Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Bridging Gaps In Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: Prehospital And Emergency Department Interventions, Quin W. Buob, Zachary J. Noll

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Since 2011, drug overdose has been the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with two-thirds of these deaths related to opioid drugs. In 2020, the CDC reported an increase of over 91,000 overdose-related deaths. Also, non-fatal overdoses face a 5.5% one-year mortality rate post discharge, with a significant portion subsequently overdosing within 48 hours.

Access to Buprenorphine/Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) has been instrumental in reducing opioid-related mortality by over two-thirds, yet treatment initiation remains significantly low. Limited access stems from socioeconomic disparities and insufficient substance use treatment resources.

Emergency departments (EDs) have pioneered Buprenorphine inductions, showcasing variable success …

Art Therapists’ Familiarity With And Beliefs About Twelve-Step Addiction Recovery Groups, David Brickhouse

Art Therapy Counseling Final Research Projects

This research proposed to study what art therapists know and believe about twelve-step addiction recovery groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and Cocaine Anonymous (CA). The aim was to better understand the field’s familiarity with 12-step recovery, identify misconceptions about 12-step groups, and assess the comfortability of incorporating 12-step philosophy into clinical practice. Findings include that art therapists integrate 12-step into art making, are likely to refer clients to 12-step groups, and that higher familiarity with 12-step was associated with more positive perceptions and greater integration with clinical practice. The study participants also agreed that accessibility was …

Social Media Addiction Affecting Mental Health Of College Women, Praneetha Rajkumar, Don D. Shamilov, David F. Lo

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

In our digital society, many teenagers and young adults use the many forms of social media, which are applications that enable users to create, share, and view content. Addiction to sites such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat is a rising concern due to the impact it has on the mental health of young women, particularly those aged 18-25. Addiction can result in spending an unreasonable amount of time on social media, being overly preoccupied with social media content, or having day-to-day activities that revolve around social media usage. Different sources of data were reviewed to understand why mental health concerns …

Understanding The Perspectives And Attitudes Of 12-Step Participants Towards Medication-Assisted Treatment, Christopher Scott

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: The effects of living with a substance use disorder (SUD) are vast. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) has grown increasingly popular as a recovery tool among substance users but does not align with the popular 12-step model, which demands complete abstinence from narcotics and mind-altering substances. Objective: The primary aim of this phenomenology study was to explore the perspectives and attitudes towards MAT among 12-step participants. The secondary aim was to compare the responses of treatment and non-treatment professionals. Methods: This study used non-probability sampling methods to recruit participants who reported regular participation in a 12-step program. Semi-structured …

Bliss, William L. Blizek, Monica Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Bliss (2022), directed by Joe Maggio.

Lived Experiences Of People With Substance Use Disorder As Healthcare Education To Develop Empathy For This Population, Whitney Bynum

Nursing | Senior Theses

The negative attitudes and feelings of healthcare workers towards patients with substance use disorder are well documented. These include, but are not limited to, believing a person with this disease is “drug seeking”, “violent”, and “unmotivated”. While this population has challenging issues to address, these beliefs can decrease the quality of care provided and results in less people seeking out needed treatment. Reducing stigmas through alternative education methods, like learning the life story of a patient, can help health care workers develop feelings of empathy and compassion. Subsequently, this education can result in better care and outcomes for these patients. …

Effectiveness Of Staff Training On Trauma-Informed Care, Brandy Tramel Williams

Doctoral Projects

The connection between experiencing trauma and the development of substance use disorder is widely recognized. Although trauma is more prevalent among individuals with substance use disorders, healthcare professionals have limited access to training focused on trauma informed care. It is crucial for those working in addiction treatment to receive training and education on trauma informed care to understand the impact of trauma and its association with substance use disorders.

