Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Gender Differences In The Association Between Marriage And Epigenetic Age, Theo O. Moran, Alina M. Kushner, Theodore F. Robles, Jennifer W. Robinette

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction:

Being married is related to better health, but many studies reveal greater health benefits among men relative to women. Some research has indicated that married individuals exhibit decelerated epigenetic age relative to individuals who are not married, but questions remain regarding gender differences therein. The purpose was to investigate gender differences in associations of marital status to epigenetic age (ing) assessed on three clocks/algorithms (PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DunedinPACE).

Methods:

Data from 762 participants in the national Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS II; men N = 382, women N = 380) were used. Weighted linear regressions were conducted …

Artificial Intelligence And Social Equities: Navigating The Intersectionalities In A Digital Age (Editorial), Daisuke Akiba, Julie Albright

Publications and Research

This editorial article introduces and synthesizes the Special Issue, “Artificial intelligence and social equities: navigating the intersectionalities in a digital age,” which examines how AI systems intersect with race, ethnicity, and interconnected identity dimensions across global contexts. The eight contributions span healthcare, digital media, higher education, organizational communication, and speculative futures, addressing anti-racist psychiatric algorithms, AI-generated visual disinformation, epistemic injustice between the Global North and South, algorithmically mediated rural–urban divides, culturally untranslated technology transfer, accessibility auditing across the AI lifecycle, and the tension between mechanical objectivity and empathic understanding. Read together, they show that AI is neither inherently …

Wildfires And Adolescent Mental Health: A Call To Action, Troy Allan

All Current Publications

Although wildfires affect people across the lifespan, adolescents warrant focused attention because wildfires can disrupt several systems that are especially important during this developmental period, including family relationships, peer networks, schools, routines, housing stability, and a developing sense of safety and identity. This fact sheet provides an overview of current research and a practical response pathway for professionals and families.

Understanding And Supporting Youth Affected By Trauma And Stress, Cara Murray, Anna Gilliam, Jared Hawkins, Christina Pay

All Current Publications

Adults who work with youth are central to creating environments where young people feel safe, supported, and able to succeed. However, some youth have experienced stress, adversity, or trauma that can make it more difficult for them to feel safe, connected, and successful. By learning how to support youth with compassion and consistency, caring adults can help buffer the effects of adversity and promote resilience.

Wisdom In Counseling And Psychotherapy: A Conceptual Model For Practice, Mitchell Waters

Papers

Wisdom is increasingly recognized as a critical construct in counseling and psychotherapy, yet it remains conceptually diffuse and underdeveloped for clinical application. This article proposes an integrative conceptual model of wisdom that extends the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) WISE MIND framework by incorporating temporal and self-transcendent dimensions. Wisdom is defined as a dynamic, context-sensitive capacity to coordinate cognitive, affective, temporal, and spiritual processes in response to complex life demands. The model includes four components: (a) cognitive–affective integration, reflecting the synthesis of emotion and reason; (b) temporal integration, involving adaptive coordination of past experiences and future possibilities; (c) self-transcendent orientation, conceptualized …

Rates Of, Reasons For, And Reactions To Discontinuation Of Glp-1 Receptor Agonists: A Narrative Review, Henry D Heisey, L Parker Gregg, Christopher D Verrico, Dennis T Villareal, Terri L Fletcher

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

GLP-1RAs are increasingly used for their glucose-lowering and weight-management effects, but many patients discontinue them. In this narrative review we aim to review real-world, quantitative and qualitative GLP-1RA discontinuation, adherence, and persistence evidence as it aligns with an established conceptual framework for understanding medication adherence in noncommunicable chronic disease. Many inconsistencies exist in how discontinuation, adherence, and persistence are studied in this literature. Few qualitative studies have focused on discontinuation of GLP-1RAs. Quantitative approaches often focus on medication-related factors and more superficial aspects of socioeconomic and condition-related factors. Very few studies encompass all 5 dimensions of the medication adherence conceptual …

