Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Spiritual Disciplines And Mental Resiliency: The Effectiveness Of Spiritual Coping Mechanisms To Decrease Anxiety And Depression Symptoms, Alysa Lynn Vanderweerd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The outcome of anxiety and depression’s symptomology is an ever-rising global economy cost of 1 trillion U.S. dollars, due to medical costs and loss of productivity, leading researchers and clinicians to search for effective cost saving solutions (Chodavadia et al., 2023). Religion/Spirituality (RS) based cognitive therapy treatments are recognized in alleviating maladaptive behaviors and cognitive distortions, offering comfort to the afflicted, hope and belief that God is available for the seeker (Ramos et al., 2018). Therefore, the researcher conducted an internet-based, self-paced intervention of a mixed methods study of a 40-Day Biblical Worldview Educational Treatment Program of a convenience sample …

Childhood Trauma And The Impact On Education, Lakisha Yvetta Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research aims to evaluate the complex relationship between childhood trauma and mental health disorders of bipolar, anxiety, and depression and their impact on education. Childhood trauma and mental health disorders have been on the rise, creating the need to understand their impact on educational outcomes. Thus, the study's purpose is to comprehend the present gaps in comprehending how these elements, childhood trauma, and mental health disorders affect educational outcomes such as grades and attendance rates. Data from 1000 students between the ages of 12 to 18 years from New York City was utilized. The method of analysis used for …

The Effects Of Online Learning On Mental Health During A Pandemic, Christina J. Mcrae

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study investigated the effects of online learning on mental health. The focus included six aspects: academic performance, physical activity, social isolation, food insecurity and other stressors, pros and cons, and religion and mental health. Each aspect included advantages and disadvantages that adolescent students experienced. The study included 6th - 12th graders attending a Charter school. The eligibility requirement was that participants participated in online learning during the 2020-2021 school year. Academic performance data was obtained from the school office for students who attended the school during online learning and requested from parents if they attended other schools. Both positive …

The Effect Of Crime On Mental Health In South Africa, Magda Tsaneva, Lauren-Kate Laplante

Economics

This paper examines the impact of district-level crime rates in South Africa on individual depression symptoms. We use panel data from the National Income Dynamics Survey collected between 2008 and 2014 and estimate an individual fixed effects regression model, thus controlling for characteristics of the individual's environment that could affect crime and mental health. We find that an increase of one standard deviation in property (violent) crime is associated with a 7.2 (8.7) percentage point increase in the probability of depression symptoms. Analysis of potential mechanisms suggests that indirect exposure to crime likely affects mental health by increasing stress rather …

Student Mental Health During And After The Coronavirus Pandemic, Olivia Harner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The educational setting serves as an influential force when considering the impacts that school can have on student mental health. Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, research revealed negative effects on mental health for a variety of populations across the globe; however, comprehensive reviews about the effect that the pandemic had on the mental health of American K-12 students are limited. Consequently, the purpose of this specialist project is to evaluate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the mental health of American students in grades K-12 through a review of literature. Utilizing PRISMA procedures, 19 articles were selected …

Impact Of Framing Depression On Illness Perceptions And Coping Strategies, Abby Mcginnis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study aimed to adopt an experimental design used by Schroder et al. (2023) to investigate how framing of depression (as a disease vs a functional signal) impacts illness perceptions and coping strategies. Participants were given the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-42) to assess depression severity and prime participants for the framing condition. Each condition had five videos describing depression and the corresponding frameworks. Perceived control, timeline, and causes of depression were measured using the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Participants were given the brief-COPE questionnaire to measure coping strategies, such as avoidant and problem-focused. There were no differences …

Bidirectional Relationships Between Use Of Popular Social Media Platforms And Anxiety, Depression, And Social Support, Olivia Dick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relationship between social media use and mental health outcomes among young populations has been a cause for increasing concern in research. However, the directionality of these relationships remains ambiguous due to existing literature being largely cross-sectional and having limited focus on individual platforms. This study aimed to explore the bidirectional relationship between social media use across prominent platforms and various mental healthrelated outcomes among young adults. A sample of 203 young adults, ages 18-29, completed baseline and 6-month follow-up assessments measuring social media use across Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, as well as measures of depression, anxiety, and perceived friend …

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Universal Depression Screenings In The High School Setting, Telisha Anthony Msn, Fnp-Bc, Jennifer Thorsen Bsn, Rn, Jackie Sharp Dnp, Pmhnp-Bc, Sharon Little Dnp, Fnp-Bc

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose/Background

Depression in adolescents is rising each year. Early detection of depression has been shown to result in better health outcomes and success in school. This scoping review aims to evaluate the implementation of universal depression screenings in the high school setting and how this detection of depression and initiation of treatment.