This DNP project's objective was to develop and evaluate an educational presentation for staff emphasizing the importance of trauma-informed care in the context of addiction. The effectiveness of this intervention was …

The Pornography Industry's Disinformation Campaign On Addiction Recovery Resources, Darryl Mead

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

As pornography became increasingly popular online, many unsuspecting consumers reported adverse effects. These included sexual dysfunctions, such as lack of response with real partners, delayed ejaculation, erectile difficulties, and sexual compulsivity. Some pornography consumers began congregating in online self-help portals (forums and websites) to assist one another in quitting or reducing problematic pornography use. The popularity of the self-help resources and their potential to dampen the profits of a lucrative industry resulted in disinformation campaigns run by individuals connected to the pornography industry. In this article, I examine how a paper containing significant inaccuracies about the people organising the online …

Enhancing Long-Term Outcomes: Implementing Community Engaged Research To Augment Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Kevin M. Quinn

Masters Theses

The Universal Evaluation Tool is an intuitive self-assessment instrument to enhance long-term treatment outcomes for Guiding Light’s residential addiction rehabilitation program. Designed as a versatile method for collecting primary data, the Universal Evaluation Tool can be administered to clients at any point during the recovery program (i.e., intake to discharge). The data collected from the survey can be used as a framework to guide treatment decisions, develop personalized care plans, offer insight into a client’s progress, and collect baseline data (e.g., sociodemographic characteristics) on a treatment population for use in grant applications.

A pilot study to generate preliminary data was …

Side-Stepping God: How The Nonreligious Find Success In Alcoholics Anonymous, Caitlin Trombley

Dissertations

This dissertation utilized mixed methods research to examine how nonreligious individuals with substance use disorders navigate recovery within—or in spite of—Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Both the 12-step program itself and Alcoholics Anonymous have long been criticized for being religious and/or spiritual in nature, and some studies have shown that this is particularly challenging for nonreligious individuals seeking recovery. The purpose of this research was to (a) identify differences in recovery resources (recovery capital) between the religious, the nonreligious, those in AA, and those who have adopted alternative forms of recovery; (b) identify barriers that the nonreligious face as they navigate recovery …

Therapeutic Gardening For Addiction Recovery, Hugo A. Rivera Lopez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: The use of evidence-based alternative forms of therapy like horticulture therapy and therapeutic gardening is underutilized in substance use recovery programs in the United States. As the country continues to struggle with addiction, it is important that recovery programs look to and incorporate these alternative therapies into official curricula. Currently, 46.3 million individuals living in the United States are living with a substance use disorder (U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2022).

Context: The intervention was implemented at an all-male substance use treatment facility in San Jose, CA that houses up …

Assessing The Involvement Of Projections From The Prelimbic Prefrontal Cortex To The Paraventricular Nucleus Of The Thalamus In Cocaine Withdrawal-Induced Anxiety, Clinton Coelho

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Withdrawal from cocaine induces an immediate and powerful negative affective state which is characterized by feelings of agitation and anxiety in humans and anxiety-like behaviors in rodents. It has been hypothesized that the anxiogenic effects associated with cocaine withdrawal play a major role in continued cocaine use and drive relapse to cocaine seeking. The prelimbic (PL) medial prefrontal cortex is not only involved in the processing and regulation of negative emotions such as anxiety but also mediates relapse to cocaine-seeking. Subcortical hubs of the reward system that receive projections from the PL neurons are known to be dysregulated during different …

Computational Design And Molecular Modeling Of Morphine Derivatives For Preferential Binding In Inflamed Tissue, Makena Augenstein, Nayiri Alexander, Matthew Gartner

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The opioid epidemic has impacted over 10 million Americans in 2019. Opioids, like morphine, bind non-selectively in both peripheral tissue, leading to effective pain relief, and central tissue, resulting in dangerous side effects and addiction. The inflamed conditions of injured tissues have a lower pH (pH = 6–6.5) environment than healthy tissue (pH = 7.4). We aim to design a morphine derivative that binds selectively within inflamed tissue using molecular extension and dissection techniques. Morphine binds to the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) when the biochemically active amine group is protonated. Fluorination of a β-carbon from the tertiary amine group led to …

