Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Intergenerational Financial Exchange And Cognitive Well-Being Among Older Adults In China, Ping Xu

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Although cognitive loss is part of normal aging, it has unfavorable consequences for older individuals, their family, as well as society. The prevalence of mild cognition impairment is expected to go up in China. How to maintain normal cognition for a longer period of time and to delay impair process is an emerging concern for older Chinese adults. Unlike Western countries, China lacks of formal support system. Intergenerational support between older parents and adult children is a predominant resource when they are in need. This study examines how intergenerational financial exchanges between older parents and their adult children is related …

Differences In Mental Health Education Across Baby Boomers, Generation X, And Millennials, Ashlyn M. Avera

Honors College Theses

There is no denying that mental illness has gained a strong prevalence in the United States. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately one in five adults in the United States experiences a mental illness in any given year. Although mental health stigmas have played a role in the past, it does not mean they must continue to play the same role in the future. Research is now looking toward ways to decrease mental health stigma through increasing mental health knowledge. This study examines the starting point for which a society becomes literate in mental health. Using a …

'The Environment Says It's Okay': The Tension Between Peer Support And Police Culture, Cindy Hohner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study evaluates the implementation and subsequent operation of a peer support program in a Canadian police service. Data was collected from an online survey, available to the police service for a period of one year, and 16 in-depth interviews with peer support team members. There is very little data on police peer support programs in the literature. Thus, the purpose of the survey was to gain an understanding of what issues members believe a peer support program should address, the circumstances under which they would seek help from the peer support program, and the reasons they may or may …

Imprisoned In The Hood: An Examination Of Social Ecology Influenced By Mass Incarceration And Its Effects On Low Income College Students Stress Levels, Christion V. Smith

Undergraduate Research

Incarceration was once a promising crime control strategy, but over the last four decades it has increased exponentially and has been highly concentrated in disadvantaged communities. These high rates of imprisonment may be harming those communities greatly because at high rates incarceration loses its crime fighting ability and increases crime, which may compromise community safety and overall health. The current research explores the effects that high rates of neighborhood incarceration have on nonincarcerated individuals’ stress levels and mental health. Data for this study were collected from a convenience sample of students in the La Salle University’s Academic Discovery Program (ADP) …

Workforce Well-Being: Personal And Workplace Contributions To Early Educators' Depression Across Settings, Amy M. Roberts, Kathleen C. Gallagher, Alexandra Daro, Iheoma Iruka, Susan Sarver

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

Building on research demonstrating the importance of teachers' well-being, this study examined personal and contextual factors related to early childhood educators' (n =1640) depressive symptoms across licensed child care homes, centers, and schools. Aspects of teachers' beliefs, economic status, and work-related stress were explored, and components of each emerged as significant in an OLS regression. After controlling for demographics and setting, teachers with more adult-centered beliefs, lower wages, multiple jobs, no health insurance, more workplace demands, and fewer work-related resources, had more depressive symptoms. Adult-centered beliefs were more closely associated with depression for teachers working in home-based settings compared …

Sex Work And Compromised Health: Health Conditions And The Barriers To Accessing Treatment Services In Pelourinho, Salvador, Amelia Fox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sex workers remain one of the most marginalized populations in Brazilian society, both coming from and living within realities defined by poverty and poor health. Through partnership with Força Feminina – an organization located in Salvador, dedicated to aiding local sex workers– I explored the day-to-day health complications sex workers encounter and the impact these problems have on quality of life. I then questioned how discrimination and stigma impact a woman’s willingness to prioritize her health and seek out healthcare services. To pursue these questions, I utilized participant observation, interviews with 4 staff members – a pastoral educator, financial coordinator, …

The Perceived Mental Health Effects Of China’S One-Child Policy, Avery Rasmussen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study looked at the perceived impacts of China’s 30 year One-Child Policy (OCP). Previous studies suggested the OCP affected Chinese culture and society in a number of ways, however no studies (to the knowledge of the principal investigator) had looked at perceptions of the effects of the OCP on anxiety levels and other mental health issues of students in China. This study sought to fill the aforementioned knowledge gap and aimed to determine perceptions about the mental health effects of the OCP on students. Specifically, this study endeavored to gain a better understanding of perceptions of the effects of …