Diabetter Together: Outcomes Of A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating A Peer Mentor Behavioral Intervention For Young Adults With Type 1 Diabetes During The Transfer From Pediatric To Adult Care, Marisa E Hilliard, Charles G Minard, Samantha A Carreon, Wendy L Levy, Sarah K Lyons, Randi Streisand, Tricia S Tang, Siripoom V Mckay, Sridevi Devaraj, Barbara J Anderson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: Transition between pediatric and adult health care is complex, with high risk for loss to follow-up and suboptimal health outcomes for young adults with type 1 diabetes. This trial evaluated the efficacy of DiaBetter Together, a 12-month strengths-based behavioral intervention delivered by trained peer mentors. The intervention aimed to help young adults navigate the transfer process to promote optimal glycemic outcomes, shorten time to adult care follow-up, and improve psychosocial outcomes.

Research design and methods: Using a single-site randomized clinical trial design, we compared the 12-month intervention to usual care among n = 100 young adults aged 17-25 years …

Non-Metropolitan Vs. Metropolitan Variations In Alcohol, Illicit Drug, And Prescription Therapeutic Drug Misuse, Tyrone F. Borders

Rural & Underserved Health Research Center Publications

Key Findings

Alcohol Use. The prevalence of past year and past 30-day drinking was lower among non-metropolitan (non-metro) than metropolitan (metro) residents. However, non-metro drinkers engaged in more frequent binge drinking than metro drinkers. Drinking 3-5, 6-19, and 20-30 days over the past 30 days were higher among non-metro than metro residents.

Illicit Drug Use. Hallucinogens were the mostly commonly used illicit drugs among non-metro as well as metro residents. Methamphetamine use was significantly higher among non-metro than metro residents.

Prescription Pain Reliever Use. The misuse of prescription pain killers, primarily prescription opioids, was higher among non-metro than …

"It Doesn't Matter Where Ocd Comes From," Or Does It?, Caitlin M Pinciotti, Ryan J Mccarty, Gabriella T Ponzini

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose of review: This review critically evaluates the claim that etiology is not relevant to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Research on the clinical presentation and treatment outcomes associated with traumatic/stressor and biological etiologies is presented.

Recent findings: The extant literature demonstrates varying clinical utility across the reviewed etiologies. Traumatic/stressor etiologies show the most consistent and robust evidence of clinical utility, demonstrating compelling associations with clinical presentation and treatment outcomes, while also being amenable to existing evidence-based approaches. Medical conditions (e.g., Pediatric Acute onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and neurobiological factors also demonstrate considerable associations with OCD presentation, yet …

Loss Of Pleasure (Anhedonia): A Sex-Dependent, Cross-Species Consequence Of Unpredictable Signals To The Perinatal Brain, Anna M. Zhou, Madison R. Tetzlaff, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Hal S. Stern, Tallie Z. Baram, Elysia Poggi Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Reward seeking is an essential component of human behavior. Anhedonia (reduced motivation for and pleasure in reward) is a core feature of several mental illnesses. Early life adversity associates with later impairments in reward behaviors and related psychopathology; however, specific aspects of early adversity that lead to disrupted reward behaviors are unknown. Capitalizing on evidence that unpredictable signals to the developing brain constitute adversity and influence neurodevelopment, we examined whether exposure to perinatal unpredictable maternal signals associated with diminished reward responsivity, and probed causality using experiments in mice. We analyzed a longitudinal human study (N=158 mother/child dyads) and a …

Supporting Recovery: Intersections Of Health, Belonging, And Help Seeking After A Campus Mass Casualty Event, Sharon Jalene, Jason A. Ciccotelli, Lauren Gatto, Christian Ison, James Carbajal, Andrew Hooyman

