Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Evolution Of The Veteran Employment Landscape, Deborah A. Bradbard, Rosalinda V. Maury

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief discusses five key highlights related to post-9/11 veteran employment.

Consistent Snap Participation Increases Preventative Health Care Visits For Infants, Colleen Heflin, Irma A. Arteaga, Julia Stafford

Population Health Research Brief Series

Food insecurity in families with children has increased dramatically during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Not only is food insecurity a problem on its own, but it is linked to receiving less preventative medical care in the first year of life—including well-child visits and recommended vaccinations. This brief summarizes findings from research examining the connection between SNAP participation and preventative care in an infant’s first year of life in Missouri. Findings show that infants in households that receive unstable SNAP benefits have a lower likelihood of attending all their well-child visits and receiving routine immunizations. Policymakers should consider interventions to simplify …

The U.S. Should Expand Access To Dental Care For Older Adults, Madonna Harrington Meyer, Sarah Reilly, Julia Finan

Population Health Research Brief Series

Older adult Medicare recipients face high out-of-pocket dental expenses due to a lack of appropriate dental care coverage. Older adults with lower socioeconomic status tend to have worse oral health, less dental insurance coverage, greater difficulties finding a dentist, and low-quality care. This brief details the experiences socioeconomically disadvantaged older adults face in obtaining appropriate and affordable dental care and calls on Congress to include preventative and restorative dental care as part of the federal funding agenda.

Is Offense Worth More Than Defense In The National Basketball Association?, Justin Ehrlich, Joel Potter

Sport Management - All Scholarship

Motivated by the popular sports saying, “Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships,” we use Forbes revenue data to quantify whether offense really does sell more ‘tickets’ than defense in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Employing team offensive and defensive win shares as measures of offensive and defensive proficiency, we find offensively oriented teams generate the same amount of revenue as do defensively oriented teams, other things equal. Our results suggest that both profit-maximizing and win-maximizing teams should value offensively and defensively players equivalently (per unit). Thus, in an efficient free agent market, we would expect equilibrium player salaries for offensive …

Older Adults Are More Likely To Avoid Covid-19 Information, Julia Nolte, Corinna Löckenhoff

Population Health Research Brief Series

Older adults are at higher risk of dying from COVID-19 but less interested in information that might lower the risk of getting or spreading the disease. This brief shows that in the first months of the pandemic, older adults were less likely to consume COVID-19 information or media than younger adults. These behaviors are associated with age differences in emotional experiences and preferences, with older adults feeling calmer and more interested in protecting their feelings than younger adults. To keep older adults informed on COVID-19, government and health officials should directly target communication efforts to older adults.

Research Information Management In The United States, Brenna Helmstutler, Jan Fransen, Rebecca Bryant, David Scherer, Pablo De Castro

Librarian Publications

The Research Information Management in the United States two-part report series provides a first-of-its-kind documentation of RIM practices at US research universities that presents a thorough examination of RIM practices, goals, stakeholders, and system components.

Research information management (RIM) is a rapidly growing area of investment in US research universities. While RIM practices are mature in Europe and other locales in support of nationalized reporting requirements, RIM practices at US research universities have taken a different—and characteristically decentralized—course. A complex environment characterized by multiple use cases, stakeholders, and systems has resulted.

This report provides a landscape overview of the state …

Rural Counties Lost More Years Of Life Than Urban Counties In 2020, Yue Sun

Population Health Research Brief Series

Rural mortality rates have been higher than urban mortality rates for decades in the United States. Now, higher COVID-19 mortality rates in rural areas threaten to exacerbate the existing rural mortality penalty. This brief shows that rural counties had higher average years of potential life lost than urban counties in both 2019 and 2020. However, the increase in YPLL between 2019 and 2020 was largest in small rural counties and large rural counties adjacent to metro areas. Federal, state, and local governments must target social, structural, and policy determinants of health and premature mortality that disproportionately affect rural residents.

The Employment Situation Of Veterans: October 2021, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

Veteran employment trends and statistics among various demographics during October 2021.

