Community Psychology Commons^™

Effectiveness Of A Peer-Supported Digital Brief Intervention: Reducing Alcohol Use & Related Harms In Young Adults With Histories Of Interpersonal Trauma, Caitlin Mcgettrick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Alcohol is the most frequently used substance in the United States, and young adults ages 18-25 have the highest rates of heavy alcohol use. Heavy and persistent alcohol use is associated with a host of negative outcomes in young adults, including poor mental health, lower life satisfaction, cognitive impairments, poor academic performance, increased risk for motor vehicle accidents, and substance use disorders. Brief interventions (BI) are low-resource, short-term interventions designed to reduce problematic substance use and mitigate the substantial harms posed by heavy and persistent use of substances such as alcohol. BIs have limited effectiveness in trauma survivors despite trauma …

Examining The Associations Between Experiences Of Perceived Racism And Drug And Alcohol Use In Aboriginal Australians, Victoria Gentile, Adrian Carter, Laura Jobson

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Objective
This study aimed to explore the relationships between experiences of perceived racism, mental health and drug and alcohol use among Aboriginal Australians.

Method
Sixty-two Aboriginal Australians, ranging in age from 19-64 years (M_age = 33.71, SD = 12.47) and residing in Victoria completed an online questionnaire containing measures of perceived racism, alcohol use, substance use and mental health.

Results
First, 66% of the sample reported experiencing interpersonal racism, with the highest proportion of reported experiences occurring in health settings, educational/academic settings and by staff of government agencies. Second, perceived racism was significantly associated with poorer mental health …

Treatment Access For Dual Diagnosis Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Pedro Banuelos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2018, of 1.3 million Latinx adults in the United States facing concurrent issues with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health disorders (MHD) 93% remained untreated for either diagnosis. This is concerning since Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) data reveals that this population is at greater risk for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. They also face structural barriers such as employment, housing, legal involvement, and insurability that further impede access to treatment.

This study’s purpose was to examine barriers to accessing treatment for Latinx populations confronting co-occurring SUDs and MHDs. This study used a qualitative design …

Targeting Youth’S Motivation To Change Substance Use Behaviors: Feasibility And Preliminary Outcomes From An Open Trial Of The Free Talk Program In A Short-Term Juvenile Detention Facility, Cassidy L. Tennity

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Juvenile offenders who use substances are at an increased risk for multitude of negative outcomes, including substance use problems in adulthood and recidivism. Interventions that are effective in community settings or long-term juvenile justice settings may not be well suited for implementation in short-term juvenile detention facilities. Free Talk (FT; D’Amico, Chan Osilla, & Hunter, 2010) is a brief motivational intervention that targets motivation to change substance use. The current study aimed to determine whether youth participating in FT within a short-term juvenile detention center reported expected changes in motivation to change substance use. Additionally, we aimed to assess whether …

How Women Navigate Safety In The Dominican Bateyes, Mary Margaret Tull

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that individuals of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic are at high risk of violence and experience multiple levels of structural oppression. However, less research exists specifically for women of Haitian descent, who are at unique risk of violence due to the complex political history between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as structural and gendered violence. I use frameworks of socio-ecological systems, intersectionality, structured violence, and gendered violence to consider how women of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic construct safety and prioritize different needs for their survival. I used thematic analysis to analyze life …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Peer Engagement And Knowledge (Peak): A Community-Based Group Intervention For Youth In Hawai‘I, Jennifer T. T. Ho

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is a program evaluation with a mixed methods design that evaluated the effectiveness of Peer Engagement and Knowledge (PEAK), a six-week community-based group intervention that incorporates mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to address multiple health behaviors for multiracial youth in Hilo, Hawai‘i. A total of 51 youth, ages 12-23 years old, participated in this study which included pre-/posttest analyses of health risk factors such as substance use and depression and health promoting factors such as resilience, self-esteem, and mindfulness. Responses from two subsets of participants, who engaged in a focus group (n = 11) and composed gratitude letters ( …