Methods

From August 2022 to November 2023, we used the Medline, PubMed, Elsevier, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO databases, using specific keywords related to depression in adolescents. Of the 38 articles found, 10 were chosen after extensive article critique. The publication dates ranged from 2014-2023, were full-text, and from …

Investigating The Potential Double-Edged Score Of Immigration-Related Stress, Discrimination, And Mental Health Access, Arthur R. Andrews, Kevin Escobar, Sandra Mariely Estrada Gonzalez, Sara Reyes, Laura M. Acosta

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Prior work has suggested that discrimination and immigration-related stress may impede mental health care seeking and utilization among Latinx populations. These effects may be more nuanced as both discrimination and immigration-related stress may increase symptomology, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Both symptoms may, in turn, prompt attempts to seek care. The current study examined the direct effects of discrimination and immigration-related stress on care access, as well as potentially indirect effects with PTSD and depression symptoms as mediators. Interviews and online surveys were completed with 234 Latinx residents of the Midwest, assessing everyday discrimination, discrimination in healthcare, PTSD …

A Correlational Study Of The Resilience Factors That Promote Mental Health In First Responders, Tamara Rae Grayson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Too often, the title first responder (FR) has been correlated with mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, substance use, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There was a need to address the mental health of this unique at-risk population prior to developing a mindset that being a FR translates into also suffering from mental illness, due to repeated exposure to traumatic situations. The purpose of this correlational study was to identify the resilience factors in FRs, what unique and untreated exposure to traumatic events looks like in FRs, what normal treatment and early interventions for mental illnesses in FRs is, the …

Invarianza De La Escala De Evaluación De Las Relaciones Intrafamiliares En Padres Con Y Sin Migración De Retorno Y Salud Mental [Invariance Of The Intrafamily Relations Evaluation Scale In Parents With And Without Return Migration And Mental Health], María Elena Rivera Heredia, Patricia Andrade Palos, Jaime Fuentes Balderrama, Luis H. Zayas

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Se analizaron las propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Evaluación de las Relaciones Intrafamiliares (ERI) en padres de familia que retornaron a México y que tienen hijos e hijas menores de edad nacidos en E.E.U.U., así como en padres mexicanos sin experiencia migratoria. Participaron189 padres (92 retornados y 97 sin migración). Se llevaron a cabo Análisis Factoriales Exploratorios y Confirmatorios para derivar una versión culturalmente invariante. Una vez obtenidas las evidencias de invarianza configural, métrica, escalar, estricta y estructural, se encontró mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales que la unión y apoyo familiar se asocian con la sintomatología depresiva y …

A Prospective Longitudinal Study Of Depression, Perceived Stress, And Perceived Control In Resettled Syrian Refugees’ Mental Health And Psychosocial Adaptation, B.C.H Kuo, Lance M. Rappaport

Psychology Publications

This prospective study examined the psychosocial adaptation of a community sample of newly resettled Syrian refugees in Canada (N = 235). Specifically, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and perceived control were collected in Arabic at baseline and 1-year follow-up. Two theory-informed, cross-lagged panel models demonstrated that higher baseline depressive symptoms predicted lower perceived self-efficacy and lower perceived control at 1-year follow-up. Similarly, baseline depressive symptoms were concurrently correlated with higher perceived helplessness, lower perceived self-efficacy, and lower perceived control. Secondary regression analyses further demonstrated that baseline depressive symptoms predicted lower perceived social support and higher anxiety symptoms, though neither were …

Infant Hedonic/Anhedonic Processing Index (Hapi-Infant): Assessing Infant Anhedonia And Its Prospective Association With Adolescent Depressive Symptoms, Jessica L. Irwin, Elysia Poggi Davis, Curt A. Sandman, Tallie Z. Baram, Hal S. Stern, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Anhedonia, an impairment in the motivation for or experience of pleasure, is a well-established transdiagnostic harbinger and core symptom of mental illness. Given increasing recognition of early life origins of mental illness, we posit that anhedonia should, and could, be recognized earlier if appropriate tools were available. However, reliable diagnostic instruments prior to childhood do not currently exist.

Methods

We developed an assessment instrument for anhedonia/reward processing in infancy, the Infant Hedonic/Anhedonic Processing Index (HAPI-Infant). Exploratory factor and psychometric analyses were conducted using data from 6- and 12-month-old infants from two cohorts (N = 188, N = 212). …

Profiles Of Activity Engagement And Depression Trajectories As Covid-19 Restrictions Were Relaxed, Jonathan L. Chia, Andree Hartanto, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Given elevated depression rates since the onset of the pandemic and potential downstream implications, this research examined the association between activity engagement and depression among middle-aged and older adults postlockdown. This study aimed to (a) identify activity engagement profiles among middle-aged and older adults, (b) understand factors associated with profile memberships, and (c) compare depression trajectories across profiles as COVID-19 restrictions eased over 16 months in Singapore. This longitudinal study involved 6,568 middle-aged and older adults. Latent growth analysis was first conducted to obtain estimates of depression trajectories for each individual. Latent profile analysis was then conducted to identify different …

