Health Treatment Among African Americans Living In Generational Poverty, Myisha Boulware

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African Americans are 20% more likely to experience mental health issues but are the least likely group to seek professional mental health treatment. In addition, African Americans are more likely to experience severe mental health conditions than other races due to a greater risk of homelessness and being exposed to violence. This research study used a phenomenological qualitative methodology to explore the attitudes and lived experiences of 10 African Americans living in generational poverty in inner-city Chicago. The participants provide detailed accounts of their lived experiences with generational poverty, mental health, and the attitudes their family lineage had shared with …

Evaluation Of A Division I Mid-Major University’S Student-Athlete Mental Health Program, Heather M. Swanson

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The following executive summary provides high level findings of a student-athlete mental health program (SAMHP) at a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I mid-major university. Various elements of the SAMHP were evaluated to create a well-rounded understanding of the program to determine sustainability, goals, and stakeholder expectations. Findings from this study provided insight on stakeholder needs, program successes, and implications for program improvements.

A Stress Process Approach To Assessing Caregiver Burden, Depressive Symptoms, And Quality Of Life: The Role Of Attachment In Adult Relationships, Ghislaine Celine Atkins

All ETDs from UAB

Aging adults (65 years and older) are projected to be the largest age group in the United States by around the year 2030. Importantly, the population of aging adults is expected to outnumber their adult children for the first time by the year 2033. The extant literature posits that the majority of carer-care-recipient relationships are between adult children/in law and their aging parent or a spouse/partner. Familial carers dealing with these multiple stressors are more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms, have higher appraisals of stress and have worse quality of life. This dissertation project utilized sociologist Pearlin’s Stress Process Model …

Caregiving And Depressive Symptomatology: Multi-National Testing Of Role Strain Theory, Jessica Valles

All ETDs from UAB

While several studies have shown that caregiving duties are correlated with poor mental health outcomes, little is known about this association and how it varies by the type of care provided, as well as the other types of social roles that the caregiver occupies. Furthermore, the nature of these associations amongst caregivers who have been diagnosed with a chronic condition themselves is also unclear. Role Strain theory offers a foundation by which we can begin to understand the level of burden that results from occupying multiple social roles including that of caregiving. Using dating from the WHO Study on Global …

Mental Health Consequences Of Covid-19 Media Coverage: The Need For Effective Crisis Communication Practices, Zhaohui Su, Dean Mcdonnell, Jun Wen, Metin Kozak, Jaffar Abbas, Sabina Šegalo, Xiaoshan Li, Junaid Ahmad, Ali Cheshmehzangi, Yuyang Cai, Ling Yang, Yu Tao Xiang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2021, The Author(s). During global pandemics, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), crisis communication is indispensable in dispelling fears, uncertainty, and unifying individuals worldwide in a collective fight against health threats. Inadequate crisis communication can bring dire personal and economic consequences. Mounting research shows that seemingly endless newsfeeds related to COVID-19 infection and death rates could considerably increase the risk of mental health problems. Unfortunately, media reports that include infodemics regarding the influence of COVID-19 on mental health may be a source of the adverse psychological effects on individuals. Owing partially to insufficient crisis communication practices, media and news …

Wellbeing And Nature Connectedness For Emerging Adult Undergraduates After A Short Expedition: A Small Pilot Study, Michael J.A Down, Paola Chivers, Prudence Kirsch, Duncan Picknoll

Health Sciences Papers and Journal Articles

Issue addressed: Emerging adult university undergraduates are a vulnerable population due to various life stressors. Previous studies have reported a range of positive outcomes from outdoor expeditions for this population. This small pilot study aimed to investigate the impacts of an outdoor expedition on wellbeing and connectedness to nature and possible confounding by gender and living environment.

Methods: A sample of 54 Health and Physical Education emerging adult undergraduates in the second year of their four-year degree completed a 3-day/2-night immersion expedition. Pre-post differences and a repeated-measures analysis with confounders examined the expedition's impact on scores from the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental …

Prevalence And Factors Associated With Mental Health Symptoms In Adults Undergoing Covid-19 Testing, Ikponmwosa Osaghae, Linh K Nguyen, Tong Han Chung, Olivia Moffitt, Yen-Chi L Le, Mark B Suh, Pooja N Prasad, Eric J Thomas, Christine D Gordon, Kevin O Hwang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Understanding the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on persons receiving COVID-19 testing will help guide mental health interventions. We aimed to determine the association between sociodemographic factors and mental health symptoms at 8 weeks (baseline) after a COVID-19 test, and compare prevalence of mental health symptoms at baseline to those at 16-week follow-up.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective cohort study of adults who received outpatient COVID-19 testing at primary care clinics. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between sociodemographic characteristics and COVID-19 test results with mental health symptoms. Mental health symptoms reported at …

