Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Gis For Public Health: Exploring Diseases Of Despair In Metro Atlanta, Chanice Brown

Symposium of Student Scholars

Diseases of despair are a set of behaviors that can cause a significant amount of mortality within a population. These behaviors, which typically include drug abuse, alcoholism, and suicides, have existed for quite some time. However, the idea of “Diseases of Despair” is fairly recent. In 2015, researchers Anna Case and Angus Deaton first coined the concept while studying an increase in mortality and decrease in life expectancy amongst middle-aged, white populations in different rural communities. They theorized that external pressures, like economic insecurity and increased morbidity, were driving these populations to seek out dangerous methods to relieve their stress. …

Applying Settlement Models Through Chemical Analysis In Bartow County, Georgia, Bryan A. Moss*

Symposium of Student Scholars

During the Middle Woodland Period (300 BC – AD 600), ceremonial centers began to rise throughout the Eastern United States. These centers were hubs for ritual feasting and religious activities related to the Hopewell Mortuary Cult of Ohio. This project will focus on the Leake site and its relation to the surrounding villages in Northwest Georgia, each of which contains Swift Creek sherds. The Swift Creek Complicated stamped pottery contains curvilinear lines which are not present in other decorations of the Middle Woodland period. Swift Creek pottery is prominent in Middle Woodland ceremonial sites and is integrated into the Hopewell …

Spatial Associations Of Liver Disease Rates With Socioeconomic And Health Risk Factors In Georgia, Nguyet Le

Symposium of Student Scholars

According to the CDC Cancer Statistics Report in 2020, Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Duct is the 6th leading cancer in both USA and the State of Georgia ranked by Rates of Cancer Death. Aflatoxin-containing foods, alcohol consumption, smoking, overeating, and other risky behaviors are among the factors linked to liver diseases. They have also been related to the socioeconomic status (SES) of individuals. The behaviors and SES of individuals are affected by the socioeconomic characteristics of the communities where they live. However, the relationships between the rates of liver diseases and community-level socioeconomic factors are not well studied. The objective …

Average Household Income In Relation To Individual Dietary Consumption Of Fruits And Vegetables, Liz Burchfield, Bella Spencer

Symposium of Student Scholars

The purpose of this analysis is to review data from the USDA Economic Research Survey in a data collection regarding FoodAPS National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey. Our data include a sample size of 4,826 participating households with 279 variables describing each household. Several variables were utilized which include average collective income for households, perceptions of fruit and vegetable prices and quality, self-reporting items about perceived fruit and vegetable consumption, and financial survey responses. With these chosen variables we made initial inferences that there would be a relationship between income and fruit consumption. We predict that throughout the duration …

Community Resilience: Conducting A Tornado Risk Assessment For Oklahoma City, Oklahoma​, Chanice Brown

Symposium of Student Scholars

On May 20th, 2013, the Newcastle-Moore tornado carved a 14-mile-long path of destruction through Oklahoma City, McClain, and Cleveland Counties. This event led to the deaths of 24 people, more than 200 injuries, and at least 2 billion dollars in damages. Tornadoes like the Newcastle-Moore are sporadic and technological advances have provided an extra layer of protection against them. However, researchers have found that one of the best methods for bolstering the safety of a community when facing such severe weather threats is developing a hazard mitigation plan. As such, the focus of this particular project was to identify the …

Profiles Of Resilience: Examining The Stories Of First Responder And Military Families, Kimberly Gomes

Symposium of Student Scholars

Background: Social support is a key factor in the development of resilience and is often derived from spouses and other family members. The current literature is limited in that there is no consensus about how resilience is defined and developed among individuals in high-stress occupations. Considering this, we aimed to interview military and first responder couples and examine how couples define resilience and navigate challenging experiences together.

Methods: We collected five distinct family stories wherein a member of the dyad was in a high-stress occupation (i.e., law enforcement and military personnel). All participants completed screeners to determine eligibility …

The Effect Of Mental Demand On Body Postures, Rodrick Adams, Valentina Niño

Symposium of Student Scholars

How we perceive our work has a profound relationship with how our body reacts to help facilitate the performance of our tasks. This is an observational study of the experiment in which participants performed tasks under four different conditions (baseline, interruptions, time, and alarm) and used NASA-TLX (NASA- Task Load Index) scores to assess their mental workload for each condition across six dimensions: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, effort, performance, and frustration level. We juxtaposed their NASA-TLX score with corresponding REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) scores while standing and RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) scores while sitting to determine …

Exploring The Interactions Between Cognitive Impairment, Depression, And Growth Mindset Among African Americans In The Covid-19 Era, Roger Otway

Symposium of Student Scholars

Depression is a common and complex psychiatric disorder that can affect people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. It is currently characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and lack of interest in life (Depressive Disorders, n.d.). Depression can have an impact on an individual's attitude in life such as their growth mindset. A Growth mindset is an individual’s belief that their abilities can be developed and improved through effort and learning (Dweck, 2016). This way of thinking can lead to increased resilience, learning, and achievement. Another area that can impact depression and a growth mindset is cognitive dysfunction. Cognitive …

Promoting Future Orientation Among Youth Exposed To Violence, Amari Cody, Giselle Vazquez, Paige Giddens, Chanler Hilley

Symposium of Student Scholars

Despite declining rates of community violence in the United States, violence remains a pervasive public health problem that disproportionately affects children. Violence exposure has been linked to a multitude of negative consequences on children’s academics, behavior, mental and physical health, some of which have lasting implications. Future orientation is one of several positive “developmental assets” that may help to mitigate the risk of negative consequences associated with violence exposure. Although future orientation has been described in research in several different ways, studies typically find that youth who have higher general future orientation are better able to guide their current actions …

Study Into Postpartum Stress, Kaitlyn Coleman, Afekwo Mary Ukuku Ph.D.

Symposium of Student Scholars

Introduction: Postpartum depression is a major public health issue. Married or partnered women with ongoing low spousal support from partners are more likely to suffer from postpartum depression (Yaksi & Save 2021). Lack of emotional support from a spouse, verbal or physical abuse, and unintended pregnancies may further increase the risk of PPD (Kızılırmak, Calpbinici, Tabakan, & Kartal, 2021). This lack of support from the home adds to the stress and hormonal effects a woman may experience during and after her pregnancy. The purpose of this two phase study is to identify the impact of stress arousal on postpartum women …

Comparison Of Middle Woodland Settlement Models In Georgia And Ohio, Bryan A. Moss*

Symposium of Student Scholars

During the Middle Woodland period (200 BC – AD 400), there was an increase of cultural complexity and the rise of a mortuary cult throughout much of eastern North America. This cult included a wide interaction network called the Hopewellian Interaction Sphere, which dates to the Middle Woodland period in the Mid-West. This interaction, which reached into the Southeast, involved the exchange of information between groups in both regions. This project uses spatial analysis through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify patterns in site layout and organization by comparing settlements in both regions. The focus of testing will be between …