Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Acknowledgment Of Culture And Stereotypes: Black Participants’ Perceptions Of Specific Therapist Behaviors, Tsotso T. Ablorh

Graduate Masters Theses

Mental health disparities for Black people of diverse ethnicities compared to people of other racial identities has been well-documented (Alegría et al., 2008; Maura & Weisman de Mamani, 2017). Research addressing this pervasive systemic and interpersonal problem often focuses on client-related factors that create or intensify barriers to care. However clinician-related factors (i.e., racial identity, multicultural training, implicit biases, behavior, etc.) also have a significant impact on barriers to care, retention in therapy, and clinical outcomes for people of African descent (Larrison & Schoppelrey, 2011; Owen, Imel, Adelson, & Rodolfa, 2012). Researchers suggest that the favoring of historically white perspectives, …

Antipsychotic Medication Administration In Oregon Assisted Living/Residential Care Settings: Analyzing An Action Situation, Sarah Dys

Dissertations and Theses

Antipsychotic medication use (APU) in assisted living and residential care (AL/RC) settings is an under-studied and controversial health policy issue. APU in older adults with dementia is associated with an increased risk of falls, hospitalizations, and early mortality. I operationalize the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework using a situational analysis approach, an extension of grounded theory methods, to explore the APU in Oregon AL/RC settings. Regulatory deficiency citations, Oregon AL/RC population data, and semi-structured interviews suggest that staff role clarity, organizational characteristics, and perceived agency influence decision-making around APU. AL/RC providers and caregivers are forced to simultaneously balance and prioritize …

Peer-Led Building Resilience And Enhancing Social-Emotional Skills Program, Danielle K. Enrico

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The purpose of the Capstone experience was to develop and implement a five-week peer-led building resilience and social-emotional skills training program at a public high school. This program addressed high school students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding resources, social-emotional skills, and resilience. A questionnaire was administered pre and post-program to measure effectiveness. The results indicated an increase in scores, demonstrating a clearer understanding in all three areas.

The Impact Of Corporal Punishment For Timorese High School Graduates, Veronica Godinho Pereira

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the impacts of corporal punishment for Timorese high school graduates. Physical punishment is a pervasive method of disciplining students and children used in Timor-Leste because it has been such a tradition (UNICEF 2017). Few researchers have attempted to analyze the negative impacts of corporal punishment and possible gender differences; there is no known research on the impacts of corporal punishment in Timor-Leste. This study uses an in-depth interview method, where data were collected from 26 Timorese high school graduates composed of both men and women from both private and public schools in Timor-Leste. The ages of the …

Effects Of Abstinence-Based Sexual Education Compared To Evidence-Based Sexual Education In K-12 Schools, Lily Probst

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background: Historically, sexual education in the United States has been abstinence-based (ABSE), meaning that sexual education is centered around encouraging adolescents to abstain from sexual activity outside of wedlock. On the other hand, evidence-based sexual education (EBSE) includes abstinence in its curriculum but does not emphasize it, instead highlighting contraception and prevention strategies. Additionally, EBSE teaches adolescents about healthy relationships, attitudes towards sexuality, gender roles, and provides resources for sexual and reproductive health services. Supplying adolescents in K-12 schools with access to evidence-based sexual education may not only decrease teen pregnancy rates and incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) but …

Exploring Treatment Targets To Mitigate Fear Of Falling Activity Avoidance Behavior In Parkinson's Disease And Older Adults, John Vincent Rider

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Fear of falling (FOF) is a significant concern among individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and older adults in general. This FOF can lead to avoidance behavior resulting in activity restriction. Some level of fear of falling avoidance behavior (FFAB) may be protective (adaptive) and decrease the likelihood of falls, especially among individuals with physical limitations and high fall risk. However, excessive (maladaptive) avoidance behavior may lead to downstream consequences such as further physical and psychological decline and an increased likelihood of falls, especially when there is a disparity between the FFAB and physiological fall risk. While poor physical functioning, disease …

Intersectionality, Relational Positionality, And The Lived Experiences Of Inequality: Contextualizing Intergenerational Opioid Use And The Constrained Choices Of Indigenous, Latina, And White Women Caregivers In Rural New Mexico, Carmela M. Roybal

Sociology ETDs

Opioid addiction is a serious and persistent global health issue. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that between 1999 and 2016, more than 630,000 people in the United States died of an overdose of a prescription opioid or illicit drug (CDC 2018). Extant research has suggested that for nearly a century, New Mexico has experienced some of the highest rates of prescription and illicit opioid death in the nation (Goldstein and Herrera, 1995; Landon, 2003; Shah et al., 2008). I examined intergenerational opioid dependence through the lived experience of women caregivers of opioid-addicted family members. Data …

