Mental and Social Health Commons^™

The Role Of The Nlrp3 Inflammasome In Alzheimer's Disease, Ethan S. Terman

Undergraduate Research Posters

This study examines the consequences of Alzheimer’s in rat and mice test subjects. The goal is to identify the effects of certain NLRP3 inhibiting drugs and to see if there are any noticeable effects in regards to impeding the pathological development of Alzheimer’s disease. The results are visualized by implementing the immunohistochemical process to identify neurodegeneration in the brain and to assess the expression levels of amyloid beta as an indicator of Alzheimer’s pathology. Other tests are also conducted on these transgenic mice to gauge cognitive functioning levels during the onset of their disease, those being behavior tests, but not …

Family-Based Support As Social Determinants Of Health Protective Factor On Depression Of Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Bisola E. Duyile

Theses and Dissertations

All parents experience challenges in their caregiving roles (Barańczuk & Pisula, 2020). However, parents raising a child/children with disabilities experience different social barriers (Oliver, 1996) that may also contribute to additional stressors in their caregiving role (Tomeny, 2016). Although these parents, on average, have reported greater symptoms of depression than parents of typically developing children, research shows that parents who reported receiving social support had lower symptoms of depression and stress (Das et al., 2017; Singh et al., 2017). Through the social determinants of health (SDOH) framework (ODPHP, 2022), the present study investigated informal/family-based support and its protective impact on …

A Critical Interpretive Synthesis Of Research Linking Hip Hop And Wellbeing In Schools, Alexander Crooke, Cristina Almeida, Rachael Comte

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

Hip Hop is recognized as an agent for youth development in both educational and well-being spaces, yet literature exploring the intersection of the two areas is comparatively underdeveloped. This article presents a critical interpretive synthesis of twenty-two articles investigating school-based well-being interventions which used Hip Hop. The critical stance taken aimed to identify or expose assumptions underpinning this area of scholarship and practice. Our analysis suggested several assumptions operate in this space, including the idea rap represents a default for Hip Hop culture, and the default beneficiaries of Hip Hop-informed interventions are students of color living in underprivileged, inner-city US …

For The Dead Homie: Black Male Rappers, Homicide Survivorship Bereavement, And The Rap Tribute Of Nipsey Hussle, Melvin L. Williams, Justin K. Winley, Justin A. Causey

Journal of Hip Hop Studies

Ermias “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom’s murder represented a cultural cataclysmic event that startled the Hip Hop community and triggered previous memories of Black men’s homicidal deaths in the world. Nipsey Hussle’s death inspired touching rap tribute songs by Black male rappers, who sought to commemorate his cultural legacy and express their bereavement as homicide survivors. Rap tribute songs occupy a significant history, as rappers historically employed them to honor Hip Hop’s fallen soldiers, communicate their homicide survivorship bereavement processes, and speak about social perils in the Black community. Framed by critical race (CRT) and gender role conflict theoretical frameworks, this study …

The Role Of Community Belongingness In The Mental Health And Well-Being Of Black Lgbtq Adults, Keith Justin Watts

Theses and Dissertations

The impact of racial and sexual minority stigma, prejudice, and discrimination on the mental health and well-being of Black and LGBTQ individuals, respectively, has been well documented in the literature. Research on these relationships for Black LGBTQ individuals who are multiply marginalized due to their position at the social intersections of gender identity, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity is less common. Belongingness to identity-based communities can protect against the negative impact of these minority stressors for Black and LGBTQ individuals and aid coping processes. However, Black LGBTQ individuals often experience stigma and discrimination in their racial, sexual, and gender minority communities …

Psychological Sense Of Community Among Older Adults In Puerto Rico Two Years After Hurricane María, Thomas D. Buckley

Theses and Dissertations

Hurricane María devastated Puerto Rico in 2017 and resulted in adverse long-term outcomes. Psychological sense of community (PSOC) may serve as a protective factor against the effects of Hurricane María for older adults in Puerto Rico. Using a three-paper format, this dissertation draws on a resilience framework and theories of PSOC and the Ecological Theory of Aging to examine the role of PSOC among older adults in Puerto Rico two years after Hurricane María.