The Association Between Coping-Motivated Drinking And Alcohol-Related Consequences., Jacob D. Salser, Ian A. Mcnamara, Ryan W. Carpenter

Undergraduate Research Symposium

ABSTRACT. Background: College students’ alcohol use is an important topic of research. Past research indicates that people who drink to cope are at a higher risk for alcohol-related consequences compared to other drinking motives (i.e., enhancement, social, or conformity motives). This project aims to analyze drinking motives, specifically the subscales of coping-anxiety motives and coping-depressive motives, and their association with alcohol-related consequences in a unique population. In addition, the moderating effects of stress will be tested.

Methods: The data for this project was collected through a survey that was given to students (N=176) at the University of Missouri …

“It’S Not That We Care Less”: Insights Into Health Care Utilization For Comorbid Diabetes And Depression Among Latinos, Sharon Borja, Miriam G. Valdovinos, Kenia M. Rivera, Natalia Giraldo-Santiago, Robin Gearing, Luis R. Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite robust knowledge regarding the socio-economic and cultural factors affecting Latino* access to healthcare, limited research has explored service utilization in the context of comorbid conditions like diabetes and depression. This qualitative study, embedded in a larger mixed-methods project, aimed to investigate perceptions held by Latinos and their social support systems (i.e., family members) regarding comorbid diabetes and depression and to identify barriers and facilitators to their help-seeking behaviors and treatment engagement. Bilingual and bicultural researchers conducted eight focus groups with 94 participants in a large U.S. metropolitan area and were primarily conducted in Spanish. The participants either had a …

A Serial Mediation Model Of Depression And Drinking Motives Underlying Problem Drinking Among Hispanic College Women Following Rape, Michiyo Hirai, Laura L. Vernon, Andrew E. Dials

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Problem drinking and depression are common following sexual assault. The current study applied a coping motives model of drinking and examined the association between rape experiences and problem drinking serially mediated by depression symptoms and coping-depression drinking motives among Hispanic college women. A total of 330 college women were classified into a single rape experience (SGL) group (n = 44), a multiple rape experiences (MLT) group (n = 70), and a no sexual assault experience group (n = 221). Participants completed self-report measures online. Serial mediation analyses with multi-categorical predictors found that significantly increased alcohol consumptions in …

Predictors Of Occupational Distress Of Catholic Priests On The Eastern Seaboard Of The United States, Michael D. Kostick, Xihe Zhu, Justin A. Haegele, Pete Baker

Human Movement Sciences & Special Education Faculty Publications

With ever-increasing demands placed upon active priests in the United States, insight into protecting their mental health may help strengthen vocational resilience for individual priests. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of individual variables, workplace characteristics, and physical activity participation with occupational distress levels among Catholic priests. A 22-question survey consisting of a demographic questionnaire, the Clergy Occupational Distress Index, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was employed to collect individual variables, workplace characteristics, physical activity participation, and occupational distress levels of Catholic priests from the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Regression analyses showed that …

Lifetime Adversity Predicts Depression, Anxiety, And Cognitive Impairment In A Nationally Representative Sample Of Older Adults In The United States, Sangnam Ahn, Kim, Hongmei Zhang, Aram Dobalian, George Slavich

Research Collection School Of Economics

Objective: Although life stress and adversity have emerged as risk factors for mental health problems and cognitive impairment among older adults, prior studies on this topic have been cross-sectional and based on relatively homogeneous samples. To address these issues, we examined prospective associations between lifetime adversity and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment in a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of older adults in the U.S. Method: We analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2016). The sample included 3,496 individuals (59.9% female), aged ≥64 years old (M age=76.0 ±7.6 years). We used the individual-level panel data and ordinary …

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Mother-Focused Interventions To That Of Mother-Child Focused Interventions In Improving Maternal Postpartum Depression Outcomes: A Systematic Review, Divya Kumar, Waqas Hameed, Bilal Iqbal Avan

Community Health Sciences

Background: Most empirically researched interventions for postpartum depression (PPD) tend to target mothers' depression alone. Harmful effects of PPD on physical and mental health of both mother and child has led researchers to investigate the impact of interventions on PPD and child outcomes together. So far, the evidence is limited regarding how these interventions compare with those focusing only on mothers' depression. This review compares the effectiveness of PPD-improving interventions focusing only on mothers with those focusing on mother and child together.
Methods: Nine electronic databases were searched. Thirty-seven studies evaluating mother-focused (n = 30) and mother-child focused interventions (n …

