Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Identity And Body Image: How Bicultural Influences Affect The Development Of Negative Body Image And Disordered Eating In Korean American Adolescents, Abigail G. Brown

Honors Projects

The objective of this research project is to examine the existing literature related to culture, body image, and disordered eating in Korea and the United States as they are related to the identity and body image formation of Korean American adolescents in the United States. Because there is not much existing literature specifically investigating the experience of Korean American adolescents, this paper aims to synthesize the current research regarding Korean and United States culture to create a summary of factors that contribute to the development of negative body image and/or disordered eating in this population. In addition, these factors will …

Digital Health Technologies For Peripartum Depression Management Among Low-Socioeconomic Populations: Perspectives From Patients, Providers, And Social Media Channels, Alexandra Zingg, Tavleen Singh, Amy Franklin, Angela Ross, Sudhakar Selvaraj, Jerrie Refuerzo, Sahiti Myneni

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Peripartum Depression (PPD) affects approximately 10-15% of perinatal women in the U.S., with those of low socioeconomic status (low-SES) more likely to develop symptoms. Multilevel treatment barriers including social stigma and not having appropriate access to mental health resources have played a major role in PPD-related disparities. Emerging advances in digital technologies and analytics provide opportunities to identify and address access barriers, knowledge gaps, and engagement issues. However, most market solutions for PPD prevention and management are produced generically without considering the specialized needs of low-SES populations. In this study, we examine and portray the information and technology needs …

"I Stayed There The Whole Night": Exploring Caregivers' Experiences With The Healthcare System When Caring For A Parent At The End Of Life, Lillian Mehran

Dissertations and Theses

Background: In the United States, there are nearly 53 million individuals serving as caregivers to a loved one. Half of all caregivers are caring for a parent or parent-in-law, and 79% of caregivers are caring for a person aged 50 or older. In New York State, there are an estimated 4.1 million caregivers who collectively provide over 2.6 billion hours of unpaid care, with those caring for a person at the end of life providing twice as many hours of caregiving per week compared to other caregivers. The number of individuals requiring caregiving is expected to increase as a significant …

Patient Engagement In A Multimodal Digital Phenotyping Study Of Opioid Use Disorder, Cynthia I. Campbell, Ching-Hua Chen, Sara R. Adams, Asma Asyyed, Ninad R. Athale, Monique B. Does, Saeed Hassanpour, Emily Hichborn, Melanie Jackson-Morris, Nicholas C. Jacobson, Heather K. Jones, David Kotz, Chantal A. Lambert-Harris, Zhiguo Li, Bethany Mcleman, Varun Mishra, Catherine Stanger, Geetha Subramaniam, Weiyi Wu, Christopher Zegers, Lisa A. Marsch

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Multiple digital data sources can capture moment-to-moment information to advance a robust understanding of opioid use disorder (OUD) behavior, ultimately creating a digital phenotype for each patient. This information can lead to individualized interventions to improve treatment for OUD.

Objective: The aim is to examine patient engagement with multiple digital phenotyping methods among patients receiving buprenorphine medication for OUD.

Methods: The study enrolled 65 patients receiving buprenorphine for OUD between June 2020 and January 2021 from 4 addiction medicine programs in an integrated health care delivery system in Northern California. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA), sensor data, and social media …

Cross-Sectional Association Between Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status And Sleep Duration Among Black And White Men And Women: The Southern Community Cohort Study, Samuel H Nyarko, Liying Luo, David G Schlundt, Qian Xiao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To examine the association of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) with sleep duration among a large cohort of Black and white men and women in the United States.

Methods: We used data from the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS, N = 75,248). Neighborhood SES was based on census data and sleep duration was measured by self-report. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between neighborhood SES and short (<7 hours) and long (≥9 hours) sleep in the overall sample and according to race-sex subgroups.

Results: In the total sample, when compared with the highest quintile of neighborhood SES, the lowest quintile was associated with higher odds of both short (adjusted ORQ5 vs. …

Sibling Experiences With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Analysis, Katherine Golden

Dissertations

This study explored the lived experiences of adult siblings of a child with autism utilizing the framework of ambiguous loss theory (Boss, 1999). An exploratory analysis of the sibling experience began with the research question: What are the lived experiences of adult siblings of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder? Further analysis used the theoretical framework of ambiguous loss theory with the secondary question: How have adult siblings been affected by ambiguous loss in their experiences with a sibling with autism spectrum disorder? Heidegger’s (1962) hermeneutic phenomenological approach was utilized to guide the semi structured in-depth interviews and to analyze …

