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The Project Of Hope: Middle Eastern Feminism In Controversy, Alla Myzelev

Art History

No abstract provided.

Art Teaching And American Society: An Exploration Of How Art Makes Us Think And Why America Needs It Right Now, Julie Marie Hammerand

Honors Program Theses

The motivation for this thesis comes from my own experience as a learner, an artist, and as a teacher. When I was young, I was always fascinated with the idea of the unknown. Each new piece of knowledge I acquired was a part of the greater puzzle I had yet to understand. As I got older, I understood the value of new perspectives and how each person creates a personal relationship with the world around them. I saw how teaching was the art of bringing a person into and through a new realm of knowledge and thought. Each new realm …

Secondary Traumatic Stress: Therapists’ Past Trauma And Workplace Interventions, Morgan Wickman

Honors Program Theses

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is a type of indirect trauma wherein listening to the traumatic experiences of another causes a stress reaction. STS can lead to PTSD-like symptoms which can develop after only one instance. STS affects mental health professionals at high rates because they have high rates of exposure to traumatic content. In particular, therapists with a personal trauma history have an increased risk of developing STS, as they are more likely to identify with their client’s traumatic experience. This review examines how therapists’ STS severity and frequency is impacted by a personal trauma history. It also identifies workplace …

Spectres Of Women In Wuthering Heights, Corinne H. Shearer

Dissertations and Theses

Central to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847) is its famous haunting scene. As this paper suggests, it is in the haunting scene that the novel’s themes are at their most potent and where Brontë is at her most daring, challenging the socially prescribed, gendered binaries of her time. The primary interest of this paper is in describing the particular power of Brontë’s feminine ghost, an archetypal figure of the female Gothic, using theoretical frameworks from poststructuralism and psychoanalysis. I propose a feminist interpretation of the novel which emphasizes the catalyzing effect of the haunting scene and its reversals– and which …

Carceral Form And Social Critique In Zadie Smith's Nw, Wesley Hackman

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

“For The Future, For Him, And For Our Life Together”: The Relationship Goals And Well-Being Of Persons Living With Dementia And Their Spousal Care Partners, Claire Leigh Szapary

Public Health Theses

Background. Identities and dynamics in relationships can change when one spouse develops dementia. This study aimed to understand the various types of goals both spousal care partners and persons living with dementia (PLWD) have for their relationship, and to explore whether approach or avoidance goals were associated with individual wellbeing and relational support – as well as their partners’ wellbeing and support.

Methods. A secondary analysis of data from sixty-two spousal dyads where one partner has dementia was conducted. Thematic goal-type categories were determined through a card-sort content analysis methodology using participants’ brief qualitative responses to a question asking about …

A Deeper Dive Into Food Insecurity Among Women Involved In The Criminal Justice System, Jessica Robles

Public Health Theses

Background: The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate globally and a recent study found that 91% of formerly incarcerated individuals report being food insecure. Given that, women have become the fastest-growing segment in the incarceration system. Women who are involved in the criminal justice system (WICJ) are more at risk for experiencing food insecurity and chronic diseases. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to existing knowledge on the overall health of WICJ by assessing the prevalence of food insecurity and the social determinants of health (SDOH) that may contribute to food insecurity.Objective: To provide information on the overall health of …

Association Between Inflammatory And Metabolic Biomarkers And Lymphedema In Women With Ovarian Cancer, Kimberly Elizabeth Reinhart

Public Health Theses

Background: There is currently no cure for lymphedema, thus being able to predict who islikely to develop lymphedema will allow for early intervention. To date, no study has examined the association between metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers and lower limb lymphedema (LLL) in women with ovarian cancer. This secondary analysis seeks to explore the association between serum blood biomarkers and LLL in women with ovarian cancer and determine if the change in biomarkers over time is associated with a change in lymphedema status. Methods: Data from the Women’s Activity and Lifestyle Study in Connecticut (WALC), a 6- month exercise intervention randomized …

Associations Between Involvement In Shared Activities With Plwd, Relationship Closeness, And Loneliness Of Friends And Family, Marielle W. Quinn

Public Health Theses

Objectives. To examine the association between self-reported relationship closeness, loneliness, and engagement in shared activities with a person living with dementia (PLWD) in a community sample of family members and friends of PLWD. Methods. Using data from a Qualtrics-administered online survey, we examined involvement in shared activities of 51 respondents who have or had a family, friend, or intimate relationship with a PLWD. Outcome variables included relationship closeness, measured with the Inclusion of Other (IOS) scale, and loneliness, measured using a revised three-item questionnaire from the UCLA loneliness scale. Results. The main findings of the study were as follows: 1. …

