Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Out Of Mind: Undergraduate Predictors Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms, Michael S. Lanzaro

Honors Theses

Demographic factors associated with anxiety have been studied extensively and are often characterized by interconnected relationships. These associations between variables provide insight into the predictive ability of anxiety in undergraduate populations. However, few studies if any have investigated the relationships between class level, sex, honors status, and undergraduate specialization as predictors of anxiety among an undergraduate American university sample. The results of this study provide key insight into the psychopathological development of undergraduate students and anxiety levels as it pertains to academic and demographic variables. By using a multiple linear regression analysis, demographic variables of American undergraduate students are compared …

Survival Analysis Of Colorectal Cancer Patients With Liver Metastasis, Brandon O’Grady

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Background- Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. I investigated the survival rates among colorectal cancer patients diagnosed with hepatic metastasis to see if any variables are associated colorectal risk and survival. Methods- Patients were diagnosed from 2000-2019 and collected through MD Anderson’s database. A descriptive analysis, univariate analysis, Kaplan-Meier with Mantel log-rank test, Cox proportion hazard regression and a Stratified Cox Model was performed to investigate death. A competing risk regression was implemented to investigate liver recurrence. Results- There was a clear difference in the survival outcome between liver surgery patients and non-liver surgery patients …

Breastfeeding Duration And Reasons Given For Early Cessation Of Breastfeeding Among Wic Mothers, Amy Willa

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The Breastfeeding Duration and Reasons for Early Cessation of Breastfeeding Among WIC Mothers study was conducted to describe the duration of and factors associated with early breastfeeding cessation among the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) population. We collected data from a random sample of WIC medical records, sampling medical records belonging to mothers who initiated breastfeeding an infant but did not breastfeed to 52 weeks. Data were analyzed to answer the questions: How long do WIC mothers breastfeed? What reasons are given during counseling sessions at WIC for early cessation of breastfeeding? Do socio-economic, demographic, or medical factors influence the …

Applications Of Statistical Methods Studying The Impact Of Mobilization Regimes On The Total Collection Yield Of Hematologic Stem Cell, Mengchen Ding

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Hematologic malignancies are cancers that develop in the blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a critical therapeutic approach that contributes to offer a potential cure for hematologic cancers and other hematologic disorders by replacing abnormal bone marrow with healthy bone marrow components to help bone marrow function recovery. Peripheral blood is the primary resource for collecting hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The collection yield of HSCs is critical for successful transplantation. Few articles have discussed this topic that the collection of stem cells not only from healthy donors but also from donors with a hematologic …

The Comparative Effect Of Automated Reminders/Recalls Interventions On The Appointments Rate Of Adolescent Wellness Care Visit, Biai Dominique Elmir Digbeu

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

An Adolescent Wellness Care (AWC) visit is an annual preventive doctor visit predestined to assess the overall health of adolescents aged between 12 and 21 years old. Compared to their younger counterparts, adolescents who are using public insurance are at risk of not completing AWC visits due to several factors related to age or providers disparities in their living environment. This research was a quasiexperimental study aiming to compare two methods of automated Reminders/Recalls (RR) interventions, ‘phone-only’ versus ‘phone-and-text’, in order to evaluate which method is more effective in helping parents/guardians or young adults to schedule an AWC visit. A …

Asthma-Copd Overlap Syndrome And Disease Progression In The Copdgene Cohort Study, Caitlyn Winter

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a debilitating and degenerative lung disease characterized by progressive airway obstruction and alveolar destruction. When asthma and COPD co-occur and interact, with asthma having been diagnosed first, the resulting respiratory disease is called Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS). Current research suggests that persons with ACOS may have more severe respiratory disease and lifestyle limitations than those with either disease alone. The purpose of the current study was to determine if and how disease progression differs in patients with ACOS versus COPD only, using data collected during the COPDGene cohort study. Demographic characteristics and disease outcome …

Characterization Of Age-Associated Copd Progression In The Copd Gene Cohort, Lauryn A. Winter