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Mass casualty events (MCE), such as campus shootings, can severely impact the mental health of students, faculty, and staff. This study examined the psychological effects of an MCE at a minority-serving institution and explored how sense of belonging, cardiorespiratory fitness, and treatment preferences influenced recovery. To measure the impact of the MCE on mental health an anonymous survey was administered four to five months post-MCE to university students, faculty and staff. Within the survey, participants were asked to retrospectively report their depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7) symptoms as they recalled them two weeks prior to the MCE, and as they …

Unpredictability Is A Childhood Adversity That Contributes To Mental Health Problems, Laura M. Glynn, Sabrina R. Liu, Charles Golden, Michael Weiss, Candice Taylor Lucas, Louis Ehwerhemuepha, Hal S. Stern, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Although adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase risk for mental illness at the population level, existing ACEs screens are less helpful in forecasting individual outcomes, suggesting they may not capture significant elements of childhood adversity. We have previously identified unpredictable parental and household experiences as an ACE that portends poorer cognitive and mental health. However, the contribution of unpredictability to established ACEs in real-world settings is unknown. Here, leveraging existing ACEs screening in California, we added the five-item Questionnaire on Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC-5) in 19 pediatric clinics spanning broad sociodemographic constituencies and compared in ~30,000 children the link of each …

Infant Hippocampal And Amygdala Volume In An Observational Follow-Up From A Randomized Clinical Trial For Maternal Prenatal Depression, Catherine H. Demers, Benjamin L. Hankin, Lillybelle K. Deer, Robert J. Gallop, Mercedes Hoeflich Haase, M. Camille Hoffman, Martin A. Styner, Nancy K. Grote, Elysia Poggi Davis

Psychology: Data Sets

Prenatal maternal depression may have intergenerational effects on offspring brain development, with potential socioemotional consequences. In an observational follow-up of a randomized clinical trial of a prenatal depression intervention (the CARE Project; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03011801), brain development and subsequent negative emotionality were examined among 109 infants born to mothers randomized during pregnancy to brief interpersonal psychotherapy or enhanced usual care. These data include MRI-derived hippocampal and amygdala volumes at approximately 6 weeks of age and a laboratory-based assessment of infant negative emotionality at 6 months.

Resulting Publication: Infant hippocampal and amygdala volume in an observational follow-up from a randomized clinical trial …

Eating Disorders: What Utahns Need To Know, Brie Sparks, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions characterized by persistent disturbances in eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions. They affect individuals of all ages, backgrounds, body sizes, and life stages, often occurring alongside other mental health challenges. Eating disorders can have profound impacts on physical health, emotional wellbeing, relationships, educational attainment, and workforce participation. Understanding the prevalence, risk factors, and barriers to treatment in Utah is essential for developing effective prevention, intervention, and recovery efforts.

High-Order Brain Interactions During Ketamine-Induced State Changes: A Functional Marker Of Response In Late-Life Treatment-Resistant Depression?, Krisha Shah, Rubén Herzog, Alan C Swann, Brittany O'Brien, Rahul Balakrishnan, Sanjay J Mathew, Nicholas Murphy

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Ketamine is a fast-acting intervention for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), yet only a subset of patients show robust clinical response, and the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. High-order interactions (HOI) derived from multivariate information theory provide a framework for examining nonlinear dependencies among brain regions beyond pairwise connectivity. One such metric, the O-information, captures the balance between synergistic and redundant interactions across three or more variables. In this secondary analysis of a randomized, double-blind, midazolam-controlled trial (NCT02556606), we examined EEG-derived HOI in 30 late-life veterans with TRD following a single 40-minute intravenous infusion of ketamine (0.1, 0.25, 0.5 mg/kg; n = …

An Examination Of Buprenorphine And Norbuprenorphine Concentrations In Inpatients Receiving Medications For Opioid Use Disorder, Michèle Haykal, Benjamin Li, Andres Avellaneda Ojeda, Roberto Sanchez, Nancy Shenoi, Asim Shah, Nidal Moukaddam

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Interpretation of urine buprenorphine and norbuprenorphine concentrations is widely used to assess adherence during treatment for opioid use disorder. However, the relationships between dose, timing of sample collection, and metabolite ratios remain unclear, leading to potential misinterpretation in clinical practice.