Extending Immunity For Drug Overdoses, Dixie R. Tabet, Maggie G. Spadaro, Kaylie E. Moss

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

The Tennessee Code 63-1-156 provides immunity to those who suffer from a drug overdose that seek medical assistance, only for the first overdose. After the first overdose, individuals who seek medical assistance do not receive immunity and are subject to criminal charges. Over the past 5 years, drug overdose deaths have increased significantly and in 2021 3,814 Tennesseans died from a drug overdose. In addition, individuals incarcerated for drug-related offenses make up about 20% of the state’s prison population. The state of Tennessee has had a significant increase in drug abuse rates, leading to a rise in overdose deaths and …

Lived Experiences Of People With Substance Use Disorder As Healthcare Education To Develop Empathy For This Population, Whitney Bynum

Nursing | Student Research Posters

Stigmas that develop among healthcare workers regarding patients with substance use disorder include: "drug-seeking", "violent", and "unmotivated". These beliefs can decrease the quality of care provided and results in less people seeking out needed treatment. Healthy People's 2030 goals include reducing drug and alcohol addiction. In order to do this, healthcare workers need to show empathy and form trusting relationships with this patient population. Building a trusting relationship allows the patient to be more receptive to help and suggestions. Learning the life story of a patient can help healthcare workers develop empathy and reduce negative attitudes.

Determinism V. Free Will & Genetic Evidence Of Addiction In Plea Bargaining And Sentence Mitigation: Conversion Of Incarceration To Probation And Rehabilitation Based On Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (Gars) Test, Kenneth Blum, Paul Mullen, Richard Green

St. Mary's Law Journal

In this Article, Dr. Kenneth Blum and his team present the case of a presently abstinent, thirty-five year old alcoholic (“AG”) who has several convictions for DWI. AG has undergone and continues to be engaged in out-patient substance abuse treatment. He entered treatment before adjudication and was mandated by the court to continue treatment to assist in maintaining sobriety. Treatment included the administration of the Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (“GARS”) Test.

AG was facing a probable five-year sentence for his fifth DWI conviction in Bexar County, Texas. However, because AG’s genetic risk results indicated a genetically induced dopamine dysfunction, hypodopaminergia, …

Altop (Alternatives To Opioids), Fall 2022, Dr. Susan L. Davis, Rn & Richard J. Henley College Of Nursing

News, Magazines and Reports

In this issue:

• New Principal Investigator (PI) ALTOP Grant
• 2021-2022 Graduating Class
• ANEW HRSA 2022-2023 Awardees
• Students Quality Improvement Projects
• April 9th, 2022, Preceptor Workshop Photos
• New Clinical Partner: The Bridgeport Rescue Mission/ Sage Health Care
• Save the Date: Annual DNP Colloquium

How To Survive College As An Acoa: The Effectiveness Of University Resources On Helping Acoas Socially And Psychologically Succeed During Their Academic Career, Kelly Buchan

Senior Theses

In 2019, 14.5 million people ages 12 and older had Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), but only 10% received treatment (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2022). Parental drinking problems can directly affect children, or “Adult Children of Alcoholics.” Of the few studies targeting ACoAs, results show that ACoAs not only have higher risks of mental illness, but they also have lower GPAs and social health (Schroeder & Kelley, 2008). Thus, this study assessed the extent to which perceptions of the college drinking environment are related to higher depression rates in ACoAs, certain drinking motivations, and reluctance to use …

An Occupational Therapy Guidebook For Individuals With Substance Use Disorder, Cassidy B. Ardoin

Student Capstone Papers

Individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) experience barriers and challenges that impact their daily occupational performance, engagement, well-being, and quality of life. In addition to disrupting and distorting an individual’s unique occupational outcomes, SUDs can limit, replace, and dictate an individual’s daily meaningful activities, habits, routines, and skills that support healthy occupational engagement. Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners have a unique and valuable role in SUDs treatment as they are equipped to identify these barriers and implement strategies for supportive skill development or restoration. Based on the literature review conducted, OT practitioners do not have an OT practice guideline, protocol, or …

