Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Research That Drives Economic & Social Mobility For Veterans And Military Families, Rosalinda V. Maury

Voices of Service Symposium

This poster highlights IVMF's data-driven research and programs that advance economic and social mobility for veterans and military families. It showcases findings on employment, entrepreneurship, transition readiness, and community reintegration, with insights drawn from national surveys and ongoing data monitoring. These findings inform policy, improve program design, and support stakeholders working to enhance veteran outcomes across sectors.

Pain Interference And Hazardous Drinking Among U.S. Veterans: The Role Of Combat Deployment, Joon Kyung Nam, Kyle Mackenzie White, Victoria E. Carlin, Joseph W. Ditre

Voices of Service Symposium

Chronic pain and hazardous drinking (i.e., patterns of alcohol consumption that elevate risk for negative health outcomes) are both common and often co-occur among U.S. veterans. Research examining associations between pain interference (i.e., extent to which pain disrupts daily functioning) and alcohol use among non-military samples has yielded mixed findings, with some linking greater pain interference to lower levels of alcohol consumption, and others linking it with increased odds of alcohol dependence. However, there has been a paucity of research examining these relations among veterans, and the role of combat exposure remains unexplored. The goal of these analyses was to …

Race And Military Service: Economic Mobility For Underrepresented Racial Minority (Urm) Veteran Entrepreneurs, Mauricio Mercado, Arielle Badger Newman

Voices of Service Symposium

The United States military has long been perceived as a path to upward economic mobility, offering comprehensive training and a robust support network for veterans. Yet for historically underrepresented minority populations, the full scope of this potential remains uncertain due to ongoing discrimination and disparities in access to opportunities. This research interrogates how intersecting identities of military service and race shape entrepreneurial outcomes and pathways to economic mobility.

Perceptions About Pain And Alcohol In Relation To Hazardous Drinking Among Veterans With Chronic Pain, Ava Cohen, Victoria E. Carlin, Kyle Mackenzie White, Joseph W. Ditre

Voices of Service Symposium

Introduction. Chronic pain and hazardous drinking (e.g., patterns of alcohol consumption associated with increased risk for negative consequences) are highly prevalent among U.S. military veterans. Perceptions regarding pain-alcohol interplay (i.e., pain as a motivator of drinking, use of alcohol to cope with pain, and pain as a barrier to alcohol cessation/reduction) may contribute to the onset and maintenance of hazardous drinking among individuals with chronic pain. Methods. Participants included 430 veterans who reported current chronic pain and past month alcohol consumption (24% female; 73% White; Mage = 57) and completed an online survey using Qualtrics Panels. Measures included the Perceptions …

Introduction To Military Culture And Mental Health Practice, Ken Marfilius, Sam Coyl

Voices of Service Symposium

The Introduction to Military Culture and Mental Health Practice course equips students across disciplines primarily social work with foundational skills for working with service members, veterans, and their families. Developed in 2016 by a former U.S. Air Force officer, the course addresses trauma, ethical dilemmas, dual loyalty, and command structures within military systems. Coursework includes case studies, ethical analysis, and interviews with military-connected individuals, fostering clinical and cultural competence. With 153 students trained to date, the course supports careers in the VA, nonprofits, and the Armed Forces, while advancing the university's commitment to military-affiliated students.

Legal Services For Homeless Veterans: New Va Grants Aim To Provide Critical Services To Veterans In Crisis, Elizabeth Kubala, Seth M. Owens, Andrew M. Patterson

Voices of Service Symposium

Ending and preventing homelessness among Veterans is a priority for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In 2022, the VA created the Legal Services for Homeless Veterans (LSV-H) grant program, providing funds for legal services organizations to deliver essential legal aid to homeless veterans and veterans at risk for homelessness. As one of only three law schools that are current LSV-H grant recipients, the Syracuse University Veterans Legal Clinic provides legal aid to homeless veterans in the areas of housing, income support (VA disability), access to healthcare, and requests to upgrade military discharge or dismissal of a former member …

Expectancies For Alcohol Analgesia And Alcohol Use Among Veterans With Chronic Pain: The Moderating Role Of Discrimination In Medical Settings, Victoria E. Carlin, Kyle Mackenzie White, Joon Kyung Nam, Grant H. Ripley, Alexa G. Deyo, Joseph W. Ditre