The Co-Occurrence Of Adverse Childhood Experiences And Mental Health Among Latina/O Adults: A Latent Class Analysis Approach, Michael Niño, Kazumi Tsuchiya, Shaun Thomas, Christian Vazquez

Sociology and Criminology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to poor mental health among Latina/os. Few studies, however, have attempted to understand the extent to which ACEs co-occur and whether different forms of ACE co-occurrence differentially shape poor mental health patterns among Latina/os. The present study begins to address this gap by (1) identifying latent classes of ACEs and (2) determining whether and how different ACE classes shape high depressive symptoms among Latina/o adults. Data were drawn from two waves of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, a longitudinal, community-based sample of Latina/os living in four urban communities. Latent Class Analysis …

Investigating And Mitigating The Harmful Impact Of Precarious Employment On The Health And Well-Being Of New York City Food Workers, Emilia F. Vignola

Dissertations and Theses

Much of the United States (US) food chain – from production to processing, wholesale, retail, and services – is characterized by precarious employment, defined as work with little employment security, inadequate income, and limited rights and protections. Studies show that precarious employment is associated with adverse mental and physical health and well-being outcomes. Separate research indicates numerous health issues in certain segments of the food workforce; little scholarly work has explored the contribution of precarious employment as an upstream driver of these health issues. Gaps remain in our understanding of 1) the health needs and status of workers across the …

Examining The Use Of Expressive Arts Therapies In Neurorehabilitation Treatment Planning, Rebecca J. Horner

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Those undergoing neurorehabilitation after stroke and traumatic brain injury report a diminished sense of overall wellness. This paper examines the conceivable benefits of introducing expressive arts therapies, which is the therapeutic use and combination of the visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing and other intermodal creative processes, into physical therapy and neurorehabilitation treatment planning. Expressive arts therapies have the capacity to engage with an individual’s physical, emotional, social and spiritual states concurrently. They simultaneously offer the ability to promote an increased sense of well-being, address mind-body disconnects, and process trauma non-verbally.

The sections of this narrative literature review focus on …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

Exploring The Effects Of Intersectionality On Mental Health And Identity Development With Adolescents Through Culturally Humble Art Therapy, Cal Loiselle

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This study investigated the implementation of culturally humble art therapy directives centered around identity development and social justice with adolescents. Intersectionality theory was applied to examine the ways operating from a culturally humble lens benefits clients and art therapists. Existing research supports the application of cultural humility with various populations as a method of validating client’s experiences and strengthening the therapeutic alliance. A series of art therapy interventions were implemented at a private non-profit children's psychiatric hospital with the adolescent inpatient units. The participants were between the ages of 13-18 and receiving treatment for mental health conditions, short-term stabilization, and …

Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer

Art Theses and Dissertations

To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …

My Path To Advanced Practice, Hannah Oiselle Knisley

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Playing With Policy: What Insights Arise From Transgender Adults After Participating In A Legislative Theatre Exercise, Skylar A. Stratemeyer

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The transgender community is underrepresented in the current body of academic research, underserved in the current clinical model of healthcare services, and legislatively oppressed on a state and federal level in the United States. As of March 2023, more than 400 anti-LGBTQI laws have been introduced on a state level in 2023 alone (ACLU, 2023). In response to the hostile Western sociopolitical climate, this thesis will focus on what insights arise from transgender adults and cisgender allies (N = 12) after participating in a dramatherapeutic group therapy session that explored current anti-trans legislation and highlighted the legal needs of …

Mental Health Of Medical Students Regarding The Covid-19 Pandemic, Parth Patel, Richard Jermyn, Arvind Venkataraman

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Mental health has taken a global priority as more realize that it is just as important as physical health in the overall health of a person. Medical students have faced mental health issues for decades and have been shown to suffer more than the general population. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has only deteriorated this issue. Many primary databases such as PubMed were used. The results indicate that medical students have extremely high rates of depression, burnout, anxiety, and stress that can affect their education but also carry over into their professions. Although many interventions increase mental wellness in medical school, …

Language Barrier Contributions To Food Insecurity In Spanish-Speaking Populations, Amin Khan, Leeza Kumar, Edanur Kilic, Stephen Acheampong

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Food insecurity refers to a household or individual’s inability to access adequate food to obtain a healthy lifestyle. This contributes to health concerns such as birth defects, low nutritional intake, anemia, cognitive problems, mental health disorders, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Low-income rural community members lack access to full grocery stores and often turn to convenience stores with unhealthy, expensive, and fewer food options. The aim of this study was to determine how language barriers affect Spanish-speaking populations with limited English proficiency. The research for this project was obtained from Google, Google Scholar, and PubMed. Keywords included “health disparities,” “Spanish-speaking,” …