An Occupational Therapy Guidebook For Individuals With Substance Use Disorder, Cassidy B. Ardoin-Barnett, Steven M. Gerardi

Summer 2022 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) experience barriers and challenges that impact their daily occupational performance, engagement, well-being, and quality of life. In addition to disrupting and distorting an individual’s unique occupational outcomes, SUDs can limit, replace, and dictate an individual’s daily meaningful activities, habits, routines, and skills that support healthy occupational engagement. Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners have a unique and valuable role in SUDs treatment as they are equipped to identify these barriers and implement strategies for supportive skill development or restoration. Based on the literature review conducted, OT practitioners do not have an OT practice guideline, protocol, or …

Utilizing Primary Care To Engage Patients On Opioids In A Psychological Intervention For Chronic Pain, Sikander Chohan, Lyuba Gavrilova Bs, Leah Hect, Kristi Autio, Erin Tobin, Brian K. Ahmedani, Lisa R. Miller-Matero

Medical Student Research Symposium

Introduction: Chronic pain is commonly encountered in primary care. It is often treated with opioids, which can cause overdose and death. Psychological interventions are an effective alternative, yet difficulty engaging patients with opioid prescriptions has led to their underutilization. Offering these interventions in primary care settings may alleviate this barrier.

Objective: Determine whether opioid prescriptions are related to patients engaging in a brief psychological intervention for chronic pain management in primary care.

Study Design: Secondary analysis of a pilot randomized clinical trial (RCT) of a 5-session psychological intervention for chronic pain. Patients with chronic pain (N= 220) were approached to …

Exploring Social Media Usage And Its Effects On College Students' Mental Health: A Mixed-Methods, Intervention Study, Kimanh Le

Health and Kinesiology Theses

Background: Social media can cause detrimental effects to college students’ mental wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to examine UT Tyler students’ social media usage and its effects on mental health such as depression, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, and the fear of missing out (FoMO). The researcher wanted to see if one specific social media site, Instagram, had more deleterious effects compared to other social media platforms and if reducing time usage would help improve mental health.

Methods: A mixed-methods, intervention design was used. An online quantitative survey link, which contained questions about demographics, social media usage, and mental health …

How Prison Systems Can Better Aid People With Substance Use Disorders, Avery Faires

College Honors Program

A large percentage of prisoners in the United States are suffering from a Substance Use Disorder (SUD), but many prisons across the country lack the proper resources to rehabilitate those with drug addictions. Incarcerated people with SUD face many dangerous and sometimes deadly consequences after release. My thesis addresses key associated questions: What role do prisons play in helping prisoners with SUD? And, how can they aid this population more effectively? When considering the breadth of such issues, I examine the sociohistorical context of drug policy in the U.S. to inform my analysis of the criminalization of substances, the greater …

The Feasibility And Utility Of Harnessing Digital Health To Understand Clinical Trajectories In Medication Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder: D-Tect Study Design And Methodological Considerations, Lisa A. Marsch, Ching-Hua Chen, Sara R. Adams, Asma Asyyed, 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, Cynthia I. Campbell

Dartmouth Scholarship

Introduction: Across the U.S., the prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) and the rates of opioid overdoses have risen precipitously in recent years. Several effective medications for OUD (MOUD) exist and have been shown to be life-saving. A large volume of research has identified a confluence of factors that predict attrition and continued substance use during substance use disorder treatment. However, much of this literature has examined a small set of potential moderators or mediators of outcomes in MOUD treatment and may lead to over-simplified accounts of treatment non-adherence. Digital health methodologies offer great promise for capturing intensive, longitudinal ecologically-valid …

How Pornography Consumption Affects The Consumer And A Biblical Response To The Temptations Of Modern Sexuality, Peyton Mayes