Voices of Service Symposium

Introduction. Chronic pain and alcohol use are highly prevalent and frequently co-occur among U.S. military veterans. Expectancies for alcohol analgesia (i.e., degree to which an individual believes that consuming alcohol can help reduce or manage their pain) may contribute to alcohol consumption, dependence, and related harms. Discrimination in medical settings (i.e., degree to which one experiences inequitable treatment while receiving healthcare due to a stigmatized identity) has been linked to a variety of deleterious health outcomes and may amplify associations between expectancies for alcohol analgesia and drinking behavior. Methods. Participants included 430 U.S. military veterans with chronic pain who endorsed …

Increasing Access To Valuable Services For Veterans Treatment Court Participants, Elizabeth Kubala, Bill Rielly

Voices of Service Symposium

The Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic (VLC) at the Syracuse University College of Law is partnered with the New York Health Foundation (NYHF) to develop and implement an approach for expanding the services available to Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) participants across New York. VTCs offer an alternative to criminal court for many low-level offenses. The participants complete an intensive 18-month program of counseling, support groups, and recovery before graduating. A significant number of participants earned VA benefits through their service but are not receiving those benefits. Advocating for these veterans benefits reinforces that their service was valuable, …

Developing An Undergraduate Course On Veteran And Military Behavioral Health, Sarah J. Litt, Joseph W. Ditre

Voices of Service Symposium

Understanding the behavioral health needs of military service members and veterans is important for students who may pursue careers across the helping professions. This poster presentation details the development of a new undergraduate course that provides foundational knowledge in military and veteran behavioral health. The course examines a broad spectrum of psychological and behavioral health issues, including substance use and addiction, trauma and PTSD, military sexual trauma, suicide, pain and physical impairment, depression, anxiety, and the challenges associated with transitioning to civilian life. It also explores family and relationship dynamics, military culture, and barriers to mental health care. Key considerations …

Variation And Selection During Pandemic: Toward A Multiplex Framework For Understanding Nonprofit Community Network Evolution In Crisis Time, Yiqi Li, Aimei Yang, Wenlin Liu, Jingyi Sun, Michigan State University, Lichen Chen

iSchool - All Scholarship

This study examines how the communication network structure of a community of U.S. nonprofits evolves in response to the COVID-19

pandemic by examining their multiplex strategic communication network- building on Twitter/X. This study identifies two types of networks:

representational ties (for third-party audiences) and substantial ties (for direct resource exchange). Our findings suggest that organizations remain consistent with network strategies through different crisis stages, and the crisis provides opportunities for nonprofits to maintain existing substantial networks while building more extensive substantial networks. Representational ties, even the ones formed pre-crisis, hold the potential to turn into substantial relationships. Theoretically, this research …

Code^Shift Newsletter Spring 2025, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Manaswini Pillai

CODE^SHIFT Research

No abstract provided.

Evidence-Based Practices And Us State Government Civil Servants: Current Use, Challenges, And Pathways Forward, Yuan (Daniel) Cheng, Leslie Thompson, Shuping Wang, Jules Marzec, Chengxin Xu, Weston Merrick, Patrick Carter

Center for Policy Design and Governance

This brief summarizes "Evidence-based practices and US state government civil servants: Current use, challenges, and pathways forward," co-authored by Yuan (Daniel) Cheng, Leslie Thompson, Shuping Wang, Jules Marzec, Chengxin Xu, Weston Merrick, and Patrick Carter in Public Administration Review.

The Employment Situation Of Veterans: March 2025, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

In March 2025, U.S. employment rose by 228,000, with notable gains in health care, social assistance, and transportation, while the overall unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. Veteran unemployment declined overall, though trends varied by age, gender, and race, with some subgroups—such as older veterans and Black veterans—experiencing increases.

The Employment Situation Of Veterans: April 2025, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

In April 2025, the U.S. added 177,000 jobs, with the national unemployment rate holding at 4.2%. Veteran unemployment declined to 3.5% from 3.8% in March, while Post-9/11 veterans saw a drop to 2.9%. Male veteran unemployment fell to 3.1%, but female veteran unemployment rose to 5.9%. Black and Hispanic veterans experienced significant improvements, with rates falling to 4.8% and 2.9%, respectively—both lower than their nonveteran peers. Younger veterans (25–34) and those aged 45–54 saw notable declines, while veterans aged 55–64 experienced a slight increase. Despite gains, disparities remain, especially for female and older veterans.