Methods: Data were collected from patients on a psychiatry unit who were either inducted on or continued buprenorphine therapy and underwent urine testing for buprenorphine and its metabolite, norbuprenorphine. Urine samples were collected 16 to 786 min after the last buprenorphine dose. Norbuprenorphine-to-buprenorphine ratios were calculated. Data analysis using Python included polynomial regression and random forest models.

Results: Daily …

Formal Comment: Diagnostic Labelling Of Mental Health In Young People: Perspectives From Kenya, South Africa And Zimbabwe, Rachel Maina, Marinos Lupindo, Charmaine Nyakonda, Tara Carney, Charity Mamathuba, Christine Musyimi, Charity Somo, Eleanor Chatburn

Brain and Mind Institute

No abstract provided.

Leading Healthcare Improvement: An Implementation Strategy, Kelley Arredondo, Anthony Ecker, Lindsay Vaclavik, Jacquelene Shahin, Ashley Thompson, Molly Horstman, David Ramsey, Kyler M Godwin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Healthcare professionals often implement quality improvement (QI) initiatives but lack training to implement and sustain QI initiatives. Leading Healthcare Improvement (LHI) is a course that combines principles from change management, team science, and leadership effectiveness into an implementation strategy to enable clinicians to lead sustainable change.

Methods: LHI is a 6-session, 4-month interactive training. Learners work on an active QI project throughout the course. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted to evaluate pre- and post-course changes in learners' self-reported confidence across five QI competencies.

Results: Veterans Healthcare Administration clinicians and fellows completed the LHI pre- (n = 111) and …

A Multilevel Analysis Of Hiv Care Outcomes Across Age, Race, And Housing Among United States Women Veterans, Giselle Day, Amber B Amspoker, Alan Z Sheinfil, Liang Chen, Emmanuel Guajardo, Maria E Fernandez, Cici Bauer, Irene Tamí-Maury, Jan Lindsay

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Women veterans with HIV represent a growing, diverse population within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This study examined HIV care continuum outcomes among women veterans using a multilevel intersectional approach.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 1154 women veterans with HIV in VHA care in fiscal year 2022, with outcomes assessed in fiscal year 2023. We applied Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA) to evaluate how combinations of social positions (age, race/ethnicity, housing status) were associated with HIV outcomes.

Results: MAIHDA models showed that younger age (< 45 years) and being unhoused were consistently associated with lower odds of care engagement and viral suppression than midlife (45-64) and older (65+) housed women veterans. Additionally, predicted probability analyses revealed distinct clustering patterns. Younger non-Hispanic White women consistently ranked among the lowest performing strata across all outcomes, while midlife and older Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black women veterans clustered among the highest. Variance Partition Coefficients from null models were modest (1.8-3.0%). Fully adjusted models showed no remaining between-stratum variance, suggesting that the included social positions explained the observed differences in our dataset.

Conclusions: These findings highlight disparities in HIV care …

Sicker Americans Are More Likely To Misuse Prescription Medications, Esther Oshaji, Andrew S. London

Population Health Research Brief Series

Prescription medication misuse is a long-term population health problem in the United States. This data slice uses data from the National Wellbeing Survey (N=32,789, 2021–2025) of U.S. adults ages 18–64 to examine how the number of chronic health conditions a person has is related to their misuse of prescription opioids, tranquilizers, sedatives, or stimulants in the past 12 months. The authors find a dose-response pattern: misuse rises from 2.8% among those with no chronic conditions to 11.7% among those with three or more conditions. Mental health conditions show stronger associations with misuse than physical health conditions.