Validation Of The Workplace Air Risk Perception Survey, Matthew K. Paige

Public Health Theses

Exposure to airborne chemicals has been demonstrated to adversely impact human health, yet little is understood about the general population’s understanding or concern for these health risks. In this pilot study, we developed a self-report instrument to quantitate workplace environmental health risk perceptions and evaluated it via a convenience sample of self-identified workers. The fifteen-item Workplace Air Risk Perception Survey (WARPS) was a reliable and valid metric of this construct. Each of four subscales identified under exploratory factor analysis also demonstrated reliable and valid psychometric properties in a corresponding subdomain: room construction, anthropogens, airflow, and strong odors. Future research with …

“To Live In The Body Of A Survivor ”: Unique And Cumulative Disaster Exposure And Mental Health In A Sample Of Hurricane Katrina Survivors, Noelle Serino

Public Health Theses

Introduction: Fueled by the escalation of climate change, weather-related disasters are increasing in frequency and severity. Existing research has documented the extensive harm induced by such disasters, yet few studies have examined how individuals’ psychological well-being fares when exposed to multiple, diverse threats, including other weather-related and public health disasters (e.g., COVID-19). As such, the present study explores posttraumatic and psychological distress in the context of unique and cumulative disaster exposure.Methods: The data utilized for this study came from the Resilience in Survivors of Katrina (RISK) Project. The sample was comprised of 381 predominantly Non-Hispanic Black (84.5%) women who experienced …

The Impact Of Climate Change On The Mental Health Of Native American Youth: A Qualitative Study Protocol, Xun Wang

Public Health Theses

Climate change can induce a significant mental health burden on youth, especially for those in Indigenous communities. Despite their vulnerability, little is known about the impact of climate change on the mental wellbeing of Native American children and adolescents. This qualitative study seeks to address this gap by exploring Native American youths’ perceptions and emotional and behavioral responses to climate change. The study is grounded in Indigenous methodologies, which prioritize Indigenous worldviews, values, and ways of interaction. We will utilize relational capital on campus to identify the collaborating tribe and ensure a respectful and reciprocal relationship is built before proceeding …

“You Are Just Trying To Make It Work”: A Qualitative Exploration Of Healthcare Provider Implementation Considerations For Integrating Mental Health And Hiv Care In Central Uganda, Divya Gumudavelly

Public Health Theses

There is a growing push to integrate mental health services within HIV care in urban Uganda. Amidst HIV clinics becoming comprehensive healthcare centers, there is a critical need to understand how providers can better adopt and implement mental health specific protocols in HIV practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 healthcare providers at two different HIV care centers to understand current practices, routines, barriers, and facilitators to implementing mental health care services within HIV care. Abductive thematic analysis, drawing from Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) frameworks, was used in conjunction with constructivist grounded theory …

Food Environment Intervention And Dietary Impacts In Blue Zones Project Communities On The Island Of Hawai'i, Katherine Fuller

Public Health Theses

ABSTRACTBackground: High intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with many health benefits including a lower risk of incident hypertension, heart disease, stroke, obesity, Alzheimer’s, and dementia. Dietary choices are impacted by a variety of individual socio-psychological and environmental factors. For this reason, Blue Zones Project (BZP) hypothesized that a multilevel intervention combining psychological, social, and environmental factors would have the largest impact on eating behaviors compared to a single-level approach. We assessed the impact of a BZP food environment intervention on fruit and vegetable intake and food insecurity among adults on the island of Hawai’i (or the Big Island). …

Understanding The Current Role Of Social Media In American Samoan Adolescent Lives, Mukund Desibhatla

Public Health Theses

Purpose: This exploratory study investigated the social and cultural factors that shape social media use among adolescents in

American Samoa. Methods: This project was a secondary qualitative analysis. Methodological considerations included an

interpretivist approach to epistemology and alignment with the Fa’afaletui Pacific framework. Phenomenology methods were

used to “bracket” researcher biases. A 21st-century flexible coding approach proposed by Deterding et al. 2021 was applied

to the dataset [31]. Transcript excerpts were re-sorted by the index code: social media/technology as a predictor of mental

illness. An abductive thematic analysis, stemming from inductive and deductive reasoning, was used to analyze the codebook …

Cleft Lip And Depression In Adults: A Multi-Ancestry Mendelian Randomization Study, Anne Lyon Havlik

Public Health Theses

Background: Clefting of the lip with or without cleft palate (CLP) is the most common congenital craniofacial abnormality globally, affecting one in 700 live births. Traditional observational studies suggest an increased risk of adult depression among subjects with CLP, but these studies are subject to residual confounding.Objective: We aimed to address residual confounding by evaluating the association between the genetically-predicted risk of CLP on the risk of adult depression in a Mendelian randomization framework. Methods: We used single-nucleotide polymorphisms strongly associated with CLP as genetic instruments. Genetic associations with adult depression were extracted from separate studies. Three ancestry groups were …

