Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Island Of Harm Reduction, Trevor T. Boyer

Capstones

New York City's Rikers Island has a medically assisted treatment (MAT) program for detainees who are addicted to opioids, providing buprenorphine or methadone. For many locked up there, though, Rikers is only a way station before a trip upstate to prison. Even now, over 30 years after its treatment program began, only six other correctional facilities in New York offer pilot opioid treatment programs, which are available only to limited segments of their respective populations.

So for those taking medication in the form or methadone or buprenorphine on Rikers Island pretrial and awaiting sentencing, they're tapered off their doses to …

Climate Grief Hits The Self-Care Generation, Avichai Scher

Capstones

As the effects of climate change intensify, emotional anguish over the future of the planet is emerging. This piece looks at a 10-step program to deal with climate grief "Good Grief."

At Uplift Climate, a conference on climate change for people under 30 held annually, the creators of Good Grief presented their program. The conference focused on climate justice for Native Americans, who have been dealing with climate grief for a long time.

The setting highlighted the class divide of who is affected by climate change. The effects of climate change are now so strong, that climate grief is hitting …

Dios, Drogas, Dinero: ¿QuiéN Gana Con El Traslado De Adictos De Puerto Rico A Ee.Uu.?, Claudia E. Irizarry Aponte, Eliana Y. Perez

Capstones

For the last 25 years, evangelical leaders have been shipping off opioid addicts in Puerto Rico to cities in the mainland US, mainly New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia--under the promise they’ll receive state-of-the-art rehabilitation treatment, only to end up in unregulated transitional homes and flophouses where they don’t receive proper medical care or psychotherapy. In turn, many of these unregulated transitional homes, also run by evangelical leaders, may charge Medicaid kickbacks from their “patients.”

While this so-called “air bridge” from Puerto Rico to the U.S. goes back decades, it gained momentum from 2005 to 2014, when evangelical leaders joined …

Resting-State Functional Connectivity In Youth With Gender Dysphoria, Felix L. Garcia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Current developmental models of gender identity and gender dysphoria (GD) lack sex-specific profiles of brain function that differentiate between typically-developing and cross-gender identified youth, as postulated by models like the unified theory of the origins of sex differences (Arnold, 2009) and the neurobiological theory of the origins of transsexuality (Swaab & Garcia-Falgueras, 2009). Previously, investigators have used brain imaging modalities such as Resting-State functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (R-fMRI) to demonstrate differences in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between typically-developing male and female youth, and between typically-developing and GID-diagnosed youth. In the present pilot study, I used R-fMRI to investigate differences in …

The Effect Of A Voice Treatment On Facial Expression In Parkinson’S Disease: Clinical And Demographic Predictors, Amanda D. Bono

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with a wide range of motoric, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. Impairments in facial mobility and emotional expressivity are common and can impair communication, in turn, affecting daily functioning and quality of life. Previous research suggests that the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment © (LSVT LOUD; Ramig et al., 2001, 2011) increases vocal loudness and facial expressivity in individuals with PD compared to PD and healthy controls. This study extends the literature by examining the effects of LSVT and an articulation-based control treatment (i.e., ARTIC) on multiple aspects of facial expressivity (i.e., emotional frequency …

Increasing Access To Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Among Transgender Women And Trans Feminine Non-Binary Individuals In New York City, Augustus Klein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the United States transgender women (i.e., individuals born male whose gender identity is on the feminine spectrum) are a highly vulnerable and marginalized population at high risk for HIV. Substance use, survival sex work, depression, unstable housing, and high levels of victimization and violence are commonly reported by transgender women and trans feminine individuals, indicating the potential for multiple concurrent HIV risks and underlying vulnerabilities. Structural forms of discrimination may contribute to these risk factors, possibly leading to poor outcomes such as unemployment or underemployment, homelessness, and lack of access to gender-affirming health care. Given this context, a biomedical …

Linking Hostile/Helpless Maternal Representations In Pregnancy And Later Child Protection Involvement: A Pilot Study, Madeleine Terry

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present pilot study examined whether there are reliable indices in the narratives of pregnant women that can be used to identify child abuse and neglect potential before the birth of the child. The Hostile/Helpless (HH) Classification system (Lyons-Ruth et al., 1995-2005), which detects mental states associated with trauma, disturbances in early attachment, and severe pathology, was adapted for use with the Pregnancy Interview (PI), a semi-structured clinical interview (Slade, 2003) that assesses a woman's emotional experience of pregnancy, and quality of her developing relationship with her baby. The study sample was drawn from a replication study of the Minding …

