Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mental Health Awareness And Advocacy: Assessment Tool Development And An Evaluation Of A College-Based Curriculum, Ty B. Aller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Students’ mental health issues are a common concern on college campuses and are often addressed via prevention programming called mental health literacy. This dissertation consists of two studies regarding mental health literacy programming for college students at a western university in the United States. In study one, the Mental Health Awareness and Advocacy Assessment Tool (MHAA-AT) was created and evaluated for its utility in assessing college students’ mental health literacy. This assessment tool is unique in that it is built upon a process-based approach to mental health literacy. The assessment tool demonstrated adequate psychometric properties and it was deemed an …

Companion Dog Acquisition And Mental Well-Being: A Community-Based Three-Arm Controlled Study, Lauren Powell, Kate M. Edwards, Paul D. Mcgreevy, Adrian Bauman, Anthony L. Podberscek, Brendon Neilly, Catherine Sherrington, Emmanuel Stamatakis

Human-Animal Relationships Collection

Background

Dog ownership is suggested to improve mental well-being, although empirical evidence among community dog owners is limited. This study examined changes in human mental well-being following dog acquisition, including four measures: loneliness, positive and negative affect, and psychological distress.

Methods

We conducted an eight-month controlled study involving three groups (n = 71): 17 acquired a dog within 1 month of baseline (dog acquisition); 29 delayed dog acquisition until study completion (lagged control); and 25 had no intentions of acquiring a dog (community control). All participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale (possible scores 0–60), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule …

Lessons & Landscapes: Lived Experience In The Outdoors, Rachael Grasso

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

This personal narrative documents Rachael Grasso’s lived experience in the outdoors, focusing on mental health and female leadership. Originally written for a graduate capstone presentation, the narrative visits landscapes that Rachael associates with life lessons and pivotal moments in her career and personal life. She hopes to incorporate these experiences into her future work as an educator and outdoor instructor.

Assessing Self-Identified And Meta-Perceived Social Groups For Predicting Day-To-Day Discrimination And Examining Psychological Distress Based On Identity Mismatch, Emily C. Nunez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The way that people are socially assigned may influence how they are targeted for discrimination. Whether self-identified (SI) or meta-perceived (MP) (i.e. perceptions of how one is classified by others) and visibly expressed (VE) (e.g. clothing) social identity better predict day-to-day discrimination is an important question that has not been addressed in previous research. Identity mismatch based on SI and MP social groups may cause psychological distress, and racial ambiguity may contribute to ethnoracial identity mismatch. This thesis utilized a cross-sectional survey conducted in Canada and the United States to assess how levels of day-to-day discrimination varied based on SI …

The Protective Influence Of Self-Compassion Against Internalized Racism Among African Americans, Alexandra Emery

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Racist experiences and internalized racism may lead to poorer mental health outcomes for African Americans born and socialized in the United States (Graham, West, Martinez & Roemer, 2016; Mouzon & McLean, 2017). Self-compassion has been shown to protect against poor mental health outcomes, but limited research exists with respect to African Americans specifically (Lockard, Hayes, Neff and Locke, 2014). The present study explored whether self-compassion could serve as a protective factor between the relations of internalized racism and racist experiences, and the negative mental health outcomes of anxiety, depression, and stress among (N = 230) African American adults. To …

“Para Nunca Más Vivirlo, Nunca Más Negarlo”: El Legado De Violencia Sexual Durante La Dictadura, Isabel De La Torre

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: What are the mental health effects of sexual political violence against women during the dictatorship and during the current socio-political movement?

Objectives: The general objective of this study is to identify how sexual political violence has been used in Chile against women and to analyze its consequences on the mental health of survivors. More specifically, this study attempts to investigate the mechanisms sexual political torture during the dictatorship and now, visibilize the unique damages to mental health caused by this type of violence, and analyze the dictatorial legacy in regards to sexual violence and the current socio-political climate. …

Understanding Offender Needs Over Forms Of Isolation Using A Repeated Measures Design, Michael F. Campagna, Melissa A. Kowalski, Laurie A. Drapela, Mary K. Stohr, Elizabeth Thompson Tollefsbol, Youngki Woo, Xiaohan Mei, Zachary K. Hamilton

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

A number of studies find that solitary confinement is associated with mental impairment. Yet, confinement dosage and which individual and exogenous variables lead to mental impairment have received less attention. This study of 2 years of data on disciplinary segregation male inmates employs a repeated measures design to examine how isolation affects mental health and psychological needs. The findings indicate that the duration of disciplinary segregation and incarceration, incidence of homelessness, and other individual-level factors had deleterious effects on mental health and psychological needs. Vocational programming and a high school education were found to be protective factors for psychological needs.