Disadvantaged Status And Health Matters Networks Among Low-Income African American Women, Erin Pullen, Carrie B. Oser

Sociology Faculty Publications

A significant gap in current network research relates to understanding the factors that shape the health matters (HM) networks of marginalized, socially disadvantaged populations. This is noteworthy, given that these networks represent a critical resource for mitigating the adverse health effects of both acute and chronic strains associated with marginalized status. Further, research has suggested that the networks of such populations—especially low-income African American women—are unique, and may operate in substantively different ways than those of other groups. Using two waves of data from a sample of low-income African American women, this research identifies the demographic, health status, and health …

Understanding Resilience Strategies Among Minor-Attracted Individuals, Allyson Walker

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The field of criminology generally assumes that attraction to minors is synonymous with sex offending. This erroneous and reductive assumption has led to a lack of exploration into the lives of individuals who are attracted to minors and who live their lives without offending. The lack of research on this topic reinforces the already overwhelming stigma against this population, and has limited our understanding of how individuals who are attracted to minors strategize to refrain from offending. This knowledge may also help others struggling with these attractions to remain resilient.

This dissertation is a result of efforts to learn more …

Farley, Seth Thomas, Jr., 1917-1999 (Mss 617), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 617. Correspondence, documents, news clippings and ephemera from Seth Thomas Farley, Jr., a life-long educator. This collection includes a good deal of information about Farley’s teaching career prior to his work as a professor at WKU, his involvement in organizations that fought alcoholism and gambling (particularly the lottery in Kentucky), his church work, and his service on a committee to choose a federal magistrate for the western district of Kentucky. The collection includes an entire box of assessment related material related to Fort Knox Dependent Schools in the mid-1960s.

Depressive Symptoms In Mexican-Origin Adolescents: Interrelations Between School And Family Contexts, Prerna G. Arora, Lorey Wheeler

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study, as guided by cultural-ecological frameworks, examined multiple contextual stressors, including subjective economic hardship, acculturation, discrimination, and negative perceptions of school safety, as simultaneously linked to adolescents’ depressive symptoms, as well as the role of gender, familism values, family cohesion, and school connectedness on these associations. Data come from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (Portes and Rumbaut 2012) that included second-generation 8th- and 9th-grade children of foreign-born parents from the Mexican-origin subsample (n = 755; 52% male; time 1 M age = 14.20 years). Adolescents were either born in (60%) or immigrated prior to age 5 to …

Does How We Feel About Financial Strain Matter For Mental Health?, Sarah D. Asebedo, Melissa J. Wilmarth

Journal of Financial Therapy

This study investigated how stress responses to financial strain are related to mental health (i.e., depression) to answer the question: Does how we feel about financial strain matter? Informed by the ABC-X model of family stress and analyzed with data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), results reveal that financial strain is significantly related to increased depression; however, financial stress was found to moderate this relationship. Financially strained respondents without a stress response did not have significantly different depression scores than those who were not experiencing financial strain; however, depression scores increased as the stress response to financial strain …

Halton Region Youth In/At Risk Research Report, Ferzana Chaze, Bethany Osborne, Thomas Howe

Publications and Scholarship

The goal of the research was to conduct a Needs Assessment in relation to services for in/at-risk groups of youth between the ages of 16-24 years of age within the Halton region:

1. To identify the existing services available to meet the needs of the youth

2. To identify the gaps/duplication within services in order to suggest future fundable solutions.

Launched May 2018: Halton Region Youth In/At Risk Research Report now has a companion website http://halton-youth-need.webflow.io/

The website was designed by students from the Interaction Design Program at Sheridan and profiles the Halton Region Youth In/At Risk research findings in …

Trigger Warnings: From Panic To Data, Francesca Laguardia, Venezia Michalsen, Holly Rider-Milkovich