Senior Honors Theses

It has been shown that 93% of boys and 62% girls prior to age 13 have been exposed to pornography (Sabina et al., 2008). Only in the last decade has the ability to view sexual content been made available to almost all groups of society, regardless of wealth or social status. This paper will address this issue by reviewing literature on the neuropathology, sexual dysfunctions, and violent content associated with pornography consumption. Although a significant amount of research has been done on the impacts of pornography, there is relatively little discussion on possible interventional methods. This gap in knowledge will …

Rural Pregnant Women’S Experiences With Substance Use Disorder: A Qualitative Study, Cami Weber

Dissertations

Rural pregnant women with substance use disorder (SUD) are an understudied vulnerable population that often experiences poor pregnancy outcomes (Higgins et al., 2019; Jumah, 2016; Kramlich et al., 2018; Shaw et al., 2015). Despite the high prevalence and high burden associated with SUD, rural women are less likely than non-pregnant women to seek addiction treatment and complete an outpatient treatment program during pregnancy (Shaw et al., 2015). This study aimed to give voice to rural Missouri women with SUD. The research questions explored the life experiences and motivations for seeking treatment using a qualitative, descriptive research design with grounded theory …

Monthly Trends Of Substance Use Among Mainers Receiving Buprenorphine Treatment During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sarosh Khan

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Introduction: Drug-related deaths in Maine increased by 23% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the last quarter of 2019. Most of these deaths were accidental overdoses involving at least one opioid, and 65% of these deaths were caused by fentanyl, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Methods: This research explored substance use in Maine during 2020. Among the sample of individuals, 46% were homeless and receiving recovery services at a buprenorphine-assisted treatment program at a federally qualified health center in Maine. Charts of 35 patients were reviewed for emergency room visits and urine drug …

An Examination Of Three Transitional Events In The Substance Misuse Trajectories Of Women With Criminal Legal System Involvement, Martha Tillson

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

Research has consistently demonstrated that criminal legal system (CLS)-involved women are distinct from men in initiation and course of drug use, with important differences on biological, environmental, and sociocultural levels. Thus, the unique pathways and transitions into and out of drug use for women with CLS involvement are critical to consider from a research perspective, but also from a need to develop and support evidence-based, women-centered services in correctional contexts. This dissertation project uses a three-paper format to investigate three aims: (1) to understand CLS-involved women’s initiations to injection drug use and their experiences providing injection initiation assistance (IIA) to …

Midrash Therapy: A Hermeneutical Inquiry, Robert T. Jury

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines descriptions of Midrash Therapy as practiced in a continuing care group for Jewish people in recovery. Specifically, it analyzes interviews with participants who experienced Midrash Therapy, therapeutic documents from a continuing care group using Midrash Therapy, fieldnotes, and an action-reflection journal kept by the practitioner-researcher. Interviews were conducted with six individuals and the collective data was analyzed under applied hermeneutical practices. At the onset of the study, the author Midrash Therapy as an integration of narrative practices and rabbinic approaches to counseling. This examination found that Midrash Therapy is a Jewish integrated therapy with five distinctive aspects: …

Impact Of A Reduced Nicotine Standard On Young Adult Appeal For Menthol And Non-Menthol Cigarettes, Amy M. Cohn, Rachel Cassidy, Rachel Denlinger-Apte, Eric Donny, Andrea C. Villanti, Dorothy Hatsukami, Delaney Dunn, Riley Wyatt, Taylor Niznik, Tamar Cohen-Davidyan, Michael Smith, Sarah J. Ehlke

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its intention to reduce the nicotine content in cigarettes as a strategy to promote cessation and reduce smoking-related harm. A low nicotine product standard will apply to all cigarettes on the market, including menthol cigarettes. In December 2021, the FDA approved a modified risk tobacco product application for menthol and non-menthol flavoured very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNC) from the 22nd Century Group. Notably, experimentation with menthol cigarettes is linked to smoking progression, as well as greater nicotine dependence relative to non-menthol cigarette use. If menthol VLNCs are perceived as more appealing than …