Paper one is a scoping review of the concept of PSOC in research with community dwelling older adults. I begin by presenting findings on study characteristics …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Caregiver Goals For Urban Children With And Without Asthma, Megan M. Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric asthma is a major public health concern that disproportionately affects children of color and youth living in low-income, urban areas. The implications for public health, child health, and family functioning necessitates our understanding and addressing experiences by families who are facing barriers within their socio-demographic context in addition to the stressors associated with managing pediatric asthma. The current study applied qualitative methods to interviews with caregivers of children with and without asthma in an effort to more deeply connect with caregivers’ experiences and yield richer information about the intersection of identities as Black caregivers living in an urban setting …

Impact Of Socialization In Elderly Public-Housing Residents, Taylor M. Wilkerson, Schanea Ward, Amy Popovich, Pamela Parsons, Faika Zanjani

Graduate Research Posters

Older adults who experience social isolation have higher rates of mortality relative to their counterparts. Social interactions are an important way to combat this isolation. This research aims to better understand how social isolation in older adults living in low-income households in Richmond, Virginia (RVA) is related to their economic, physical, and psychological health status. As part of the iCubed Health and Wellness Aging Core and in collaboration with the Richmond Memorial: East End Housing Coalition for Older Adults, older adults from a selected public housing unit (n=28) self-reported their financial status, experiences with physical and psycho-social health, and feelings …

Walking In Beauty: Responsive And Responsible Health And Healing Among Virginia American Indian People, Amy J. Prorock-Ernest

Theses and Dissertations

Little is systematically known about the collective health and well-being of Virginia American Indian people. This study sought to explore the meaning of health and healing among Virginia American Indian people in the context of a reservation-based, non-federally funded health clinic. Using an emergent approach to qualitative research grounded in a constructivist inquiry paradigm and guided by Indigenous research principles, a total of 24 in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 American Indian service-users of the Clinic. Through an inductive thematic analysis of participant stories, a framework for understanding responsive and responsible health and healing was derived. The framework includes …

Recovery From Design, Cassandra J. Ellison

Theses and Dissertations

Through research, inquiry, and an evaluation of Recovery By Design, a ‘design therapy’ program that serves people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities, it is my assertion that the practice of design has therapeutic potential and can aid in the process of recovery. To the novice, the practices of conception, shaping form, and praxis have empowering benefit especially when guided by Conditional and Transformation Design methods together with an emphasis on materiality and vernacular form.

Chronic Pain Causal Attributions In An Interdisciplinary Primary Care Clinic: Patient-Provider And Provider-Provider Discrepancies, Bryan Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of pain causal attributions on patient pain-related functioning, treatment engagement, and clinical outcomes. Additionally, the impact of discordant pain causal attributions between patients and their providers as well as between interdisciplinary providers was examined. Patients rated their pain functioning and causal pain attributions during a regular clinic visit. Following the patient’s visit both the behavioral medicine provider and internal medicine resident provided ratings of similar pain-related functioning domains and causal attributions. Follow-up data were collected from the electronic medical record three months following that clinic visit. Overall, results revealed …

Healthcare Access In Women’S Prisons: An Intersectional Perspective, Megan R. Bray

Undergraduate Research Posters

This project will be identifying the key factors that contribute to the significant lack of health care in prisons in the U.S., specifically in women’s correctional facilities. I will be lending my focus to disparities in mental health, HIV/AIDs care, reproductive health, trans health, and physical health issues among women who are either currently incarcerated or those who have completed their sentences and are at higher risk for re-entry after attempting re-integration. There is a lack of care, access, and proper treatment for women inmates in U.S. prisons and reform is needed. I foresee the best possible way to accomplish …

Examining The Effect Of Race On The Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Metabolic Syndrome In Women, Leia Harper

Theses and Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric condition affecting approximately 8% of the adult U.S. population with rates twice as high in women than men. Increasingly, evidence has suggested a close relationship between PTSD and increased risk of metabolic diseases. However, the literature on PTSD and metabolic disease risk factors has been limited by the lack of investigation of the potential influence of race on this relation. The current study examined the possible effect of race on the relation between PTSD and metabolic risk. Data for this study were provided from sample of that included 50 African American women and …