Using In-Home Air Quality Monitoring To Reduce Cannabis Secondhand Smoke Exposure In Children: Quantitative Pilot Feasibility Study, Vincent Berardi, Bradley N. Collins, Laura M. Glynn, Eusabeia Silfanus, Darby G. Lyons, Stephen J. Lepore

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background: An estimated 5 to 8 million US children live with a parent who uses cannabis, and most cannabis users report smoking cannabis inside their homes, placing children at risk for cannabis secondhand smoke (cSHS) exposure. Indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring provides real-time feedback on airborne pollutants and has shown promise in reducing in-home tobacco secondhand smoke exposure, suggesting its potential as an effective harm reduction strategy for cSHS.

Objective: This pilot study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of using low-cost, off-the-shelf IAQ monitors to increase caregivers’ awareness of children’s cSHS exposure risk and to change …

When School Culture Excludes: Deficit Discourse, Microaggressions, And The Mental Health Of Marginalized Students – A Conceptual Framework With Implications For School Psychology Practice And Equity Policy, Modupe Mercy Oyewunmi

Publications

Deficit-laden language like ‘behavior problem,’ ‘not college material,’ ‘won’t fit in’, ‘not a cultural fit’, operates as a systemic form of implicit bias and microaggression in school settings. Despite decades of research on school belonging and well-being, school psychology has yet to integrate these exclusionary discursive practices into a coherent health-determinant model that also accounts for the current anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy environment. This conceptual paper proposes a testable framework linking deficit discourse and school-based microaggressions to student identity suppression, academic impostor phenomenon, and educator moral injury, with downstream effects on school mental health outcomes. We situate these …

Safety And Synergy Of Finerenone And Empagliflozin In Lowering Blood Pressure, Rajiv Agarwal, Ricardo Correa-Rotter, Sankar D Navaneethan, Hiddo J L Heerspink, Matthew R Weir, Janet B Mcgill, Amy K Mottl, Masaomi Nangaku, Julio Rosenstock, Peter Rossing, Muthiah Vaduganathan, Charlie Scott, Li Li, Meike Brinker, Csaba P Kovesdy, Jennifer B Green, Johannes F E Mann

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: This secondary analysis of the CONFIDENCE (combination effect of fInerenone and empagliflozin in participants with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes using a UACR endpoint) trial (REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT05254002) assessed systolic blood pressure (SBP) changes with empagliflozin/finerenone combination therapy versus monotherapy in people with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes across baseline SBP categories. We assessed SBP response predictors and whether early (day 30) SBP changes mediate urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio reductions.

Methods: Participants (n=800) were stratified by baseline SBP (< 130 mm Hg; ≥130 mm Hg). Outcomes included SBP response (≥10 mm Hg reduction from baseline at day 180) and longitudinal SBP changes, analyzed by linear mixed-effects models and logistic regression. Causal mediation analysis, a secondary exploratory analysis, evaluated the effect of day 30 SBP change on day 180 urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio reduction.

Results: At baseline, 532 (66%) participants had SBP ≥130 mm Hg; 268 (34%) …

Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Kenyan Adolescents: Psychometric Properties, Prevalence Rates And Correlates, Tom Osborn, Rosine Baseke, Faith Kamau, Winnan Munyasa, Christine Wasanga, Maureen Ngesa, Victoria Mutiso, Moses Nyongesa, Jasmit Shah, Zul Merali

Brain and Mind Institute

Background: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been consistently linked to poor mental health outcomes, yet research on their impact in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) settings of Africa, remains relatively unexplored. In Kenya, where childhood adversity is widespread, there is a critical need to examine the validity of ACE measures and their associations with mental ill health. This study aimed to validate the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire (ACE-10) in a Kenyan adolescent sample and assess its associations with symptoms of depression and anxiety, bullying, and sociodemographic factors.