How Are Parental And Sibling Military Service Related To Adolescent Depression And Mental Health Service Use?, Andrew London

Population Health Research Brief Series

Having a parent or sibling serving in the military may lead to distress and mental health problems among adolescents. This research brief examines differences in depression and mental health service use among U.S. adolescents ages 12-17, comparing those who have parents or siblings currently serving in the military to those who do not. The study shows that adolescents are more likely to have an older sibling than a parent in the military. Although current parental military service is not associated with major depression among adolescents, having an older sibling in the military is associated with an increased probability of major …

Barred By Their Brains: Inmates With Traumatic Brain Injury (Tbi), Claire Mikita

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Advocacy Opportunities From Academic- Community Partnerships: Three Examples From Trans Collaborations, Debra A. Hope, Nathan Woodruff, Richard Mocarski

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

For a number of years, much of what we know about marginalized communities from psychological research, even most social science work, came from the perspective of “research on” a particular marginalized group, with the majority group as the “healthy” reference sample (Awad et al., 2016). In part, this occurred because very few researchers are themselves members of these communities. In addition, researchers would come into a community, collect their data, and leave, with little ongoing benefit to the community itself. Over time, this exploitation led to communities becoming more suspicious of researchers (e.g., Christopher et al., 2008). Recognizing the problem, …

Barriers To Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Uptake Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities: A Systematic Review, Trisha L Amboree, Charles Darkoh

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with poor health outcomes, including cervical cancer. Racial/ethnic minority populations experience poor health outcomes associated with HPV at higher rates. A vaccine is available to protect against HPV infections and prevent HPV-related sequelae; however, vaccination rates have remained low in the United States (U.S.) population. Thus, there is an urgent need to increase the HPV vaccination rate. Moreover, little is known about barriers to HPV vaccination in racial/ethnic minority groups. This paper highlights the most recent findings on barriers experienced by these groups.

METHODS: The PubMed database was searched on July 30, 2020, for …

A Hidden Emergency: Transgenerational Inheritance In The Next Generation Of Rwandans, Neila Gross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cases of physiological and psychological health disorders in the generation succeeding generation of the 1994 genocide are rising at an alarming pace. The presented work herein details a qualitative and quantitative approach to understanding the transmission of trauma from the surviving population of the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi in their offspring using the APA PTSD System Scale-Interview (PSS-I). Several variables including age, gender and background were employed in this study. The results indicate that offspring born of targeted survivors of the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi show increased trends of experiencing PTSD symptoms with children born in 1994 exhibiting the greatest …

Evaluating The Pragmatic And Moralistic Approach To Drug Policy And Addiction In Opioid Epidemic Outcomes, Brielle Seidel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Drug use, policy and outcomes differ in all countries; however, trends exist in response to these circumstances and can typically be evaluated through a pragmatic and moralistic lens. The public health, and evidence-based pragmatic approach differs from the law enforcement-centered moralistic approach, specifically in outcomes of people suffering from substance use disorder. Particularly for opioid use disorder, countries that have taken the pragmatic approach in response to opioid epidemics have had dramatic results. Two of the countries discussed include Switzerland and Portugal, with additional information on the Netherlands. In contrast, current opioid epidemics exist in certain countries who maintain a …

Los Efectos Psicosociales Que Produce El Embarazo En Las Vidas De Madres Adolescentes En Quito, Ecuador, Kaylee Howell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: What are the psychological and social effects of teen pregnancy facing teen mothers in 2021 and how do they impact their lives? Objective: The general objective is to describe the psychosocial implications produced by teen pregnancy. Background: Teen pregnancy rates of Latin America and the Caribbean are second in the world, second only to the region of Subsaharan-Africa. Within Latin America, Ecuador has the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy, surpassed only by Venezuela. Recently, the taboo surrounding reproductive health has been challenged, with the matter of abortion being brought to the supreme court. In conjunction with the matter …

Comparación Entre Las Percepciones Médicas Y Psicológicas De La Diabetes Tipo 2 Y La Tuberculosis En El Ecuador, Héctor Ortiz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: What are the differences and similarities between the perceptions of the medical and psychological management of both type 2 diabetes and tuberculosis? Objectives: The principal objective of this study is to understand the perceptions behind DM2 and TB as well as how these perceptions affect the care of these diseases. Secondary objectives are to define the epidemiological transition, describe the medical and psychological management and care of DM2 and TB, analyze how the people perceive the management and psychological care of DM2 and TB, and analyze the comparison of the perceptions of both diseases. Background: The epidemiological transition …

Spatial Disparities: The Role Of Nativity In Neighborhood Exposure To Alcohol And Tobacco Retailers, Georgiana Bostean, Luis A. Sánchez, Jason A. Douglas