Trends In Opioid Usage And The Covid-19 Pandemic, Priya Brahmbhatt, Jeffery Powers

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic have affected individuals in the United States in various capacities, and new avenues to reduce the harmful effects of both public health crises must be explored. It has been found that those with substance use disorders have an increased risk for COVID-19 (Wang 2021). There have been more visits to emergency rooms for substance overdose during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic (Holland 2021). This research project attempted to understand the trends amongst opioid users during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, in …

The Correlation Between Traumatic Brain Injury And Incarceration Among Adult Males In The United States, Shadi Shams

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The United States has one of the largest growing prison populations in the world. A large amount of social and economic resources go towards the cost and maintenance of correctional facilities each year. Additionally, the current correctional programs are insufficient in assisting inmates with getting back to society; especially those with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who often remain undiagnosed and are usually treated unfairly in the prison system instead of receiving the appropriate help. Prior scholarly work has shown that patients in the post-TBI stage are more likely to enter the judicial system. In the recent population-based cohort study, the …

Exploring Risk Factors For Major Depressive Disorder For Female Patients Aged 18 Or Older Living In Ocean County, New Jersey, James Mack

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: The incidence and prevalence of major depressive disorder has been increasing worldwide, in the United States of America, and on a local level. The population of Ocean County, New Jersey, a predominantly Caucasian, female, middle-aged population, may be at increased risk of developing major depressive disorder.

Purpose: To explore the social determinants of health and risk factors for major depressive disorder for female patients aged 18 or older living in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Methods: This literature review mainly used PubMed and Scopus for journal articles and utilized governmental databases for additional population data.

Results: Analyses conducted on social …

Transcendence: Exploring The Connections Between Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Identities And Experiences Of Nature Through Art, Mc Jackson

Undergraduate Theses

“Transcendence: Exploring the connections between transgender/gender non-conforming identities and experiences of nature through art” is the written portion of a creative thesis revolving around an immersive art installation and short film. Transcendence, the installation, was created to promote connection by exploring the overlap between transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) experiences and experiences of nature. Part of this installation is a short film of interviews conducted with transgender and GNC individuals about nature, their gender experiences, and the transcendent nature of the two. The written thesis analyzes existing literature on nature as a restorative, therapeutic, spiritual setting, offers insight into …

Quantifying The Effect Of Socio-Economic Predictors And The Built Environment On Mental Health Events In Little Rock, Ar, Alfieri Ek, Grant Drawve, Samantha Robinson, Jyotishka Datta

Sociology and Criminology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Law enforcement agencies continue to grow in the use of spatial analysis to assist in identifying patterns of outcomes. Despite the critical nature of proper resource allocation for mental health incidents, there has been little progress in statistical modeling of the geo-spatial nature of mental health events in Little Rock, Arkansas. In this article, we provide insights into the spatial nature of mental health data from Little Rock, Arkansas between 2015 and 2018, under a supervised spatial modeling framework. We provide evidence of spatial clustering and identify the important features influencing such heterogeneity via a spatially informed hierarchy of generalized …

Daughters Of Depression : A Critical-Hermeneutic Phenomenological Examination Of Adult Black Women’S Experiences With Strong Black Woman’S Role When Mothered By Women With Perceived Depression, Christin D. Haynes

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Black American women are experiencing chronic depression at alarming rates. Major racial/sex disparities in disease prevalence indicates Black American women are at increased risk for depression onset due to exposure to poverty and traumatic life events. With the rise of single, female-headed households, children are at increased risk for exposure to maternal mental illness which is defined as an adverse childhood experience impacting their development through adulthood. Black American mothers have the additional burden of racially socializing all children to learn how to manage systematic racist structures embedded in American society, yet daughters require the additional socialization for gender biases. …

Does Family Size Moderate The Relation Between Resource Transfers And Intimate Partner Violence Rates?, Paul Gramling

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to physical, sexual, or psychological abuse within an intimate relationship. It is a global issue, particularly for women in developing countries where data show higher rates of IPV for these women than in developed countries. IPV can lead to physical harm, chronic health problems, and even death. It also has negative effects on mental health, economic stability, and the overall well-being of the woman and their children. Family size has been shown to be a predictor of IPV risk; women from larger families face a higher risk. Cash transfer programs in developing countries have been …