How Do The Courts See Sexual And Gender-Based Violence In The U.S. Asylum Context: Issues Of Judicial Ethics In The Fact-Finding And Decision-Making Process, Francine Ruth Erfe

Public Health Theses

Background: There are many concerns regarding the U.S. asylum system, especially regarding how it views cases based on claims of sexual and gender-based violence. Wide discrepancies in decision-making in the various courts throughout the U.S. not solely attributed to the strength of the asylum case or the evidence presented leads to injustice for people seeking asylum.Methods: Precedential cases were selected and read in their entirety, grouped together by topic or executive branch era in which it occurred, and the types of evidence extracted and tallied. Categories for evidence were expert testimony, DOS reports, US agency reports, UN agency reports, and …

Pre-Admission Depression And 6-Month Post-Discharge Sleep Disorders In Elderly Covid-19 Survivors, Yixiao Zhang

Public Health Theses

ABSTRACTObjective: This study aims to evaluate the association between depression at baseline and presence of three sleep disorder symptoms (fatigue, daytime sleepiness, and insomnia) following 6-month hospital discharge in elderly COVID-19 survivors. It also aims to identify which other baseline patients’ characteristics or post-discharge factors may be associated with these sleep disorder symptoms. Methods: The participant datasets were obtained from VALIANT, a prospective longitudinal study of community-living adults aged ≥ 60 years who were admitted with COVID-19 to hospitals within the Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS) from June 2020 - June 2021. Multiple logistic regression models were performed to …

Copd And Asthma: Genome-Wide Associations And Genetic Pleiotropy, Yixuan Yang

Public Health Theses

This study aimed to describe the overlap between genetic variants that are independently associated with COPD and asthma, then dissect the cross-phenotype associations to characterize patterns of pleiotropic effects. The COPD and asthma datasets were separately extracted from an aging population consisting of white European subjects from the UK Biobank database. Genome-wide association tests were performed separately with the COPD and asthma data to first investigate significant genetic variants independently associated with each of the two phenotypes. With the GWAS summary statistics, several significant genetic loci that exhibit potential pleiotropic effects on COPD and asthma on a genome-wide significant level …

Effect Of Digital Public Health Campaigns By The World Health Organization On Self-Reported Behavior, Recall/Knowledge, And Attitude Toward Interventions Related To Covid-19: A Meta-Analysis, Zili Zhou

Public Health Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for effective scientific communication. The success of public health interventions are largely dependent on public knowledge and behavior. With the global rise of social media usage, as well as the increased prevalence of social media advertisement campaigns, the platforms present a tool with the potential to be utilized by public health authorities to deliver information and influence broad populations within a short period of time. From 2020 to 2022, the World Health Organization conducted 58 social media campaigns, totaling 176 brand-lift studies, in partnership with Meta on the subject of COVID-19. The campaigns conveyed …

Uncovering The Relationship Between Opioid Use And Postpartum Depression: Evidence From A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study, Toni-Ann Yapp

Public Health Theses

Background and Objective: Opioid use during pregnancy is a significant public health concern that has been associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. This study aims to investigate the association between the genetic liability for prescription opioid medication and postpartum depression (PPD) using a Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) approach. By reducing the risk of residual confounding found in traditional observational studies, we can comprehend how MR can further improve our understanding of this issue. Design, setting, and participants: We conducted a 2-sample MR using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to determine associations of prescription opioid use with PPD. …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Women Living With Hiv Who Are Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Xinyi Zhang

Public Health Theses

Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, there is a concern about elevated intimate partner violence (IPV) risk. Women living with HIV (WLWH) faced disproportionately high rates of IPV compared to women without HIV. The intersections of the co-occurring pandemics of COVID-19 and IPV present unique challenges to WLWH in different ways. Currently, we have limited evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on the experience of IPV among WLWH. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of COVID-19 impact using baseline data from an ongoing, prospective, micro-longitudinal cohort study on HIV care engagement among WLWH who have experienced lifetime IPV. …

Genome-Wide Association Studies Of Depression And Alzheimer’S: Identifying Pleiotropic Snps, Yara Ahmed Kamel Abdelsalam

Public Health Theses

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been rising globally, making it important to understand risk factors. Depression has been identified as a risk factor in epidemiological studies and meta-analysis. The possible mechanism could be pleiotropic. This study sought to identify the pleiotropic SNPs associated with depression and AD so that can understand the relationship between the two diseases more evident.Methods: The sample was from the UK biobank population, using the White European subpopulation. Depression was defined using self-reported depression status and electronic medical records. Proxy AD was defined by biological mother and father’s AD status. Two univariate association analysis was conducted …