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive and debilitating lung disease affecting primarily older adults. Incidence, morbidity and mortality from COPD are increasing worldwide. The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between age at baseline and markers of disease progression in COPD patients using data generated by the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPD Gene) study. Participants with COPD were stratified by age (younger: age <65 years, elderly: age ≥ 65 years) and disease characteristics (lung function, exercise tolerance, exacerbation history, and comorbidity burden) at baseline and five-year follow up were compared between groups. Associations between age group and changes in these measures were also assessed. Disease characteristics differed significantly between elderly and younger COPD patients at both study visits. Elderly COPD patients had worse lung function and more comorbidities than younger COPD patients, while younger COPD patients reported more dyspnea and more frequent and severe exacerbations than elderly COPD patients. Following covariate adjustment, elderly participants were less likely than younger participants to develop new frequent exacerbations over the study period (relative risk ratio (95% confidence interval): 0.42 (0.20, 0.87)). There were no other significant associations between age group and markers of disease progression. These results suggest that although elderly COPD patients exhibit evidence of more severe lung function impairment than younger COPD patients, the rate of disease progression is similar between elderly and younger patients. However, further exploration is needed to understand the possible contribution of survivorship bias to this finding. Nevertheless, this study supports the importance of early detection and early intervention to slow disease progression and maximize both life expectancy and quality of life for COPD patients.

Cuban Immigrants’ Experience With Acculturation And How They Cope In The United States, Lourdes Araujo

Dissertations

Objective: This research examines how Cuban immigrants experience cope and adapt to the United States. Cuban immigration is associated with specific stressors related to the immigration experience and the necessary process of acculturation and assimilation. These major stressors can result in mental health concerns among Cuban immigrants; however, no studies have examined how acculturation may influence Cuban immigrants’ coping skills and resultant mental health concerns. This unique study is the first to examine the coping skills Cuban immigrants use during acculturation and the effects of these skills on Cuban immigrants’ mental health. Methods: Seventeen participants completed a semistructured interview and …

Quehacer Del Trabajo Social En El Campo De Salud Mental En Bogotá, Angie Paola Vargas Gualdron, Valentina Cabrera Pérez, Alejandra Valentina Velandia Diaz

Trabajo Social

La presente investigación tiene como objetivo caracterizar el quehacer del trabajo social en el campo de la salud mental en la ciudad de Bogotá, desde allí, aportar a la construcción de conocimiento. Lo anterior comprendiendo que este es un campo poco documentado en el que cada vez hay mayor participación de la profesión - disciplina. Es importante mencionar que el país ha tenido avances significativos en la comprensión y abordaje de la salud mental, lo que se da a partir de la Ley 1616 de 2013 y la reciente Política Nacional de Salud Mental.

Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, se …

Empowering Nurses Of Minority In The Face Of Incivility And Bullying: Through The Lens Of Phenomenology, Corrine Floyd

Dissertations

Abstract

Up to 85% of nurses have reported exposure to incivility in the workplace (Hunt & Marini, 2012). The often-subtle nature of incivility toward nurses in a minority population may partially explain why it remains a problem. Healthcare organizations realize the need for civility to counter the high turnover rate, staff shortages, and low job satisfaction reported by nurses, but lack understanding of how nurses of a minority population perceive incivility and bullying. This study aimed to answer the research question how do nurses with minority representation experience incivility and bullying versus empowerment in the workplace? A descriptive phenomenological design …

Sleep Quality And The Prospective Pain-Fatigue Relationship Among Youth With Sickle Cell Disease, Julia D. Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at increased risk for poor psychosocial and functional outcomes due, in part, to disease effects like vaso-occlusive pain crises, fatigue, and poor sleep quality (Brown, 2006). A growing body of literature has examined temporal associations between pain, sleep quality, and mood using daily diary studies (Valrie, Gil, Redding-Lallinger, & Daeschner, 2007a; Valrie et al., 2019). These studies help to identify how symptoms are prospectively related to each other, but they are often limited to small sample sizes and may lack generalizability. Additionally, despite ubiquitous reports of fatigue among sickle cell patients, few studies …