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Following a practice that originated online, university faculty and staff have increasingly used “trigger warnings” to alert students to the possibility that they might be affected or even harmed by potentially traumatic material. This practice has led to a passionate debate about whether such warnings stifle or encourage student expression and academic freedom, and whether they are beneficial or detrimental to learning. In this article, we illustrate the history and current state of this debate and examine the scientific support for the arguments for and against the use of such warnings. Specifically, we question the scientific basis for the suggestion …

Research Brief: "Impact Of Military Trauma Exposures On Post-Traumatic Stress And Depression In Female Veterans", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief is about the relation between combat stressors, depression, and PTSD among female veterans. In policy and practice, health providers should refer female veterans to services if they have experienced military sexual trauma; the DoD and VA should conduct analysis on the experiences of service and veteran women, and how they can best support service women who experienced military sexual trauma. Suggestions for future research include using an expanded sample and more sampling strategies, as well as use clinical interviews to collect data.

Threat Of Deportation As Proximal Social Determinant Of Mental Health Amongst Migrant Workers, Nicholas Harrigan, Yee Koh Chiu, Amirah Amirrudin

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

While migration health studies traditionally focused on socioeconomic determinants of health, an emerging body of literature is exploring migration status as a proximate cause of health outcomes. Study 1 is a path analysis of the predictors of mental health amongst 582 documented migrant workers in Singapore, and shows that threat of deportation is one of the most important proximate social determinants of predicted mental illness, and a mediator of the impact of workplace conflict on mental health. Study 2 is a qualitative study of the narratives of 149 migrant workers who were in workplace conflict with their employers, and demonstrates …

Solitary Confinement: Social Death And Its Afterlives, Jen Rushforth

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Innovation In Model Project Design: Addressing Mental Health Symptoms Among Co-Occurring Substance Use And Mentally Ill Clients Who Are Homeless In A Local Community Clinic Setting, Isis Dian Martel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Homeless persons with co-occurring substance use combined with mental illness constitute a particularly vulnerable subgroup with complex service needs. Unfortunately, the capacity to deliver critical treatment services has been extremely limited causing many from this population to remain untreated. Untreated co-occurring disorders can lead to a host of difficulties for both the individual and the community (Bouchery, Harwood, Sacks, Simon, & Brewer, 2011). Developing community based intervention services in Arkansas is a key activity necessary in strategically addressing this problem (Barbee, Gonzales, & Shelor, 2016). In partnership with the Arkansas Division of Behavioral Health Services, a local community treatment provider …

A Longitudinal Study Of Resident Emotional Stability, Self-Reported Health And Perceptions Of Programmatic Support, Aaron B. Franzen, Benjamin R. Doolittle

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Certain characteristics such as acceptance, planning, and humility have correlated with less burnout among resident physicians. However, less is known about residency program culture, socialization, and support. The purpose of this study is to investigate social isolation, solidarity, stress, and frustration over time, their self-reported health, as well as the programmatic support.

Methods: A longitudinal self-administered survey implemented within an academic pediatric residency program to track resident characteristics over time.

Results: In Wave 1, among 101 residents, 78 (77%) responded. In Wave 2, among 98 residents, 73 (74%) responded. 45 residents were in both Wave 1 and 2. All …

Lgbt Student Experiences In Boston Public Schools: A Case Study, David Geyer

Honors College Theses

While the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community has overcome great obstacles in its fight for equality, the newest challenge has become the poor mental health of the LGBT youth. In this study, the experiences of a recently graduated LGBT Boston Public Schools student were investigated through qualitative research methods. Interviews with the student were analyzed to determine what factors contributed to his overall positive experiences and mental health as a bisexual student attending Boston Public Schools. The showing of support from his mother and peers, along with the presence of a Gay-Straight Alliance club at his school positively affected …

Stress Buffer Or Identity Threat?: Negative Media Portrayal, Public And Private Religious Involvement, And Mental Health In A National Sample Of Us Adults, Samuel Stroope, Mark H. Walker, Aaron B. Franzen