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Studies of retail environment, one of the social determinants of health, document racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to alcohol and tobacco (A and T) retailers, but have largely overlooked nativity. We examined associations between A and T retailer density and rates of foreign-born Latinx and foreign-born Asian residents in California census tracts (N = 7888), using spatial regressions and controlling for population and ecological confounders (e.g., population density, zoning, residential instability, urbanicity). Socio-demographic data came from the American Community Survey (2012–2016); census tract density of A and T retailers came from geocoded addresses from state license data for off-sale alcohol distributors …

What Predicts How Safe People Feel In Their Neighborhoods And Does It Depend On Functional Status?, Alfredo J. Velasquez, Jason A. Douglas, Fangqi Guo, Jennifer W. Robinette

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Feeling unsafe in one's neighborhood is related to poor health. Features of the neighborhood environment have been suggested to inform perceptions of neighborhood safety. Yet, the relative contribution of these features (e.g., uneven sidewalks, crime, perceived neighborhood physical disorder) on perceived neighborhood safety, particularly among people with disabilities who may view themselves as more vulnerable, is not well understood. We examined whether sidewalk quality assessed by third party raters, county-level crime rates, and perceived neighborhood disorder would relate to neighborhood safety concerns, and whether functional limitations would exacerbate these links. Using data from the 2012/2014 waves of the Health and …

Make Your Wishes Known: Understanding The Challenges And Barriers For Providing Effective Ethics Consults To Low-Income African American Men, Ruth Nwefo

Symposium of Student Scholars

The distrust of the U.S. health care system is prevalent, especially within the African American (AA) community. This distrust is largely based on infamous cases such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and experiments conducted by James Marion Sims on slave women without anesthesia. While these experiments along with many others further advanced medicine, they severed trust between health care institutions and the African American community, bringing upon repercussions still felt today. Although many steps have been taken to rebuild trust in the health care system by establishing effective ethical guidelines, more needs to be done in terms of rebuilding the …

The Right To Repair: (Re)Building A Better Future, Jumana Labib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

The goal of this research project was to take a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary approach to research and examine the Right to Repair movement’s progress, current repair practices, impediments, and imperatives, and the various large-scale implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) stemming from diminished consumer freedom as a result of increased corporate greed and lack of governmental regulations with regards to repair and the environment. This poster exhibits the highlights of my general research project on the Right to Repair movement over the course of this four month internship, and aims to disseminate information about the movement to the wider public in an …

The Importance Of Explicit And Timely Knowledge Exchange Practices Stemming From Research With Indigenous Families, Elizabeth J. Cooper, S Michelle Driedger

The Qualitative Report

Ethical research practice within community-based research involves many dimensions, including a commitment to return results to participants in a timely and accessible fashion. Often, current Indigenous community-based research is driven by a partnership model; however, dissemination of findings may not always follow this approach. As a result, products may not be as useful to participants who were motivated to be involved in the research process. We conducted a seven-week workshop on three occasions with different First Nations and Metis women and girls (age 8-12) in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The workshop explored participants’ perspectives around health, safety, and family wellbeing using a …

Throwing Pebbles While Waiting: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Mental Health And Colonialism, Kelly Limes Taylor, Rita Sørly, Bengt Karlsson

The Qualitative Report

In this article, three scholars jointly investigate questions of Western colonization and mental health. While their areas of interest and experience vary, the authors discuss oppression as a common thread connecting their ideas about mental health and its medicalization. In line with Toyosaki et al. (2009), the researchers did a community autoethnography, performing written dialogue as a dynamic research method. Using a sequential model, Kelly Limes Taylor wrote about her experience, passed it on to Rita Sørly and Bengt Karlsson. Karlsson added his story to the previous writing, and he passed it on to Sørly for further addition of stories. …

Longitudinal Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Acceptability, Initiation And Adherence Among Criminal Justice-Involved Adults In The Usa: The Southern Prep Cohort Study (Specs) Protocol, Katherine Lemasters, Carrie B. Oser, Mariah Cowell, Katie Mollan, Kathryn Nowotny, Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

Sociology Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: HIV prevalence among criminal justice (CJ)-involved adults is five times higher than the general population. Following incarceration, CJ-involved individuals experience multilevel barriers to HIV prevention. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a widely available, daily medication efficacious in preventing HIV. Little is known about PrEP knowledge, acceptability, initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved persons or about how these outcomes vary by multilevel factors. The Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Study (SPECS) will investigate barriers and facilitators for PrEP initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved adults, building a foundation for PrEP interventions for this underserved population.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: SPECS uses a mixed-methods sequential …

Escaping The Escapism: A Grounded Theory Of The Addiction And Recovery Process In Online Video Gaming, Jayson Carmona, Jason Whiting Phd

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to describe the experience of people who struggled with self-described addiction to World of Warcraft™ (WoW). WoW is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), and many players have shared their stories of compulsive use and recovery efforts on two different websites: www.wowdetox.com, and a Reddit forum called /r/noWoW. We analyzed 140 unique posts on these sites to develop a process model describing how posters experienced addiction and recovery from WoW. We used grounded theory methods to create a model with categories including, time sink, impairment in work and relationships, and …

Incarceration And Suicide: Do The Risk Factors Differ For Civilians And Veterans?, Rheannon Gail Ramsey

Dissertations and Theses

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in United States jails and prisons. Many researchers have looked at suicides in prisons and what can potentially cause suicidal ideation but there are conflicting findings among civilian incarcerated populations and United States military veteran incarcerated populations.