Access To Behavioral Health Services: Supply, Coverage, And Health Insurance Literacy, Heather Saunders

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines policy and individual barriers to behavioral health (BH) service utilization. The full reach of federal policies like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) may be limited by state policies and the supply of the workforce available to deliver these services. Further, individual factors, such as low health insurance literacy, may influence patterns of behavioral healthcare utilization. Despite efforts to increase access to behavioral health services, treatment rates remain low, suggesting that barriers remain. To explore the effectiveness of these policies and examine remaining barriers, this dissertation explores three main research …

Strengthening Mental Health Diagnostic Detection In Integrated Primary Care, Julia Brechbiel

Theses and Dissertations

Primary care behavioral health (PCBH) is crucial for providing mental health treatment to underserved, minority, and uninsured populations. There is a lack of knowledge about accurate mental health diagnoses at PCBH. Underdetection of mental health symptoms has the potential to worsen racial and socioeconomic disparities. Using an expert review process, I developed an abbreviated diagnostic clinical interview (ADCI) for integrated primary care. Next, patients (N = 82) completed the interview after attending PCBH appointments. According to the interview, 63.4% of participants met criteria for a diagnosis, while 64.7% received a diagnosis from their provider. A large portion of patients …

A Model For Defunding: An Evidence-Based Statute For Behavioral Health Crisis Response, Taleed El-Sabawi, Jennifer J. Carroll

Faculty Publications

Too many Black persons and other persons of color are dying at the hands of law enforcement, leading many to call for the defunding of police. These deaths were directly caused by excessive use of force by police officers, but were also driven by upstream and institutional factors that include structural racism, institutional bias, and a historic culture of racialized violence. Public outcry against racial inequities has increased as the authority of police departments has expanded to include not only the authority to respond to and investigate criminal activity, but also to respond to calls regarding behavioral health issues and …

Post-Conflict Mental Health Policy And Substance Use Among Liberian Adults, Ekua Amonoo-Lartson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe objective of post-conflict countries after an extended period of war and trauma is to maintain peace and stability. However, the physical and psychological effects of substance use to cope with the devastation of war remains long after the crisis has ended. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine substance use among Liberian working-age adults, including their substance use habits, experiences with substance use, and access to mental health rehabilitative treatment. The access to medical care theoretical framework was used to guide the study. Data were collected from face-to-face semistructured interviews with 15 individuals regarding their experiences …

Victimization And Psychological Wellbeing Among Sexual And Gender Minority Emerging Adults: Testing The Moderating Role Of Emotional Comfort From Companion Animals, Jennifer L. Murphy, Camie A. Tomlinson, Angela Matijczak, Kelly O'Connor, Shelby Mcdonald

Graduate Research Posters

Introduction: Human-animal interaction science is a growing field, largely due to the potential psychosocial benefits companion animals provide to humans. One way companion animals may influence psychosocial outcomes is through their ability to provide emotional comfort, though few studies have examined relationships between sexual and gender minority stressors (i.e. discrimination, victimization, rejection), human-animal interaction, and psychological wellbeing. To address this gap in the literature, the current study evaluates whether, and to what extent, the association between gender-based victimization and psychological wellbeing (i.e., anxiety, depression, self-esteem) varies as a function of emotional comfort from companion animals among emerging adults.

Methods: Data …

Psychotherapy Utilization And Presenting Concerns Among International Asian And Asian American Students In A University Counseling Center., Hannah Stokes, Derek Griner, Timothy B. Smith, Mark Beecher, G. E. Kawika Allen, Jon Cox, Klint Hobbs, Natalie Ann Kirtley

Faculty Publications

Limited psychological research has disaggregated the experiences of Asian American (AA) from international Asian (IA) college students seeking psychotherapy. When combined, important differences between these groups are overlooked. We examined archival data collected from AA, IA, and European American (EA) students at a large, Western, university counseling center. Results indicated no significant differences between groups related to maximum number of psychotherapy sessions attended or likelihood of treatment discontinuance. However, we found significant differences between these groups on a number of items related to presenting concerns and to severity of presenting distress, with IA students presenting with the most distress, followed …

Minority Stress And Alcohol Use In Sexual Minority Women's Daily Lives, Robin J. Lewis, Kelly A. Romano, Sarah J. Ehlke, Cathy Lau-Barraco, Cassidy M. Sandoval, Douglas J. Glenn, Kristin E. Heron

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Parents Of Non-Binary Children: Stories Of Understanding And Support, Brooks Bull