Engaging Youth And Families Within The Context Of Evidence-Based Treatment (Ebt) Implementation: Examining Integrity Of Engagement Practices To Different Ebt Information Sources, Eleanor Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Promoting and maintaining client engagement has proven to be a significant challenge across community mental health settings, including within the context of implementing evidence-based treatments (EBTs) (De Haan et al., 2013). Few efforts have been made to equip providers with empirically-sourced engagement strategies outside of the limited set of engagement procedures covered in EBT protocols. To inform efforts for improving EBT accessibility, the current study characterizes the delivery of engagement practices from the literature within the context of EBT implementation, and examines provider integrity of engagement practice use according to two information sources (i.e., the provider’s EBT training history and …

Engaging Youth And Families Within The Context Of Evidence-Based Treatment (Ebt) Implementation: Examining Integrity Of Engagement Practices To Different Ebt Information Sources, Eleanor Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Promoting and maintaining client engagement has proven to be a significant challenge across community mental health settings, including within the context of implementing evidence-based treatments (EBTs) (De Haan et al., 2013). Few efforts have been made to equip providers with empirically-sourced engagement strategies outside of the limited set of engagement procedures covered in EBT protocols. To inform efforts for improving EBT accessibility, the current study characterizes the delivery of engagement practices from the literature within the context of EBT implementation, and examines provider integrity of engagement practice use according to two information sources (i.e., the provider’s EBT training history and …

Impacts Of Mental Health First Aid On Mental Health Literacy And Stigma, Junseon Hwang

Student Theses

Mental Health First Aid has been developed to train the general public to give initial support to those in mental health crisis and development. The effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid has been questioned due to its relatively short history of the course. Mental Health First Aid was recently widely-disseminated in New York City as part of the ThriveNYC initiative. While most studies were supportive of the training, there has been no study that specifically examines New York residents. We recruited 328 New York residents who self-reported whether or not they have participated in Mental Health First Aid via Amazon …

Grassroots Tales: Journeys Of Inward Healing And Outward Movement Building – “A Story Of Youth Development And Healing”, Andrew Cory Greene

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Rooted in Liberation Psychology epistemology, this dissertation was engaged to liberate myself as well as psychology. Positing Healing Justice and Sociopolitical Development as theoretical guides, this dissertation explored a community specific approach of radical healing to develop urban youth’s abilities to sustain (build) spirit and collective hope for grassroot movement building. This dissertation asks, what are the possibilities of bringing urban youth (n=9) together who shared similar realities, dared to dream together (i.e., think tank), and turn those dreams into a Grassroot Movement Building?

The methodological praxis of this dissertation project was politically and theoretically situated to study learnings at …

Experiences Of Latinx's Adult Transition To The U.S. And The Clinical Implications That Arise In Acclimating Into The Dominant Culture: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Gabriela Olavarrieta

Doctoral Dissertations

There has been a significant gap in the literature regarding the lived experience of the Latinx adult transition to the United States and the clinical implications that arise in acclimating to the dominant culture, particularly under the Trump Administration. The approach for the current research examined Latinxs’ adulthood transitions to the United States, experiences of acculturative stress, including instances of discrimination as well as their experiences acclimating or assimilating into the dominant culture. This study also examined what seeking, or being unable to seek, mental health services looked like in the current sociopolitical climate. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was utilized to …

Minority Stress, Social Support, And Mental Health Among Lgbqp+ Religious Disaffiliates, Kate Jablonski

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study investigated the association between four minority stress processes (victimization, internalized heterosexism, rejection sensitivity, and disclosure of sexual orientation identity) and symptoms of depression and anxiety among lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, pansexual, or otherwise non-heterosexual (LGBQP+) disaffiliates from non-affirming religions, and whether social support mediated these relationships. A nonexperimental, cross-sectional, correlational design was used. Participants were recruited through Reddit, a popular social-networking site, and completed an online survey that assessed experiences of minority stress, perceptions of social support, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Participants were 161 non-religious, US-born, cisgender, LGBQP+ Reddit-users who identified as having disaffiliated from …

Atitiudes Tow Ards Computer Games For Learning And Pl.A Yer Archetypes: An Exploration Of Measures On Preintervention Player Characteristics For Serious Game-Based Interventions, Benjamin Lee