Breast Cancer Diagnoses Are Increasing Among Racial And Ethnic Minority Women In The U.S., Esther Oshaji

Population Health Research Brief Series

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and a leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. This data slice uses data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) Incidence Database to examine trends in breast cancer incidence rates among women by race and ethnicity in the U.S. from 2000 to 2021. The author finds that, while incidence rates remain highest among non-Hispanic White women, the largest increases in diagnoses have been among American Indian/Alaska Native Asian/Pacific Islander women.

Nonstationary Heterogeneous Panels With Multiple Structural Changes, Badi H. Baltagi, Qu Feng, Wei Wang

Center for Policy Research

Nonstationary panels have been widely used in empirical studies in macroeconomics and finance. This paper considers multiple structural changes in nonstationary heterogeneous panels with common factors. Kapetanios, Pesaran, Yamagata (2011) showed that unobserved nonstationary factors can be proxied by cross-sectional averages of observable data. This means that unobserved error factors can be treated as additional regressors, and different break points in slopes and error factor loadings can be considered as multiple breaks in linear regression models with panel data. We generalize the least squares approach by Bai and Perron (1998) to nonstationary panels and show that the break points in …

Older Women In The U.S. Were Lonelier Than Men During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Qiyu Deng

Population Health Research Brief Series

Loneliness damages health and quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic increased social isolation and loneliness among some groups in the U.S. This data slice uses data from the 2020 Health and Retirement Study to examine gender and age differences in loneliness among older adults (50+) in the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic. The author finds that loneliness was more prevalent among women than among men, with the highest rate among women ages 80 and older.

The Ins And Outs Of Procurement Contracting: Opportunities And Challenges For Military-Affiliated Entrepreneurs, Adam Pritchard, Rosalinda V. Maury

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This research brief explores the ins and outs of procurement contracting from the perspective of military-affiliated small businesses, examining the differences between the government and corporate procurement landscapes. Using data from the 2024 National Survey of Military-Affiliated Entrepreneurs, this brief investigates the return-on-investment (ROI) from procurement contracting, summarizes effective strategies that military-affiliated entrepreneurs have used to maximize their ROI, and leverages these experiences to guide entrepreneurs and business ecosystems towards effective approaches to improve the procurement capabilities of military-connected small businesses.

How Does The Earned Income Tax Credit (Eitc) Impact Time Spent Assisting Adults?, Anna Wiersma Strauss

Population Health Research Brief Series

Unpaid caregiving for adults is crucial to maintaining health, independence, and well-being at older ages. In their working years, caregivers potentially face trade-offs between unpaid caregiving and paid work. Poor households face more costly tradeoffs between paid work and caregiving because the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – one of the nation’s largest antipoverty programs for families with children – requires recipients to work and provides benefits based on the level of earnings. This brief summarizes the findings of a study that uses data from the 2003-2019 American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to examine the effect of the EITC on …

The Employment Situation Of Veterans: February 2025, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

In February 2025, the U.S. added 151,000 jobs, maintaining the unemployment rate at 4.1%. Veteran unemployment decreased slightly to 4.1%, with significant drops among younger veterans (18-24) and those aged 65 and older. However, unemployment rates varied across veteran demographic groups, with some experiencing increases and others decreases.

The Skills-Based Business Case For Hiring Veterans - Report, Adam Pritchard, Rosalinda V. Maury

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This report explores the current state of skills-based hiring, examining trends, challenges, and future predictions. It focuses on how military veteran jobseekers can identify and communicate their skills. The report includes expert insights and offers recommendations for employers to develop skills-first frameworks and for veterans to navigate the employment landscape and maximize career prospects through upskilling.