The Interrelated Nature Of Trauma: Exploring The Narratives Of Persons Living With A Family Member Who Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Emily Johnson

MA Research Paper

The study of the relationship between work-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the family has commonly been approached from both a psychological and psychiatric perspective. Moreover, these studies have primarily focused on how PTSD impacts familial relationships from the perspective of the individual who has PTSD, while little attention has been placed on the viewpoint of family members. By using data obtained from Beyond Blue and Reddit, the current study aims to redress this gap by directly exploring the perceptions of family members living with an emergency service worker who has PTSD. A qualitative content analysis was conducted using …

"Camouflaging" In Women With Autistic Traits: Measures, Mechanisms, And Mental Health Implications, Jonathan S. Beck

Theses and Dissertations

Autistic traits are associated with frequent psychological distress and everyday functional challenges. Some individuals with autistic traits “camouflage” these traits during social interactions by effortfully engaging in “typical” social behaviors. Camouflaging seems to be especially common in autistic girls and women. Emerging evidence proposes a role for camouflaging behaviors in poorer mental health and daily functioning. Furthermore, camouflaging efforts may delay receipt of a proper diagnosis and access to appropriate mental health care. Despite their clinical significance, camouflaging efforts remain difficult to quantify, and the mechanisms and impacts of camouflaging are poorly understood. This study aimed to compare multiple methods …

Describing Therapeutic Relationship Change And Failure In Group Psychotherapy, Harold Thomas Svien

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives. This study reanalyzed data from Burlingame and colleagues’ (2018) randomized controlled trial on the effect of adding Group Questionnaire (GQ) to Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45) feedback. These data were assessed for the feedback effect using the amount of GQ alerts in one session reported by the group member to track change in GQ subscales as a measure of reversing therapeutic relationship failure.Methods. 374 participants engaged in 58 psychotherapy groups. Every participant provided GQ measurements after every group session. These GQ measurements formed ‘person-session units’ representing whether or not each type of alert was present following each group meeting. Person-session units …

Black Women’S Wellbeing: The Intersections Of Race, Immigrant Status, And Mental Health Among African Diasporan Women In Houston, Texas, Sianneh Vesslee

African American and Africana Studies Summer Fellows

My central research question is: how has white supremacy impacted African Diaspora women’s mental health, access to mental healthcare, and identities as mental health patients in the United States as discernible in advertisements and state policies for psychological wellness? More specifically, I will investigate whether and/or how white supremacy shapes the ways in which advertising and state policies for mental healthcare address the particular needs of black women who immigrate to Houston, Texas from Lagos, Nigeria and Coahuila, Mexico. I choose those geographies because Houston is a U.S. city with one of the highest populations of black immigrants from Nigeria …

Disparities In Quality Of Life By Appalachian-Designation Among Women With Breast Cancer, Robin C. Vanderpool, Ann L. Coker, Heather M. Bush, Sarah E. Cprek

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Few studies have examined the association of geography and quality of life (QOL) among breast cancer patients, particularly differences between Appalachian and non-Appalachian Kentucky women, which is important given the cancer and socioeconomic disparities present in Appalachia.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether women with breast cancer residing in Appalachian Kentucky experience poorer health outcomes in regards to depression, stress, QOL, and spiritual wellbeing, relative to those living in non-Appalachian Kentucky after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related factors.

Methods: Women, aged 18–79, recruited from the Kentucky Cancer Registry between 2009 and 2013 with an …

Stigma In Class: Mental Illness, Social Status, And Tokenism In Elite College Culture, Katie R. Billings

Masters Theses

The majority of mental illness on college campuses remains untreated, and mental illness stigma is the most cited explanation for not seeking mental health treatment. Working-class college students are not only at greater risk of mental illness, but also are less likely to seek mental health treatment and hold more stigmatized views toward people with mental illness compared to affluent college students. Research on college culture suggests that elite college contexts may be associated with greater stigmatization of mental illness. This study bridges the social status and college culture literatures by asking—does social status and college context together predict students’ …

Sri Lankan Widows' Mental Health: Does Type Of Spousal Loss Matter?, Katrina Nicole Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined mental health outcomes for widowed Tamil women in Sri Lanka to identify any associations between type of spousal loss and several outcomes, including internalized stigma as a result of widowhood, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. A sample of 381 Tamil female widows living in Eastern Sri Lanka were surveyed in 2016 to understand their experiences in a post-disaster and post-war context. Type of spousal loss was separated into seven categories: war-related death, death as a result of tsunami, illness-related deaths, accidental death, suicide, disappearance, and other. Path analysis was used to assess whether type …

Our Criminal Justice System Should Not Be Our Mental Health System (But It Is), Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Our criminal justice system is like the silt layer at the bottom of the ocean. If a problem isn’t taken care of higher up in society, it will eventually find its way down to the criminal justice system."