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Serious game-based interventions offer promising health outcome results with the aid of pre-intervention player tailoring and the development of measurements that evaluate pre-intervention player characteristics and subgroups. Video gaming measures can potentially provide helpful tailoring information that discerns individual video gaming preferences which could influence their overall user experience. It is critical that measures that target adolescent video gaming be psychometrically validated. There is a gap in the literature with psychometrically validated measures evaluating adolescent attitudes towards computer games for learning and gaming archetypes. Therefore the aims of this dissertation were to 1) evaluate the psychometric properties (i.e., reliability and …

A Comparison Of Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Teams And Leadership Attitudes Of Nci-Designated And Non-Nci-Designated Cancer Centers In The United States From 2009-2018, Joseph Chen

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Background: Interdisciplinary palliative care (PC) teams (IDTs) are essential to improving patient outcomes while cancer center executives have a key role in defining the future of PC. Objectives: To compare PC team compositions and executives’ attitudes towards PC between NCI (National Cancer Institute)-designated cancer centers (NCI-CCs) and non-NCI-designated cancer centers (non-NCI-CCs) in 2018 and to compare changes in team composition and executives’ attitudes and beliefs between 2009-2018. Methods: PC program leaders (PL) and cancer center executives at all 62 NCI-CCs and a random sample of 60 of 1252 non-NCI-CCs were surveyed from April-August 2018. The PL survey examined team composition …

Disparities In Patient Safety Events For Hospitalized Patients, Nnabuchi Anikpezie

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Background: Twenty years post IOM’s landmark publication, “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System”, still no consensus on case definition for patient safety events (PSEs). Available data on incidence and magnitude of PSEs are more than 10 years old, while data on disparities are ambiguous. Objective: To examine the racial and socioeconomic disparities in reported patient safety events (PSEs) among hospitalized individuals. Design, Setting, and Participants: Cross-sectional study of patient safety events using the 2016 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). A total of 6,753,100 discharges were identified as being at risk …

Causal Analysis Theory And Application To Alzheimer’S Disease (Ad) And Heart Failure (Hf), Shudi Li

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and heart failure (HF) are two complex diseases that are caused by the combination of genetic and epigenetic, environmental and other lifestyle factors. Understanding the relationships between genetic and epigenetic variants and other factors of such complex diseases could assist researchers discover disease mechanisms and develop targeted therapies. Much of the research in genetics/epigenetics studies regarding AD and heart diseases have been focused on association analysis. Many researchers have identified genetic/epigenetics variants and phenotypes that are significantly associated with disease pathology. While most of these studies utilize association analysis as the analytical platform, the signals identified by …

Costs Of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting And Percutaneous Coronary Intervention In Texas, Saleh Hamed Alsarhan

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Background: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures have been associated with substantial financial costs in Texas. The annual hospital charges in 2016 for CABG surgeries and PCI procedures in Texas were $3.6 billion and $4.1 billion, respectively. Recently, these two procedures have become a target for bundled payment initiatives. Due to the lack of information about the demographics and variations associated with CABG and PCI episode payments for commercially insured patients, more research needs to be conducted to understand the magnitude of payments and the drivers of variation in payments in Texas. Objective: This …

A Qualitative Inquiry Exploring Help-Seeking Behaviors And Resilience Strategies Women With Disabilities Utilize When Experiencing Gender-Based Violence In Rural Communities, Kimberly Ann Aguillard

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Women with disabilities (WWD) are at pronounced risk of experiencing multiple forms of severe and prolonged violence, and they face barriers to accessing help. A multitude of factors associated with disability and rurality may compound the experience of violence, including geographic and social isolation, forcing WWD in rural settings to navigate extremely dangerous situations with limited avenues for accessing help and securing safety. This research explored how women with disabilities experiencing violence while living in rural communities navigate programs and policies, make decisions about seeking and securing help, and build resilience despite experiencing violence. The current study methodology empowers this …