Methods: Data was collected from N = 2,842 adolescents and young …

Narrative Roots - What We Inherit, What We Tell, What We Become: Intergenerational Storytelling, Meaning-Making, And Mental Health, Adam Sholder

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This capstone synthesis explores how the family stories we inherit and the stories we tell across generations shape who we become, with particular attention to their impact on identity and mental health. Drawing on narrative identity theory, reflective practice, and relational understandings of family life, it introduces the Recursive Narrative Integration Model, which positions intergenerational storytelling as both a method of inquiry and a mechanism of meaning-making. Informed by a recursive process of creative and reflective writing, this synthesis approaches storytelling not only as an object of study, but as a lived and generative practice through which experience and narrative …

Finding Happiness In "The Orange", Malachi Myers

Student Work

"Everything in the world, no matter how ordinary, is better when shared with friends.

Posting about ­­­­­­­­finding joy in the everyday from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox  Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in  every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Finding Happiness in "The Orange"

Stimulant Medications And Bone Health, Christine M Swanson, Julie H Wolfe, Chadi A Calarge

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose of review: This review summarizes the potential impact of stimulant medications on bone health, to raise awareness and optimize their safe use.

Recent findings: Stimulant medications can impair bone health through inadequate nutrient/calorie intake and stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates bone metabolism. However, their use decreases fracture risk in younger populations ([Formula: see text]25 years old) with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), likely through reductions in impulsivity and injury. Special care may be needed when fractures occur while using these medications, as recent data suggest psychostimulants are associated with impaired fracture healing. Prescription and non-prescription use of …

Leveraging Multimodal Large Language Models For Fall Risk Reduction In Older Adults In The Home: Proposed Model Design, Justin Do, Vivaswat Suresh, Lily Zhang, Bharvi M. Chavre, Jeremy Cha, Robert S. Pugliese

SKMC Student Presentations and Publications

This research letter proposes a novel model design leveraging natively multimodal large language models to identify fall risks and generate visualizations of recommended home environmental modifications, aiming to improve the accessibility and impact of personalized fall prevention advice for older adults. Through a pilot rating study, this work demonstrates that multimodal large language models can generate safe and actionable advice to reduce fall risk in lived spaces of older adults, and also generate realistic edits based on original images. While this concept needs further testing and clinical comparison, it highlights a promising avenue for further innovation of fall prevention tactics.

Implementing A Mindfulness Mobile Application, Smiling Mind To Reduce Stress Experienced By Inpatient Psychiatric Nurses, Justin Ruiz, Emma Mowery

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the impact of implementing the use of the Smiling Mind app (a free and easily accessible mobile application that teaches mindfulness skills) among inpatient psychiatric nurses. The aims were to see a 20% reduction in Perceived Stress and improved Workplace Satisfaction after 10 weeks.

Background

Stressors experienced at work by inpatient psychiatric nurses include patient acuity, emotional demands, environmental factors, and policy implementation. Unmanaged stress can disrupt a nurse's work-life and harm the quality of care provided to patients.

Methodology

Using a pre-post implementation design, 7-day shift and 10-night shift nurses used the Smiling Mind app for …

Implementing A Mindfulness Mobile Application, Smiling Mind To Reduce Stress Experienced By Inpatient Psychiatric Nurses, Emma Jade Mowery, Justin D. Ruiz

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the impact of implementing use of the Smiling Mind app (a free and easily accessed mobile application that teaches mindfulness skills) in inpatient psychiatric nurses. The aims: A 20% reduction in Perceived Stress and improved Workplace Satisfaction after 10 weeks.

Background: Workplace stressors experienced by psychiatric nurses include high patient acuity, emotional strain, environmental factors, and new policies. Unmanaged stress can harm nurse's well being and affect quality of care.

Methodology: Using a pre-post implementation design, 7 dayshift and 10 night-shift nurses used the Smiling Mind app for 10 weeks. Perceived stress (PSS-10) and workplace satisfaction (WPS) …