Perceived Negative Political Climate Among Hispanic/Latino Adolescents Before And After The 2020 Us Presidential Election: Associations With Internalizing Symptoms And Substance Use, Pablo Montero-Zamora, Saskia R Vos, Jennifer B Unger, Ingrid Zeledon, Ryan Lee, Daniel W Soto, Eric C Brown, Maria Duque, Maria Fernanda Garcia, Carolina Scaramutti, Beyhan Ertanir, Seth J Schwartz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The political climate often changes following the installment of a new president. This volatility presents opportunities for examining how elections might affect vulnerable subgroups such as Hispanic/Latino (HL) adolescents. The present study explored the perception of negative political climate among HL adolescents before and after the 2020 U.S. presidential election and its association with internalizing symptoms and substance use. We conducted the study in Los Angeles and Miami between 2020-2021, with a sample of 304 HL adolescents (Females = 60.8%), aged 15.3 years on average. Participants completed measures of negative political climate (pre- post-election) and measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety, …

One Immune System Plays Many Parts: The Dynamic Role Of The Immune System In Chronic Pain And Opioid Pharmacology, Sanam Mustafa, Juliana E Bajic, Benjamin Barry, Samuel Evans, Kariel R Siemens, Mark R Hutchinson, Peter M Grace

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The transition from acute to chronic pain is an ongoing major problem for individuals, society and healthcare systems around the world. It is clear chronic pain is a complex multidimensional biological challenge plagued with difficulties in pain management, specifically opioid use. In recent years the role of the immune system in chronic pain and opioid pharmacology has come to the forefront. As a highly dynamic and versatile network of cells, tissues and organs, the immune system is perfectly positioned at the microscale level to alter nociception and drive structural adaptations that underpin chronic pain and opioid use. In this review, …

County Characteristics And Opioid Mortality Rates In The United States, Baksun Sung

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Opioid overdose deaths are not equally distributed across the United States. While some areas have a less severe problem with opioid abuse, others face serious challenges, which are affected by various social factors. To address that question, in Chapter 1, I investigate how opioid mortality trends differ according to opioid types, race, and region to identify susceptible populations and areas. In Chapter 1, I contend that synthetic opioid is a main trigger for the current opioid epidemic and that the epidemic is concentrated among blacks and in the Eastern United States. Next, the following studies examine how varying social vulnerabilities …

Inner Portraits, Bethany Salisbury

Graduate Theses

This paper investigates the many interconnected layers of women’s mental health through portraiture and how animal and plant symbolism can represent the way women's hormones and bodily health affect their mental health. I reveal how the artwork created presents these connections and inner mental health narratives to the viewer, creating a space of empathy, destigmatization, and self-reflection. This body of portraiture art connects five women through a series of both two-and three-dimensional portraits based on interviews using my own adaptation of Sara Lawrence-Lightfoots’ (1983) portrait methodology.

Women and non-binary individuals have always dealt with difficult interactions of bodily and mental …

Experiencing Moral Distress Within The Intimate Partner Violence & Sexual Assault Workforce, Rachel J Voth Schrag, Sophia Fantus, Sarah Leat, Saltanat Childress, Leila Wood

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Moral distress (MD) refers to the psychological disequilibrium that emerges when institutional policies and/or practices conflict with an individual's professional values and ethics. MD has been interrogated frequently in health care and ancillary medical settings, and has been identified as a critical barrier to enhanced organizational climate and patient care. However, little work has investigated experiences of MD among members of the intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) workforce.

METHODS: This study investigates MD in a sample of IPV and SV service providers via secondary analysis of 33 qualitative interviews conducted with service providers in the summer …

Targeting The Gap In Mental Health Advocacy For First-Year College Students, Hailey Kurtz

Honors Projects

The transition from high school to attending a university has been shown to have an impact on the mental health and well-being of first-year university students. First-year students struggle with anxiety and depression in relation to being in a new environment, feeling lonely, fitting in, and taking more academically rigorous coursework. Current students have an awareness of what mental health and well-being resources on their campus are available to them, but such resources are not widely used, though a majority of students indicate that they do or have struggled with their mental health. This indicates that though students are struggling …

Implementasi Kebijakan Bantuan Pangan Non Tunai Dalam Rangka Pengatasan Kemiskinan Di Era Covid - 19, Haura Ariesta, Fentiny Nugroho

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

This study focuses on the implementation of the Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT) policy in poverty alleviation efforts in Kembangan District, West Jakarta, during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the BPNT program managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia adheres to the distribution procedures, several challenges have emerged, including delays in disbursing aid funds, invalid beneficiary data, issues with E-waroeng (food stalls), account registration, delayed distribution, and occasional inadequacy of food supplies. However, supportive factors such as effective coordination, improved data management, education, active participation from local authorities, and the commitment of E-waroeng owners have contributed to …