Semiparametric Methods To Improve Risk Assessment And Dynamic Prediction, Wen Li

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Incorporating promising biomarkers to improve risk assessment and prediction is the central goal in many biomedical studies. Cost-effective designs and longitudinal designs are often utilized for measuring biomarker information, but they pose challenges to the data analyses. Statistical analyses for these kinds of data are routinely performed using parametric models. When the model assumptions are violated, parametric models may lead to substantial bias in parameter estimation, risk evaluation and prediction. In this dissertation, we will develop robust, exible statistical methods for risk assessment for matched case-control, nested case-control, and case-cohort designs, as well as a dynamic prediction tool for longitudinal …

Heat Stress Related Symptoms And Pulmonary Function In Oil Spill Response And Cleanup Workers Following The Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Yiyou Li

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The objective of this study was to estimate the relationship between heat stress and pulmonary function among OSRC workers following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster. Methods: Pulmonary function test results were analyzed from a cohort of oil spill response and cleanup workers 1-3 years following the DWH disaster (N=5,131). Proxies for heat stress was employed by using information on heat stress-related symptoms as well as a questionnaire on stopping work due to heat reported during a structured telephone enrollment questionnaire. Associations between heat stress proxies and lung function were estimated using multivariable linear models and binomial logistic regression models while …

Epidemiology Of No -Syndromic, Orofacial Clefts In A Registry­Based, Birth-Cohort In Texas: Differences By Cleft Type And Presence Of Additional Defects, Maria Luisa Navarro Sanchez

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Although orofacial clefts, which include cleft palate alone (CP) and cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL±P), are among the most common birth defects, their etiology is complex and is generally not well understood. While some clefts are caused by rare syndromes, the majority occur in the absence of a syndrome, either in association with co-occurring defects or as isolated defects. Among these non-syndromic cases, epidemiologic studies have identified demographic variables that are associated with CP and/or CL±P, such as geographic location and infant sex, as well as several maternal characteristics, though some of these associations have been weak …

Heat Stress Related Symptoms And Pulmonary Function In Oil Spill Response And Cleanup Workers Following The Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Yiyao Li

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the relationship between heat stress and pulmonary function among OSRC workers following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster. Methods: Pulmonary function test results were analyzed from a cohort of oil spill response and cleanup workers 1-3 years following the DWH disaster (N=5,131). Proxies for heat stress was employed by using information on heat stress-related symptoms as well as a questionnaire on stopping work due to heat reported during a structured telephone enrollment questionnaire. Associations between heat stress proxies and lung function were estimated using multivariable linear models and binomial logistic regression models …

Area-Level Landfill Density And Asthma Prevalence In Urban Texas Areas, Jessica Meighan Herrin

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Environmental exposures, especially air pollutants, pose a threat for an increase in asthma prevalence. In particular, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas can cause severe health effects closely resembling asthmatic symptoms. Ambient concentrations of H2S gas correlates with the amount of solid waste found in landfills. The potential for adverse health risks associated with H2S emitted from landfills is of concern for those populations living in close proximity to landfills. Asthma is one of the adverse health effects that can occur due to H2S exposure. However, there is a lack of detailed studies characterizing possible associations between the density of landfills and …

Cross-Sectional Analysis Of The Relationship Between Violent Crime And Mental Health Disorders In A Sample Of Homeless Adults Recently Released From Jail, Addison Ransom

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

Adverse mental health conditions among incarcerated populations are high, and treatment for these conditions is particularly low. Additionally, there is a culture of stigma in the United States towards those with mental health conditions and violent criminal history, contributing to mass incarceration. The present cross-sectional study sought to assess the association between violent criminal history and mental health symptoms among recently incarcerated homeless adults in Dallas, Texas. This study included 230 participants, taking place at The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, evaluating non-violent versus violent criminal history. Outcome measures of positive screens for post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and depression …

Impact Of Substance Use In Social Networks On Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence For Hiv-Positive Younger Men Who Have Sex With Men, Natascha Del Vecchio

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The community of young men who have sex with men (YMSM) has higher rates of substance use than the general population and the use of alcohol, cannabis, and illicit drugs has been shown to have a negative impact on the HIV care continuum. Our first aim was to understand the prevalence of substance use in the community through the use of self-reported, RDS-II, and RDS-SS estimates. We used multivariable logistic and negative binomial GEE with QIC selection to determine the factors important to having a prescription and staying adherent, respectively. Selected variables were included with a subset of substance use …