Women Report Worse Employment Impacts From Family Caregiving, Claire Pendergrast

Population Health Research Brief Series

29.2 million people in the United States, most of them women, act as family caregivers while also holding down a paying job. U.S. social policy is notoriously unsupportive of family caregivers. As a result, families struggling to balance caregiving and paid employment face emotional, social, and financial stress, with especially severe negative impacts for women. This brief uses a nationally representative sample of family caregivers participating the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) to describe gender differences in how providing care to a family member impacts caregivers’ employment experiences. Findings suggest that women are more likely than men to provide …

Behavioral Bias In Occupational Fatality Risk: Theory, Evidence, And Implications, Perry Singleton

Center for Policy Research

Behavioral bias in occupational fatality risk is introduced to the theoretical framework of hedonic wages, yielding an endogenous risk ceiling that increases social welfare. Empirically, bias is most evident among workers with no high school diploma, who do not report relatively greater exposure to death in high fatality rate occupations. These findings suggest that extant population estimates of value of statistical life are biased downwards and should be factored by at least 1.35. Under reasonable assumptions, simulations suggest an optimal risk ceiling between 73.0 to 85.9 percentile of the population distribution of occupational fatality risk.

What Makes A Classmate A Peer? Examining Which Peers Matter In Nyc Elementary Schools, William C. Horrace, Hyunseok Jung, Jonathan L. Pressler, Amy Ellen Schwartz

Center for Policy Research

Generalizing the group interaction model of Lee (2007), we identify and estimate the effects of student level social spillovers on standardized test performance in New York City (NYC) elementary schools. We leverage student demographic data to construct within-classroom social networks based on shared student characteristics, such as a gender or ethnicity. Rather than aggregate shared characteristics into a single network matrix, we specify additively separate network matrices for each shared characteristic and estimate city-wide peer effects for each one. Conditional on being in the same classroom, we find that the most important student peer effects are shared ethnicity, gender, and …

Native Americans In The Military: From Service To Civilian Life, Rosalinda V. Maury, Rachel Linsner, Mary Rachel Keville, Adam Pritchard

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

Throughout American history, Native veterans have answered the call to serve in the Armed Services. Highly regarded within their tribal community for their dedication and commitment to serve in the Armed Services, Native American veterans represent 574 federally recognized tribes. We take this opportunity to honor all Native Americans and acknowledge their ongoing contributions to the success and growth of our nation. This infographic provides key highlights for American Indian and Alaska Native service members and veterans. The information and statistics in this document are from various data collection efforts centered on military life, transition, employment, entrepreneurship, and higher education.

Opportunities For Positive Youth Development: The Organized Activity Participation And Educational Outcomes Of Adolescents In Adopted, Foster, And Kinship Care, Ryan D. Heath, Keunhye Park, Sarah Faith Millward

Falk College Research Center

Purpose: Children who grow up outside the care of their biological parents – e.g., those in adoptive, foster, or kinship (AFK) care – experience poorer educational outcomes than their peers. However, the protective factors that could mitigate any risks of AFK care have received less attention. One understudied area is the participation of AFK youth in organized activities (e.g., extracurricular or afterschool programs).

Method: Drawing on nationally representative data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (n=16,197), this study used multilevel modeling to (1) examine the association of AFK care status with organized activity participation and …

Academic Libraries Collaborating With Graduate Student Organizations, Giovanna Colosi

Librarian Publications

Academic libraries play a crucial role in supporting graduate students, yet engaging this diverse population can be challenging. This lightning talk highlights how Syracuse University Libraries collaborated with the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) to create dynamic, student-centered programming. By leveraging GSO funding, student feedback, and targeted outreach, the library developed the Graduate Research Roundtable Series—offering professional development, research support, and networking opportunities. The collaboration not only expanded library visibility but also fostered deeper connections between librarians and graduate students. This talk provides insights into building successful library-GSO partnerships, securing funding, and creating impactful programming tailored to graduate student needs.