Posting about the need for criminal law reform from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/our-criminal-justice-system-should-not-be-our-mental-health-system-but-it-is/

Psychosocial Well-Being And Efforts To Quit Smoking In Pregnant Women Of South-Central Appalachia, Brittney Stubbs, Valerie Hoots, Andrea D. Clements, Beth Bailey

ETSU Faculty Works

Introduction: Psychosocial well-being variables from the Tennessee Intervention for Pregnant Smokers (TIPS) study, a longitudinal smoking cessation study in South-Central Appalachia, were investigated as potential predictors of smoking status.

Methods: A sample of 1031 pregnant women participated in an expanded 5A's (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) program, from 2008 to 2011. Measures of stress, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and disordered eating collected by interview during the first trimester, or during the third trimester in a combined interview if participants began prenatal care late, were hypothesized to differ among three groups of participants: pregnant women who never smoked, pregnant women who smoked …

From Dacamented To Undacamented: The Mental Health Implications Of Daca's Uncertain Future On Latino Immigrants, Isabel Cooper-Perales

Senior Theses

In response to political pressure, President Obama authorized the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. The program gives qualified undocumented young people access to relief from deportation, renewable work permits, and temporary Social Security numbers. This policy opened up access to new jobs, higher earnings, driver’s licenses, health care, and banking. Now that DACA’ status is uncertain, Latino immigrants are faced with severe problems of mental health and wellbeing. Ending DACA without a more permanent program or solution in place has heightened the stress and fear that families with mixed citizenship status have increasingly faced. In this …

Social Work’S Contribution To Research Regarding Suicide Among African Americans, Darius Reed

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

Suicide among African Americans has increased significantly in the past 15 years, yet it remains a neglected topic in social work research. Social workers are the largest direct provider of mental health services in the United States. However their valuable person-in-environment perspective has not been incorporated into research to provide insight on ways to decrease incidents of suicide among African Americans. This systematic review examines social work’s contribution to suicide research while focusing on the social context in which African Americans live. The systematic review also examines protective factors specific to African Americans that can be used to mitigate suicide …

No Need For Words: Participatory Action Research With An Arts-Based Peer Support Group, Samantha Boyce

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The Arts and Peer Support Group (APSG) is a free, open-studio style expressive arts therapy group for adults living with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) guided by clinicians and informed by a recovery orientation to mental health care for SMI. This capstone thesis used an arts-based participatory action research paradigm to explore the value of an expressive arts therapy group for adults living with SMI. The researcher of this capstone thesis hypothesized that an expressive arts therapy framework could be combined with innovative approaches to the recovery orientation, such as mutual recovery, which has encouraged systemic change in society’s perception of …

C'S Get Degrees And Degrees Lead Too…Healthier Mental Health? The Effect Of Cultural And Social Capital On Mental Health, Samantha Garcia

Sociology Senior Seminar Papers

Does social and cultural capital have beneficial outcomes that extend to the mental well-being of First Generation College graduates? Obtaining higher levels of educational degrees is known to produce positive rewards in lifestyle, opportunities, and income. Educational mobility is directly linked to social mobility. As one climbs the social ladder, one builds a broader network of people to rely on. This study analyzes 2010-2014 General Social Survey (GSS) data to report on the relationship between first-generation graduate status and self-reported days of mental health among 1654 non-institutionalized respondents in the U.S. All the parents of the respondents in the subset …

Lgbt+ Teens, Social Media Use & Depressive Symptoms, Megan Curtis, Danielle Ryder

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Sexual and gender minority youth are statistically more likely to face severe mental health challenges than their cisgender, heterosexual peers; they consistently comprise a disproportionate percentage of youth who report experiencing depression, suicide ideation and attempted suicide in the United States every year (e.g. Abreu & Kinney, 2018). The aim of this study was to fill a gap in the current literature base by investigating the effects of social media use on sexual and gender minority youth mental health. The researchers conducted an online anonymous questionnaire targeted toward American LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, etc.) youth ages 14 to 18, …

A Thematic Analysis Of Adults’ Reflection On Childhood Experiences Being Parented By An Adult With Mental Health Issues, Jennifer Luja, Meg O'Malley

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Children are impacted by their relationships with caregivers. The objective of this research was to develop awareness of the impact on children being cared for by caregivers with mental health issues by examining the experiences of individuals who had a caregiver with severe and persistent mental health issues during childhood. Researchers also gained insight on how social workers can be more supportive to children in these circumstances. The researchers conducted interviews with five participants, the recordings of which were then transcribed and coded to identify themes. Prevalent themes include critiques of available services, resiliency and challenges of family members as …

Perceptions Of Mental Health: Eight Conversations With Mainers From Africa, Teresa Sosa, Emelda Ogweta