Faculty Publications

Guided by the stress process tradition, complex links between religion and mental health have received growing attention from researchers. This study gauges individuals’ public and private religiosity, uses a novel measure of environmental stress—negative media portrayal of religion—and presents two divergent hypotheses: (1) religiosity as stress-exacerbating attachment to valued identities producing mental health vulnerability to threat and (2) religiosity as stress-buffering social psychological resource. To assess these hypotheses, we analyze three mental health outcomes (generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and general mental health problems) in national U.S. data from 2010 (N = 1,714). Our findings align with the stress-buffering perspective. Results …

Cumulative Sexual Victimization And Mental Health Outcomes Among Incarcerated Women, Jennifer Hartsfield, Susan F. Sharp, Sonya Conner

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This research explores the relationship between three different types of self-reported sexual victimization and subsequent mental health problems in a sample of incarcerated women. Previous literature establishes a link between victimization histories and poor mental health outcomes. This study focuses on sexual victimization experienced as a child, as an adolescent and as an adult, both individually and cumulatively, in relation to entering prison with a mental health diagnosis as well as reporting current depressive symptoms while incarcerated. Each type of victimization is significantly related to both prior mental health diagnosis and current depression in prison. Furthermore, there is an additive …

Mental Health Disparities By Identity Among Gender And Sexual Minorities, Shelby Flanagan

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

One of the major obstacles faced by the queer and trans community is the poorer mental health outcomes this group tends to have. There is a disparity in mental health between people who are part of gender and sexual minority groups, and those who are not, meaning that gender and sexual minorities tend to have poorer mental health outcomes and higher incidences of mental health symptoms than people outside of that community. Due to the connection between mental health, marginalization, and stigma in society, this disparity may weigh more heavily on people whose identities are especially marginalized, such as bisexuals, …

Religiosity And Depression In College Students By Year In School, Ciara Saylor

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The purpose of this research is to identify and analyze if there is a relationship between levels of religiosity and levels of depression in college students. This study particularly looks at how this link changes depending on students' year in school. The study in this paper was conducted by surveying 100 college students on their levels of religious attendance, importance of prayer, importance of religious communities, and their feelings towards religious news and events. The study also employed the Zung depression scale to survey the student's mental health and levels of depression. This research can be used to identify what …

Impact Of Social Support Networks On Level Of Stress And Self-Esteem Among Canadian Immigrants, Jackie Williamson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Immigration may be an effective survival strategy for individuals from countries involved in war or political unrest.However, the immigration process may exacerbate a number of physical and psychological health symptoms. There are limited data on the health status of new Canadian immigrants, and some social support networks are not formally connected to settlement programs.The purpose of this cross-sectional quantitative study was to assess the level of stress and self-esteem of 400 recent and older immigrants in Canada, and to investigate the impact of social support networks on the mental well-being of recent immigrants.Cultural care and general adaptation theory provided the …

Recidivism Rates Among Juveniles With Mental Illness, Kia Chevon Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Treating mental illness is imperative to help reduce criminal justice involvement within the juvenile population. Receiving mental health care will help decrease the likelihood for youth to reoffend, ultimately reducing recidivism rates. Past studies showed there are risk factors associated with juveniles and recidivism; however, very few studies have examined what factors are prevalent after services have been received. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that increase the risk of recidivism among juveniles who have received psychiatric stabilization in Harris County, Texas. Risk factors that were assessed included age, gender, ethnicity, and criminal offense. The psychodynamic perspective …

The Role Of Afrocentric Features In Mental Healthcare Utilization And Counselor Preferences In Black College Students, Randl B. Dent

Theses and Dissertations

Though mental health issues are prevalent in Black young adults, they underutilize mental healthcare services. This research examined the role of feature-based discrimination in mental healthcare (under)utilization. Study 1, a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, provided no evidence supporting a link between skin tone and mental healthcare utilization, when controlling for depression diagnosis. However, when controlling for depression symptoms, there was a trend such that Black young adults with darker, as opposed to lighter, skin tone utilized healthcare less. Study 2, an experimental study with 33 Black college students, showed 73% of the …