The intent of this study is to examine which risk factors are most prevalent among adults in custody, with a focus on mental health and substance use or abuse and how these risk factors differ between incarcerated civilians and incarcerated veterans. Using survey data from the 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails conducted …

An Intersectional Approach To Time Poverty: A Pilot Study Of Time Poverty And Black Women’S Perceived Health Based On Semi-Structured Interviews, Lauriane Ngaya Fonkou

McNair Scholars Program

The term “time poor” describes people disproportionately burdened by responsibilities and inflexible work schedules resulting in little to no discretionary time. Time poverty was brought to my attention via the social media app TikTok where Black women creators expressed how time poverty affects them. Given that Black women are an especially vulnerable population in terms of health, I became curious about the relationship between time poverty and Black women’s health. However, the existing sociomedical science literature on time poverty does NOT adequately account for Black women’s subjectivity because the research considers mediators of class OR gender OR race but does …

Campus Mental Health Service Use Among Female Survivors Of Sexual Violence: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Hannah Coffman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Description: Despite the increase in resources to address the alarming rates of collegiate sexual violence (SV), survivors consistently do not disclose or seek mental health treatment from campus supports (Halstead et al., 2017). The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of women who survived SV during college.

Method: Seven women who experienced SV during college completed a series of two semi-structured interviews using a HIPAA-compliant, web-conferencing software (Seidman, 2013). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) framework (IPA; Smith, 2004; Smith et al., 2009). A six-step data analysis procedure identified …

Understanding The Stigma And Feasibility Of Opening A Safe Injection Facility In Baltimore City: A Qualitative Case Study, Timothy Dupree, Caroline I. Wood, Andrea M. Brace

The Qualitative Report

Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) are medically supervised facilities designed to provide a hygienic environment in which drug users can consume illicit drugs intravenously. SIFs can be cost saving, help to reduce transmission of disease, and decrease drug overdoses. There are no SIFs in the United States. In this study we used a multiple case study design to understand the stigma surrounding the use of a SIF and the feasibility of implementing the drug prevention strategy in Baltimore City by comparing experiences with opening a SIF in Sydney, Australia. We interviewed one healthcare worker at the Sydney SIF and ten community …

Pregnant Women With Substance Use Disorders Deserve Plans Of Safe Care, Alexandra E. Punch, Monika Taylor

Population Health Research Brief Series

Substance use among women who are pregnant is a growing U.S public health issue. Approximately 340,000 infants are affected by prenatal exposure to illicit drugs annually, leading to an increase in Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), and Child Protective Services involvement. This issue brief describes the current state of prenatal substance use and provides guidance on the use of federally mandated Plans of Safe Care to help mothers prepare for the arrival of their baby while navigating their substance use disorder.

A Systematic Review Of Recommendations For Behavioral Health Services For Transgender And Gender Diverse Adults: The Three-Legged Stool Of Evidence-Based Practice Is Unbalanced, Natalie Holt, Allura L. Ralston, Debra A. Hope, Richard Mocarski, Nathan Woodruff

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

There is a growing literature of clinical recommendations for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) affirming behavioral health care, yet it is unknown to what extent these recommendations are rooted in evidence-based practice (EBP). This systematic review included 65 articles published between 2009 and 2018 with recommendations for behavioral health services with TGD adults, emphasizing general clinical care. Coded variables included type of article, participant demographics, aspects of EBP, and whether care was informed by objective assessment. Most articles did not equally draw from all components of EBP. Recommendations for specific clinical problems are increasingly available and address diversity within TGD …

Female Infertility In The United States And India: An Analysis Of Treatment Barriers And Coping Strategies, Devneet Singh

Honors Theses

This research studies barriers to accessing fertility treatment in the United States (U.S.) and India, as well as the coping strategies infertile women use. Barriers include reproductive health knowledge, cost, and politics, while coping is affected by cultural stigma, family, and religion. These two countries were chosen for their different cultural contexts, healthcare systems, and political infrastructure. Ten fertility specialists across both countries were interviewed as expert informants. Reproductive health knowledge was the most important barrier to accessing care in both countries, with similar gaps in understanding when and what type of care to utilize, though social media can educate …