How Are Parental And Sibling Military Service Related To Adolescent Depression And Mental Health Service Use?, Andrew London

Population Health Research Brief Series

Having a parent or sibling serving in the military may lead to distress and mental health problems among adolescents. This research brief examines differences in depression and mental health service use among U.S. adolescents ages 12-17, comparing those who have parents or siblings currently serving in the military to those who do not. The study shows that adolescents are more likely to have an older sibling than a parent in the military. Although current parental military service is not associated with major depression among adolescents, having an older sibling in the military is associated with an increased probability of major …

Do Minimum Charity Care Provision Requirements Increase Provision Of Charity Care In Nonprofit Hospitals?, Michah W. Rothbart, Nara Yoon

Population Health Research Brief Series

Nonprofit hospitals receive significant federal, state, and local tax exemptions, partly based on the rationale that nonprofit hospitals provide public goods and services. Through Minimum Charity Care Provision (MCCP) requirements, nonprofit hospitals are required to spend a certain percentage of their revenues on charity care. However, it is not clear whether these requirements increase spending on charity care. This brief summarizes findings from research examining the differences in provisions of charity care across different hospital market sectors – non-profit, for-profit, and government. Findings suggest that MCCP requirements for nonprofit hospitals do not lead to more charity care. If anything, targeting …

Diversity On Campus: Awareness And Knowledge About Our Newest Federal Holiday, Winn W. Wasson, Jessica M. Rice

Librarian Publications

In late May 2021, Syracuse University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion asked the Syracuse University Libraries to help prepare a reading list about Juneteenth. Library employees, including liaison librarians and members of the Libraries’ Diversity and Inclusion Team, quickly put together a list of resources for each day of the 19-day campus celebration of Juneteenth. We will discuss our working process, lessons learned, and how we might respond to and proactively approach similar requests in the future. We conclude with some reflections on the future of the holiday and protecting it from adulteration now that it has achieved federal recognition.

The U.S. Child Care Subsidy Program Is Underused But Well-Positioned To Promote Racial Equity, Taryn Morrissey, Colleen Heflin, William Fannin

Population Health Research Brief Series

Child care is expensive and difficult to find, especially for infants and toddlers. Compared to their higher-income peers, children from lower-income families are less likely to attend out-of-home early childhood care – which tend to be more expensive but provides more stability and is higher quality than home-based care. This contributes to disparities in school readiness and later life outcomes. This brief summarizes findings from a recently published paper examining administrative data from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Findings suggest that children are least likely to receive subsides when they are infants and toddlers despite early childhood care being the most …

The U.S. Must Invest More In The Child Care Subsidy Program, Taryn Morrissey, Colleen Heflin, William Fannin

Population Health Research Brief Series

Compared to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), child care subsidy programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are underused by families and children. This data slice analyzes 2019 administrative data from Virginia to examine gaps in child care subsidy receipts.

The Employment Situation Of Veterans: September 2021, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

Veteran employment trends and statistics among various demographics during September 2021.

Older Adult Vaccination Rates Lag In Rural Areas And The South, Claire Pendergrast, Yue Sun

Population Health Research Brief Series

Older adults face especially severe health risks from COVID-19 compared to other age groups. Getting vaccinated is the most effective way for older adults to reduce their risk of serious illness or death. This brief examines geographic trends in COVID-19 vaccination rates for adults age 65+. The authors find that older adult vaccination rates are low in rural areas and especially low in the South.

Robust Dynamic Panel Data Models Using ��-Contamination, Badi H. Baltagi, Georges Bresson, Anoop Chaturvedi, Guy Lacroix

Center for Policy Research

This paper extends the work of Baltagi et al. (2018) to the popular dynamic panel data model. We investigate the robustness of Bayesian panel data models to possible misspecification of the prior distribution. The proposed robust Bayesian approach departs from the standard Bayesian framework in two ways. First, we consider the ε-contamination class of prior distributions for the model parameters as well as for the individual effects. Second, both the base elicited priors and the ε-contamination priors use Zellner (1986)'s g-priors for the variance-covariance matrices. We propose a general "toolbox" for a wide range of specifications which includes the dynamic …

Why Are Covid-19 Vaccination Rates Lower In Rural Than In Urban Areas Of The U.S.?, Shannon M. Monnat, Yue Sun

Population Health Research Brief Series

Achieving high vaccination coverage is the best way to prevent coronavirus spread, but COVID-19 vaccination rates vary substantially across the U.S. This brief compares COVID-19 vaccination rates across the U.S. rural-urban continuum and identifies the major contributors to lower rates of vaccination in rural counties. The authors find that higher Trump vote share in the 2020 Presidential election and lower educational attainment collectively explain lower rural vaccination rates.