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

As of 2016, 42 million refugees from around the world had been forced to flee their homes due to war, persecution, or natural disaster (George & Jettner, 2016). Due to these factors, as well as relocation and resettlement, refugees are at a significant risk for trauma and other mental health issues (George & Jettner, 2016). While the literature consistently validates this heightened risk for mental illness in refugees, more research is needed into refugee's perspectives on mental health. Through analysis of semi-structured interviews with eight refugees from Africa, this phenomenological study investigated refugee's perceptions of mental health and mental illness. …

Child Poverty, Physical & Mental Health In Maine, Katelyn Malloy

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Children who live below the national poverty line account for nearly one fifth of Maine’s overall population. Child poverty is a determinant of health that can lead to negative health outcomes that affect childhood development, educational achievement, as well as physical and mental health. The purpose of this study was to identify five Maine counties with the highest rates of child poverty according to the national average. Comparison of poverty rates between counties were analyzed along with two leading health indicators – mental and physical distress. This study used 2016 county-level childhood poverty estimates, assessed by the American Community Survey …

Mind Over (What Doesn’T) Matter: De-Stigmatizing Mental Health From Senegalese Women’S Perspectives, Jenna Marks

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As a matrilocal and collectivist society, Dakar is an urban space where the woman is at the center. With this in mind, it is possible to understand all the pressures women in urban Senegalese society face. Women are the center of the household, thus being responsible for the family, finances, and the social aspect of welcoming visitors. In addition to these factors, women in Senegal also deal with community expectations and responsibilities since there is larger emphasis on the community, rather than the nuclear family in Senegalese society. This paper examines how these two aspects of Senegalese society (matrilocality and …

Mental Health And The Relationship Between Parental Divorce And Children’S Higher Degree Acquisition, Brittany V. Pittelli

Theses and Dissertations

Studies between parental divorce and children’s educational attainment have been extensively observed in family research. However, few studies have attempted to examine the negative relationship of those associations with graduate level attainment. This study suggests that parental divorce is associated with diminished overall mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms) in children, and that this decrease may help explain the connection between parental divorce and lower graduate level academic attainment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), a nationally representative sample of nearly 9,000 individuals interviewed, this study outlines hypotheses that link parental divorce, mental health, and graduate …

Interpersonal Discrimination And Mental Health Among Minority Students At Predominantly White Institutions: Does Racial Identity Matter?, Marissa Lynn Cardwell

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Large proportions of minority group members commonly report experiencing interpersonal racial discrimination in many different domains of their lives, and this exposure to discrimination may be particularly salient for minority group members attending Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). Persistent exposure to discrimination has been linked to diminished wellbeing. Given this link, research has begun to identify potential buffers to the association between racial discrimination and diminished mental health. One such protective factor is racial ideology. The current paper investigates whether racial identity attitudes serve as protective factors between racial discrimination and mental health outcomes using daily diary data from 146 students …

Stories Of Children, Youth, And Families’ Adaptation To Community Living In The First Year After Involvement With Children’S Residential Mental Health Programs, Karen M. Frensch, Gary Cameron

Partnerships for Children and Families Project

Twenty-two youth between the ages of 14 and 18 years old who were involved with residential programs from participating children’s mental health organizations in Southern Ontario, Canada during 2015 to 2017 participated in a study of adaptation to community living in the first year following program exit. Youth, parents, child welfare workers, and mental health workers took part in qualitative interviews up to three times during the study period. Interview comments were used to construct a narrative or “story” of the year following program exit that integrated multiple informants’ perspectives of how each youth was functioning within that timeframe. Stories …

Examining The Nexus Of Obesity, Mental Health And Rural County Level Food Access: Testing The Enduring Role Of Persistent Poverty, Margaret Ralston, Kecia Johnson, Leslie Hossfeld, Bettina Beech

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study investigates the nexus between obesity, mental health, and food access across counties in the state of Mississippi. Recent research suggests that food access and poor nutrition may not only lead to poor physical health, but may also increase depression. Data from the USDA and the CDC were used to estimate obesity and mental health rates across counties. Analyses revealed that poverty was the key factor influencing on obesity and mental health at the county level. More specifically, county level per capita SNAP benefits and status of persistent poverty were predictors of obesity and mental health. Findings are discussed …

Effects Of Police-Mental Health Collaborative Services On Calls, Arrests, And Emergency Hospitalizations, Sean Russel-Jacque Zauhar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the increasing amount of police calls involving persons experiencing a mental health crisis (PICs), agencies are looking for ways to reduce the overuse of emergency services and criminal confinement. Police-mental health collaborative (PMHC) programs were developed to utilize the expertise of both mental health and law enforcement practitioners to provide immediate linkage to psychiatric services in an effort to prevent unnecessary involvement in the criminal justice system. The theoretical framework for this study was built on the sequential intercept model (SIM) along with the theories of social network and social support. The SIM identifies 5 key points where PICs …