Underlying Contribution Of Executive Functioning To Cognition And Academic Achievement In Individuals With Dystrophinopathy, Robert Fee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dystrophinopathy is a genetic disorder that results in the lack of or abnormal expression of the protein dystrophin. It is a disorder that alters cell structure and function, impacts the developing brain and brain function, presents with multi-domain cognitive deficits, and influences both mood and behavior. Cognitive impairments appear to be more localized to specific areas of functioning rather than a global deficit; however, deficits have been identified across multiple cognitive domains including language and aspects of executive functioning. A careful examination of the cognitive phenotype and its association to mutations affecting CNS isoforms is necessary to clarify the neuropsychological …

What’S Your Story? Assessing Childhood Maltreatment Using The Thematic Apperception Test In An Adult Inpatient Population., Thachell C. Tanis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is a robust evidence that childhood maltreatment contributes to the development of adult psychopathology (Brown & Anderson, 1991; Johnson, Cohen, Brown, Smailes, & Bernstein 1999; Johnson, Smailes, Cohen, Brown, & Bernstein, 2000; Ruggiero et al., 1999). However, the identification of childhood maltreatment remains a methodological problem that results in inconsistencies in the reported incidence and psychological sequelae of maltreatment. A primary method for identifying histories of childhood maltreatment among adults is retrospective self-report measures which are susceptible to multiple biases (Briere, 1992; Cicchetti & Rizley, 1981; Shaffer, Huston, & Egeland, 2008). This present study suggests that childhood maltreatment can …

Stereotype Threat As An Explanation For Sexual Risk Taking Behavior In Gay Men: A Multi-Study Exploration Of Mechanisms, Inna Saboshchuk

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Stereotype threat is a hindrance in performance that occurs when an individual’s awareness of negative stereotypes associated with his/her group results in inadvertent conforming to that stereotype. Stereotype threat research has been conducted on myriad group and domain identifications but gay men are strikingly absent from the stereotype threat literature. One of the most prevalent stereotypes about gay men indicates they are sexually promiscuous and that this promiscuity is linked to HIV infection. In a series of three research projects, a theoretical model proposing stereotype threat as a mechanism for sexual risk taking behavior in gay men is tested. In …

Curcumin Inhibits The Ikk:Nf-Kappa B Pathway In Neural Fear Circuits, Miguel A. Briones

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The study of how the brain acquires fearful memories has attracted considerable experimental attention, due in part to the promise of discovering novel therapeutic approaches for psychiatric disorders that are characterized by unusually strong and persistent traumatic memories. In recent years, extensive research has focused on studying the neural and molecular mechanisms by which fear memories are acquired, stored, and retrieved in the brain. Once acquired, fear memories may be attenuated using one of 2 procedures: 1) fear extinction, which involves repeated presentation of the fear-arousing stimulus in the absence of an aversive consequence, or 2) interference with the reconsolidation …

Casualties Of Racism: Racial And Ethnic Discrimination And Suicidal Thoughts And Behaviors Among Racial And Ethnic Minority Emerging Adults, Lillian Anais Polanco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The evidence demonstrating that experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination is detrimental to the mental health of racial/ethnic minority youth is unequivocal. What remains unclear, however, is whether racial/ethnic discrimination increases vulnerability for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in particular, and if so, what are the underlying mechanisms to explain this relation. Drawing upon the Race-based Traumatic Stress Theory (Carter, 2007), which suggests that some individuals may experience racial/ethnic discrimination as a traumatic stressor, and thus, eliciting a traumatic stress response, the present study examined posttraumatic stress reactions (i.e., posttraumatic stress, depression, dissociation, stress sensitivity) as mediators in the relation between racial/ethnic discrimination …

An Analysis Of Self-Reported Suicide Attempts And Ideation In A National Sample Of Incarcerated Sex Offenders, Kseniya Katsman

Student Theses

Suicide is the leading cause of preventable death in US jails and prisons, with rates three to nine times higher than those of the general population. Although suicide in correctional settings has been recognized as a serious problem, the research on suicide among incarcerated individuals remains limited. While the majority of suicide risk factors may be common across all offender types, sex offenders may be at a particularly elevated risk. Specifically, sex offenders have been found to report high rates of hopelessness and depressive mood, which are known predictors of suicidal behavior, and approximately 14% of incarcerated sex offenders have …

Zolpidem Facilitated Sexual Assaults: A Hair Method Validation, Danielle N. Chasworth

Student Theses

A liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MSMS) method was developed and validated to detect for the presence of zolpidem in human hair samples. Zolpidem is a sedative hypnotic whose adverse effects make it a common drug found in drug facilitated crimes (DFC). It is important to be able to detect and quantitate the drug after a long period of time due to the victim’s delayed reporting of the crime. Hair’s long window of detection makes it a useful matrix for DFC investigations. The linear range of the assay was targeted at 2 pg/mg to 1,000 pg/mg and experiments designed to …