Elder Mistreatment Is Pervasive In New York State, Karl Pillemer, David Burnes

Population Health Research Brief Series

Elder mistreatment is a pervasive problem that has major health and psychosocial consequences for older adults. This data slice shows that about 10% of older adults (age 60+) in New York State experienced elder mistreatment between 2009 and 2019. Age and poor self-rated health increase the risk of experiencing mistreatment. Black older adults are also at greater risk of financial abuse than Whites. Health care practitioners can play a key role in screening, providing education and awareness, and making appropriate referrals for older adults at risk of mistreatment.

Strengthening Snap And Tanf Is Essential To Support Children In Early Childhood, Colleen Heflin, Michah W. Rothbart, Mattie Mackenzie-Liu

Population Health Research Brief Series

Although early childhood is considered a critical time for investment in a child’s life, the United States lacks many traditional family policy programs like paid family leave and widely subsidized daycare. Instead, the U.S. relies on means-tested programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). This brief summarizes findings from a study examining participation in SNAP and TANF in early childhood in Virginia. Findings suggest that strengthening SNAP and TANF would provide significant benefit to Black and Hispanic children and those residing in rural areas.

The Trauma-Informed Equity-Minded Asset-Based Model (Team) The Six R’S For Social Justice-Oriented Educators, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Emily Riewestahl, Shelby Landmark

Mass Communications - All Scholarship

This paper describes the Trauma-informed Equity-minded Asset-based Model (TEAM) framework for social justice-oriented educators. We draw on trauma-informed approaches to illustrate how systemic racism as systemic trauma and normative whiteness as dominant ideology are embedded in the U.S education and media institutions. From an equity-minded perspective, we critique notions such as egalitarianism, colorblind racism, neoliberal multiculturalism, and abstract liberalism. Using an asset-based model, we urge educators to avoid deficit ideologies to frame marginalized communities. The TEAM approach offers the following “Six R’s” as strategies: (1) Realizing that dominant ideologies are embedded in educational systems, (2) Recognizing the long-term effects of …

Do Media Literacies Approach Equity And Justice?, Paul Mihailidis, Srividya Ramasubramanian, Melissa Tully, Bobbie Foster, Emily Riewestahl, Patrick Johnson, Sydney Angove

Mass Communications - All Scholarship

It is often assumed that media literacy serves to protect and uphold democratic practice and that media literate citizens are the best safeguards for democracy. However, little attention is paid to defining this practice and its relationship to ongoing inequities within democratic societies. In this essay, we argue media literacy operates from three core assumptions; media literacy creates knowledgeable individuals, empowers communities, and encourages democratic participation. The first assumption draws out an individual’s skills and critical thinking in media literacy practices. The second assumption focuses on the community aspect of media literacy, specifically which communities are best served by media …

The Employment Situtation Of Veterans: August 2021, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

Veteran employment trends and statistics among various demographics during August 2021.

Taking The Measure Of Addiction Recovery: A Brief History Of Recovery Capital, Austin Brown

Population Health Research Brief Series

Drug overdose and alcohol-related deaths continue to rise in the United States. Despite the billions of dollars spent on drug and alcohol treatment annually, the U.S has failed to properly deal with addiction. This brief discusses the concept of ‘recovery capital’ as an important theoretical advancement in the field of addiction treatment. It argues that health policies should promote personal, social, community and cultural capital to increase recovery success and measure an individual’s capacity to heal from a substance use disorder.

Research Brief: "Female Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan Seeking Care From Va Specialized Ptsd Programs: Comparison With Male Veterans And Female War Zone Veterans Of Previous Eras", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief summarizes a scholarly article of the same name. It reviews research which analyzes how female veterans were impacted by OEF/OIF in comparison to their male counterparts, in comparison to previous eras.