Decolonizing Humanitarian Aid: Addressing Racism And Health Inequities In The Context Of Africans Displaced From Ukraine, Nassim J. Ashford

Public Health Theses

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to one of Europe's largest humanitarian crises since World War II. With over 14 million people forcibly displaced from Ukraine, this thesis delves into the lesser-known aspect of anti-Black discrimination impacting displaced Africans and those of African descent during the conflict. This thesis research has two primary objectives: (1) to explore the personal experiences and struggles of displaced African persons as they encountered barriers to safety while escaping the war-torn region, and (2) to examine NoirUnited International's efforts to create a framework that addresses humanitarian crises with a focus on racial …

Community Perspectives On Mental Health Stigma In American Samoa, Vanessa Luzmila Blas

Public Health Theses

Despite reports of mental health concerns among adolescents in American Samoa, little is known about the current mental health burden. Furthermore, previous literature has identified mental illness-related stigma as a significant barrier to mental health care access and treatment. By gathering various perspectives of adult stakeholders and adolescent participants, this community-partnered qualitative study aimed to describe the perceived stigmatization of mental health in American Samoa.

This study stems from a larger qualitative project on adolescent mental health in American Samoa. Employing the Fa’afaletui research framework, 28 adult informants of differing professions, ages, and gender participated in semi-structured, in-depth virtual interviews …

Exploring The Perceptions Of Genetics, Genetics Testing, And Science In People Of African Descent, Maame-Owusua Boateng

Public Health Theses

Background: Historical injustices towards Black populations in the United States have impacted how communities interact with medicine and public health such as medical experimentations, scientific racism, medical racism, and eugenics. Black communities are underrepresented in human genomics projects compared to those that identify as white or of European ancestry. Prior research has demonstrated that Black people are less likely to know about the availability of genetic testing for diseases and have less confidence in the benefits of genetic testing. These disparities make it imperative to understand the perspectives of people of African descent. Methods: The Black Genome Project is an …

“You Need To Give All Of Yourself To This Field Or It's Not Enough”: A Qualitative Study Of The Medical Education Experience Among Medical Students With Chronic Health Conditions, Peyton Cabaniss

Public Health Theses

Medical students with chronic health conditions are an underrepresented and often overlooked population in medical education. Previous research has described the dual roles these students hold as both health care recipients and providers and has detailed challenges they face related to accommodations and accessibility. However, less is known about how these students navigate the day-to-day requirements of medical school and how having a chronic health condition shapes the medical education experience on an interpersonal level. To address this gap in knowledge, I conducted semi-structured interviews with eighteen medical students with chronic conditions and examined data using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings …

Honoring The Household: A Multi-Method Examination Of Family Structure, Harmony, And Conflict Among Asian Americans, Monica Jing Chen

Public Health Theses

The Asian American community is the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S. (Budiman and Ruiz, 2022), however, mental health research and practice often fail to accurately capture the scope of mental wellbeing across Asian subgroups. Despite shortcomings in the literature on Asian American mental health, researchers have still found concerning mental health outcomes within the community. Key considerations in supporting and understanding Asian American mental health include family harmony and family conflict; many of these communities greatly value family harmony but also are at risk of intergenerational conflict and other stressors within the household. A primary analysis examined the relationship …

Racism-Related Stress And Health Behaviors And Outcomes Among Emerging Adult Sexual Minority Men Of Asian Heritage, Lauren Li-Min Chin

Public Health Theses

Rationale: Acts of racial discrimination impart racism-related stress on the individual and have been linked to decreased psychological well-being and physical health. While there are numerous studies of other groups of sexual minority (SM) men of color in this area, little research has focused on HIV-negative, Asian-identifying SM men. Objectives: This study investigates whether racism-related stress is associated with substance use, general and oral health outcomes, and attitudes towards PrEP in a sample of emerging adult Asian SM men. The study also evaluates whether these behaviors affect the relationships between racism-related stress and the other outcomes. Methods: This secondary data …

Childhood Parental Bonding, Perceived Caregiver Burden, And Relationship Quality Among Adult Child Caregivers Of A Parent With Early-Stage Dementia, Denise Chow

Public Health Theses

Objectives – The objective of this paper was to investigate the associations between childhood parental bonding with current perceived caregiving burden and levels of perceived support from the parent among adult children of a parent living with early-stage dementia.Methods – One hundred and forty-four adult children completed self-report questionnaires that included the following measures: the Parental Bonding Inventory (PBI), Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), and Perceived Partner Responsiveness Scale (PPRS). Multiple linear regression models were conducted to investigate the relationships between the parental bonding subscales (care, overprotection, and optimal parenting), caregiving burden, and relationship quality scores. Results – Adult children who …