Collaborative Decision Making Improves Interpersonal Psychotherapy Efficiency: A Randomized Clinical Trial With Postpartum Women, Scott Stuart, Rebecca L. Brock, Erin Ramsdell, Stephan Arndt, Michael W. O’Hara

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Randomized controlled trials of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and other psychotherapies for depression have required strict adherence to protocol and do not allow for clinical judgment in deciding frequency of sessions. To determine if such protocols were more effective than allowing therapists to use their clinical judgment, we compared “Clinician-Managed” IPT (CM-IPT), in which clinicians and patients with postpartum depression were allotted 12 sessions and determined collaboratively when to use them, to a once weekly 12 session protocol (“Standard IPT”). We hypothesized that CM-IPT would be more efficient, requiring fewer sessions to reach an equivalent acute outcome, and that …

Social Media & Mental Health: An Examination Of Tiktok & Mental Health Outcomes, Jessica Maddox

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of this research study was to examine the relationship between amount of Tiktok use and the results of various mental health scales. The hypothesis was that increased Tiktok use would be correlated with a decrease in self-esteem, and an increase in depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and overall loneliness. Participants were recruited on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and paid a small monetary benefit in exchange for completion of the study. There were a total of 285 participants. Correlations and linear regression analysis were used to determine statistical significance; results showed no statistical significance and none of the hypotheses were …

Effectiveness Of Post-Abortion Bible Studies On Self-Forgiveness And Depression, Karen Haaland Hubbard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pro-choice and pro-life perspectives differ regarding adverse emotional symptoms after abortion. Pro-choice researchers maintain that abortion presents no more risk of emotional distress than carrying an unplanned pregnancy to term. However, pro-life researchers discuss evidence that abortion does increase the risk of adverse emotional symptoms that persist long after the abortion. Since many women seek faith-based interventions, the purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of the post-abortion Bible study, Forgiven and Set Free by Linda Cochrane, in decreasing depression and increasing self-forgiveness. The first research question was, “Does participation in a post-abortion Bible study increase post-abortive …

Sexual Minorities Are More Depressed And Anxious Than Heterosexuals In The U.S., Especially Among Women, Joshua Grove

Population Health Research Brief Series

Depression and anxiety are harmful to health. People who suffer from depression or anxiety are more likely to engage in risky health behaviors and have higher risk of various chronic diseases and premature death. This data slice uses data from the 2022 National Wellbeing Survey to explore the prevalence of depression and anxiety among U.S. adults ages 18-64. The results show that sexual minority adults are significantly more likely than those who identify as heterosexual to suffer from depression and anxiety, and differences in prevalence rates between sexual minority and heterosexual women are larger than the differences between men.

Editorial: Resilience, Quality Of Life And Psychosocial Outcomes Of Cancer Patients And Their Caregivers, Nida Zahid, Nargis Asad, Ashraf El-Metwally

Department of Surgery

No abstract provided.

Utahns' Wellbeing And Mental Health By Rural-Urban Location, Kristen Koci, Courtney G. Flint, Jessica Ulrich-Schad

All Current Publications

Many Utah residents experience poor mental health, with 1 in 5 Utah adults experiencing some form of mental illness and 1 in 20 experiencing serious mental illness (e.g., bipolar disorder or schizophrenia). Using data from the Utah Wellbeing Survey, this fact sheet explores wellbeing and mental health in Utah by rural-urban location, specifically highlighting differences between rural, growing, and urban places in the state.

Utahns' Wellbeing And Mental Health: Insights From The Utah Wellbeing Survey, Kristen Koci, Courtney G. Flint, Jessica Ulrich-Schad

All Current Publications

People in Utah face unique challenges today, including poor mental health. Using data from the Utah Wellbeing Survey, this fact sheet explores wellbeing and mental health in Utah, highlighting changes over time and emphasizing the increasing importance of mental health to overall personal wellbeing.

Examining The Evidence Base For Burnout, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Burnout has elicited growing interest among occupational health specialists in recent decades. Since 2019, the World Health Organization has characterized burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic, unmanageable workplace stress. Accordingly, three symptoms define the entity: (i) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; (ii) increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism towards one’s job; and (iii) a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment. We call into question the definition of burnout embodied in the Maslach Burnout Inventory and incorporated into the ICD-11. We draw stakeholders’ attention to the fact that burnout’s symptoms and etiology …

Examining The Evidence Base For Burnout, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Burnout has elicited growing interest among occupational health specialists in recent decades. Since 2019, the World Health Organization has characterized burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic, unmanageable workplace stress. According to the ICD-11, three symptoms define the entity: feelings of exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, and a sense of ineffectiveness at work, all of which correspond to the structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The ICD-11 includes burnout among the factors that influence health status. This paper calls into question that conceptualization based on a number of lines of evidence. The evidence includes the following: burnout was …

Law Library Blog (October 2023): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.