Rates Of Developmental And Behavioral Screening Of Young Children: Implications For Health Care Policy And Practice, Shirley Berger

Dissertations and Theses

Background: The skills and capacities developed during early childhood are the foundation for a child’s future academic functioning, economic productivity, and lifelong health and mental health. When young children have developmental delays or disabilities, early identification and intervention lead to better outcomes; however, only a minority are identified before school entry. Primary care is an important setting for identification of developmental and behavioral conditions as most young children attend well-child visits regularly and parents expect developmental guidance from pediatricians. Two key pediatric preventive services are recommended: developmental monitoring/surveillance at every well-child visit and developmental screening at 9 months, 18 months, …

Dancing, Mindfulness, And Our Emotions: Embracing The Mind, Body, And Sole, Alisha M. Collins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project examines dance, as an intervention and mindfulness practice that assists with managing our emotions. There is a need for dance therapy in social institutions such as, healthcare facilities, schools, and community centers. Dance therapy has the potential to reduce negative emotions, create mindfulness, improve self-expression, and promote a healthy well-being. I am proposing that dance therapy is applied as a regular practice in social institutions to develop mindfulness and promote emotional stability.

In this study, I argue that dance therapy can contribute to our well-being long term. In addition to this written thesis, a visual component of …

Assessing The Ordinality Of Response Bias With Item Response Models: A Case Study Using The Phq-9, Venessa N. Singhroy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Improper scale usage in psychological and clinical assessment is an important problem. If respondents do not use the scales in a consistent manner, the reliability of a composite is likely to be attenuated. This is particularly problematic when particular items are singled out for special treatment or when subscales are of interest, not just a total score. This study used both non-parametric and parametric item response theory (IRT) methods to gain further insight into the validity of the PHQ-9, a dual purpose instrument that assesses the severity of depressive symptoms using nine Likert-scale items and allows the investigator to establish …

Female Autistic Perspectives: Limits In Diagnosis And Understanding, Alexandra Helmers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder has increased dramatically within the last two decades, with males being diagnosed, on average, four to five times more than females. Although researchers in the medical community have searched for a biological explanation for this discrepancy, no definitive cause has been found. I argue that our understanding of autism is primarily a social and cultural construction, in addition to a diagnosable medical disorder. The gender disparity in diagnosis reflects cultural narratives surrounding social interaction and the widespread belief in two distinct gender roles. Furthermore, narratives surrounding the topic of autism tend to unintentionally highlight …

Psychosocial Correlates Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms And Well-Being Among Hispanic World Trade Center Rescue And Recovery Workers, Dianne Ciro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Thousands of first responders are estimated to have endured extremely distressing experiences during their recovery efforts at the 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) site. While the effects of 9/11 continue to be studied, few studies have examined how rescue and recovery workers have been coping since 9/11 and how their coping is associated with their psychological well-being. Moreover, we do not know how distinct coping patterns may be associated with post-traumatic growth, experiences of positive emotion, or quality of life among WTC responders.

This study compared coping differences among Hispanic, Non-Hispanic White, and Non-Hispanic Black first responders. In addition, it …

Acceptability Study And Pilot Rct Of A Guide To Understanding Reproductive Health For Ladeez (Gurhl) Code: An Hiv Risk Reduction App Intervention For Black And Latina Young Women In New York City, Sonia K. Gonzalez Gladstein

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Young Black and Latina women suffer from higher sexually transmitted disease (STD) incidences than White women, increasing their susceptibility to contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The adoption and widespread usage of mobile devices has contributed to the public’s ability to access available information at all hours, including information on sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Despite a growing body of mobile health literature, there is limited understanding of how mobile-based sexual and reproductive health interventions for use by young adult Black and Latina women could improve sexual health knowledge and connection to clinical care.

Methods: This pilot randomized controlled trial …

Reducing Arsenic Exposure From Private Well Water In The United States: The Use, Effect, And Potential Of Testing Requirements, Sara Flanagan

Dissertations and Theses

Over 45 million Americans drink from unregulated private well water of unknown quality. Arsenic is the most concerning groundwater contaminant for health because of its toxicity and widespread natural occurrence. Most residential wells in arsenic-affected areas have not been tested for arsenic; the success of community programs and efforts to motivate testing is limited by a range of psychological, situational, and socioeconomic barriers. However, testing only acts as screening and does not reduce exposure without effective and consistent actions to follow. Given the limitations in relying on individual well owners to be aware, willing, and capable of testing their water, …