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Parents of non-binary children undergo profound changes as they learn to first understand and then support their child. In order to provide family therapists with a foundation from which to work with these families, a thorough review of the literature is provided as well as a narrative research study. Chapter one provides an introduction to the topic of non-binary gender and transgender identities, defines the terms non-binary, transgender, and transsexual, and clarifies the conceptual frameworks at use in the dissertation: social constructionism and transfeminism. Chapter two is a review of peer-reviewed literature on therapy with children and adolescents who identify …

Investigating The Relationships Among Leisure, Coping, And Personal Growth Among People With Physical Disabilities, Junhyoung Kim, Jaehyun Kim, Chungsup Lee, Namyun Kil

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Little information exists with regard to the relationship between leisure and coping mechanisms among people with physical disabilities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among leisure, coping, and personal growth among people with physical disabilities living in the U.S. Using a purposive sampling strategy, 121 participants completed all 3 instruments: assessment of leisure and recreation involvement, coping strategy indicator, and personal growth. Frequency, descriptive analysis, Pearson correlations, and path analysis were utilized to test the relationship between leisure involvement, coping strategies, and personal growth. There were statistically significant direct effects of leisure involvement and avoidance-withdrawal coping …

An Examination Of The Start Now Dialectical Behavior Therapy-Based Intervention Plus A Behavioral Level System On Male Inmate Misbehavior, Aggressive Behavior, And Mental Health, Victoria Disciullo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the START NOW program + behavioral level system (BLS) in a self-contained therapeutic community (SCTC) on inmate misbehavior at a correctional facility in a southern state. The SCTC includes the START NOW manualized mental health treatment, recreation groups, process groups as needed, and additional positive reinforcement to target inmate prosocial behavior (i.e., level system to obtain privileges). Inmate data was evaluated at 3-months pre-START NOW intervention and 3-months post-START NOW intervention to determine if there were differences in the number of referrals to mental health services for misbehavior, write-ups …

Meeting The Mental Health Needs Of Student-Athletes: A Descriptive Study Of Practitioners And Their Perspectives, William C. Way Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Efforts are being made to promote mental health awareness and destigmatize help-seeking behavior among student-athletes (e.g., Kern et al., 2017). The availability and visibility of practitioners with specialized training in sport psychology can facilitate these efforts (e.g., Flowers, 2007; Carr, 2007; McDuff et al., 2005). However, some student-athletes have observed that the clinical sport psychology (CSP) practitioners who are available to them are being stretched thin (Way et al., 2020). In the context of collegiate mental health more broadly, many campus counseling centers are struggling to meet the demand for clinical services (e.g., Kafka, 2019). Research on the experiences and …

Exploring The Relationship Between Dog Ownership, Physical Activity, And Mental Health, Stephanie Ho, Jennifer Robertson-Wilson, Mark Eys

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The physical and mental health benefits of regular physical activity have been well-documented (e.g., Reiner et al., 2013; White et al., 2017). Additionally, owning a dog is associated with positive health outcomes as owners are encouraged to walk. Dogs are also a source of comfort during stressful times for those in their presence (e.g., Brown & Rhodes, 2006; Westgarth et al., 2017). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between dog ownership, physical activity, and mental health among the university student population. Over 500 university students completed questionnaires assessing their demographic information, mental health, dog ownership status, …

Disclosing Mental Health: The Experience Of Post Secondary Students Transitioning Into A Career/Experiential Learning Environment, Jennifer Mei

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The stigma associated with mental health and underrepresentation of students with disabilities in higher education is well documented (Barnard-Brak, Lechtenberger, and Tan 2010, p. 411). This presents a disclosure problem for post-secondary students with mental health challenges who are transitioning into a career or experiential learning environment. If students require workplace accommodations, they may find themselves faced with a decision to disclose mental health challenges to a faculty supervisor, career services practitioner or potential employer. Difficulties with mental health can be experienced because of a diagnosed mental health disability or be a symptom of another diagnosable disability.

The research begins …

Covid-19 And The Correctional Environment: An Analysis Of Canadian Correctional Officers’ Experiences Of Stress And Mental Health During The Pandemic, Kristina Kocsis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This national survey research project examined the experiences of Canadian correctional officers (COs) in providing essential correctional services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study sampled COs from several provinces across Canada (N=596) to better understand how the pandemic impacted stress and wellbeing of this population by exploring seven constructs including resiliency, workplace safety, changes in role or responsibilities, work stress, COVID- 19 related stress, perceived support, and positive mental health. The transactional model of stress and coping and the biopsychosocial model of stress were used as theoretical frameworks to investigate stress responses among COs. Respondents reported significant changes to their …