Younger Grandparents Provide Less Support To Their Grandchildren Now Than In The Past, But Support Among Older Grandparents Has Remained Stable, Hyeonji Cho

Population Health Research Brief Series

Grandparents in the U.S. provide extensive support to their children and grandchildren, in the form of both financial assistance and childcare. But recent demographic changes (e.g., later childbirth, population aging) have postponed and extended the duration of grandparenthood, raising questions about whether these changes affect how grandparents support their grandchildren. This data slice uses data from the 2002-2022 Health and Retirement Study to examine the changes in grandparent support to grandchildren by age group in the U.S. The author finds that while younger grandparents are providing less support now than in the past, support has remained steady or even increased …

Disability Measures Used In U.S. Federal Surveys Significantly Underreport Disability Status, Nastassia Vaitsiakhovich, Scott D. Landes, Jean P. Hall, Bonnielin K. Swenor

Population Health Research Brief Series

U.S. federal surveys commonly use two question sets to measure disability: the American Community Survey (ACS-6) and the Washington Group Short Set (WG-SS). This data slice uses data from the 2011-2012 National Health Interview Survey to examine the percentage of disabled people captured by these two different survey sets. The authors find that both sets of questions significantly underreport disability statuses that are not directly addressed in their question prompts, including intellectual disability, developmental disability, birth defects, mental health disability, diabetes, and cancer.

How Do Gender And Marital Status Impact High-Risk Polysubstance Use?, Kira England, Alexander Chapman

Population Health Research Brief Series

Drug overdose deaths in the United States increasingly include the use of multiple drugs, known as polysubstance use. These include opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, tranquilizers, and sedatives. Polysubstance use is considered high risk because it can cause dangerous synergistic effects and result in the ingestion of higher amounts of drugs. This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health on U.S. adults from 2002 through 2019 to examine gender and marital status differences in high-risk polysubstance use among U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The authors find that polysubstance use is …

Research Review: "United States Army Reserve/National Guard Soldiers’ Healthcare Experiences, Attitudes, And Preferences: Differences Based On Deployment Status", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This research review highlights findings from a recent study aimed at better understanding health care preferences of National Guard and Reserves service members. The authors found that found that among 430 USAR/NG service members, the overwhelming majority (83%) reported that their community/private provider has never asked how their military service impacts their health despite 39% of participants indicating that their current health concerns are related to their military service. Additionally, there is no difference between USAR/NG servicemembers who were previously deployed overseas and those who were not in their perception of whether community/private providers can address their military-related health concerns. …

Increased Suicidality Risk Among Adolescents With An Active-Duty Sibling Or Parent In The United States, Andrew S. London, Kevin M. Antshel

Population Health Research Brief Series

Adolescents who have a parent currently serving in the U.S. military face distinctive social stressors and developmental challenges, and have higher rates of internalizing and externalizing disorders, substance use, and suicidality than adolescents who do not have an active-duty parent. Additionally, adolescents with siblings who enter the military are at increased risk of experiencing a major depressive episode relative to adolescents who do not have an active-duty sibling. This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from the 2016-2019 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to examine whether having a sibling and/or a parent on active …

The Employment Situation Of Veterans: January 2025, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

In January 2025, the U.S. added 143,000 jobs, lowering the unemployment rate to 4.0%. However, veteran unemployment rose significantly, with notable increases among younger veterans and those aged 65 and older. Unemployment rates also varied across different veteran demographic groups, with some seeing increases and others decreases.

Behavioral Science-Based “Nudges” Could Increase Physical Activity Among Adolescents With Adhd, Hannah Patnaik, Andrew S. London, Kevin M. Antshel

Population Health Research Brief Series

Children and adolescents with ADHD are more likely to exhibit difficulties in school, have higher rates of injuries and accidents and more family conflicts, and are at higher risk of depression and anxiety. Given the prevalence of ADHD and associated difficulties, there is a substantial need for effective ADHD treatment and symptom management. This brief summarizes findings from a recently completed pilot study testing the efficacy of behavioral interventions aimed at encouraging daily physical activity (i.e., steps measured with an activity tracker) among adolescents with ADHD in the Syracuse, NY area between March 2023 and June 2024. Results show that …

Transcending Binaries Of Agency Through Librarians’ Discursive Constructions Of Ai, Sarah Appedu, Jasmina Tacheva

The Lender Center for Social Justice

This article examines how librarians negotiate AI in professional discourse, challenging simplistic human/AI dichotomies. It highlights the nuanced role of professionals in shaping AI agency and implementation.

Full Issue - Englishusa, V. 11, Englishusa

EnglishUSA Journal

No abstract provided.