Community Psychology Commons^™

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Depression, And Resilience In African-American Adolescents, Jamie C. Freeny

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Research shows that exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is common among adolescents; however, no studies have examined the prevalence of ACEs in a racially homogenous sample of African-American adolescents. Thus, the present study examined the cumulative and individual prevalence of ACEs in African-American adolescents. Data were collected from African-American adolescents (n = 241) who attended youth events hosted by churches in Houston, TX. An expanded ACEs tool was used to collect data. ACE scores were summed and dichotomized to 0-3 ACEs versus 4-19 ACEs because a score of four or more indicates a higher risk for adverse mental and …

Factors Associated With Civilian And Police Officer Injury During 10 Years Of Officer-Involved Shooting Incidents: A Cross-Sectional Analysis, Ellen Paddock

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Purpose. Law enforcement officer-involved shootings are uncommon events in the context of encounters with the public, but extreme situations which have the potential to pose immense harm to individuals and communities. Previous research demonstrates that a large proportion of such incidents result in injury or death, most commonly to civilians, but in some cases to officers as well. However, there has been little study of what factors are associated with injury during such incidents, and whether these factors might differ for civilians compared to officers. This study examined the factors associated with both civilian and officer injury and/or fatality during …

Development And Usability Testing Of Quit4health, A Smoking Cessation Smartphone App For Young Adults, Katarzyna Czerniak

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Tobacco use is the leading cause of death in the United States. As of 2016, 23.5% of American 18-25 year olds reported having used cigarettes in the last month compared to 20.2% of adults and only 3.4% of adolescents. Due to the efficacy and widespread general use of mobile technology today, mobile-phone health, or mHealth apps, have become increasingly popular methods of delivering smoking cessation programs. However, there is a lack of evidence in regards to the quality and the effectiveness of using mHealth to deliver smoking cessation interventions to young adults. This study aims to fill this gap to …

Hours Of Gaming Or Non-Academic Computer Use, Substance Use, Mental Health Status And School Performance Among Texas Adolescence: Findings From The 2017 Yrbs In Texas, Shanxiazi Gao

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Online gaming activities among adolescents and adults has increased exponentially in the last decade, and mental health issues associated with excessive gaming have drawn attention from health care professionals worldwide (Griffith, 2016). Recognizing this trend, American Psychiatric Association (APA) categorized gaming disorder/addiction as a mental health condition in 2013 in an effort to prevent the expansion of relevant mental health issues (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared gaming disorder/addiction as a mental health disease, (World Health Organization, 2018). As a result of this declaration, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) has established nine …

How Participatory Are We? A Systematic Review Comparing Women’S Participation In Participatory Action Research, Community Based Participatory Research And Participatory Learning In Action, Magdalene Hakala-Hartman

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Objective. This systematic review compares the extent of participation of women in maternal and child health and healthy living-type research projects based on three participatory research frameworks, Participatory Action Research (PAR), Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), and Participatory Learning in Action (PLA), by examining roles, tasks, engagement, and the duration and complexity of their participation- as guided by the Community Engagement in Research Index (CERI). The review analyzed differences in underlying structure of the studies connected to their theoretical underpinnings. Methods. Ovid Medline, PubMed, EBSCO, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, and Academic Search Complete were searched for studies published 2009 – 2018. …

Quantifying The Impact Of Laboratory And Care Systems On Relinkage To Hiv Care In A Southern, Urban Environment, Kellie L. Watkins

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background: HIV viral suppression reduces the likelihood of transmission to just 5%,1 demonstrating the critical link between care and prevention, yet only 51% of people living with HIV (PLWH) were retained in care and 46% achieved viral suppression in the Houston area (2012), with the out-of-care (OOC) population increasing between 2008-2011.2,3

Methods: Record-search investigations across HIV surveillance and care data systems determined if potentially OOC persons referred to the Houston Health Department (HHD) from 2013-2015 (N=1287) qualified for public health follow up. A portion were randomized to a non-intervention group (n=200) to assess the program effectiveness. Participants without a disposition …

Sociodemographic Determinants Of Mental Health Outcomes Among Unhealthy Weight Youth In The United States, Chenchita Malolan

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background

The prevalence of unhealthy weight (defined as a body mass index ≥ 85th %ile for age and sex) among children and adolescents in the United States remains unacceptably high. In parallel, the prevalence of mental health issues in youth is rising as well. Current research shows a strong association between overweight/obesity and poor mental health outcomes. Specifically, youth of unhealthy weight have higher rates of anxiety and depression. The objective of this study is to evaluate the specific the current (2016-17) population-level prevalence of unhealthy weight, mental health issues and the sociodemographic (e.g. sex, age, race, ethnicity, household income) …

A Secondary Data Analysis For The Refinement Of Empirical Modelling For The Estimation Of Environmental Health & Safety Program Resourcing For Colleges And Universities, Seth Michael Parker

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The use of potentially hazardous physical, chemical, biological, and radiological agents is inherent to the teaching, research, and services missions of any university. To manage the risks associated with these agents, it is common for universities to host environmental health & safety (EH&S) programs to protect the safety of the institution’s students, faculty, staff, and visitors. However, since EH&S programs in universities are primarily focused on prevention, it is difficult to estimate the appropriate “industry average” in terms of budget and staffing resources a particular university needs for such programs. Historically, the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA) …

Alcohol Expectancies Among Students In The City Of Pokhara, Nepal, Niran Tamrakar

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

Alcohol plays a vital role in various aspects of Nepalese society. It also presents public health risks. Though adolescents in Nepal are at high risk for negative consequences from alcohol use, there is limited information available on their alcohol behaviors and beliefs. The present study aims to describe alcohol expectancies among a sample of secondary students in Nepal to identify and understand motivations underlying their alcohol-related behaviors. A self-report survey was administered to 591 students from different Englishmedium schools in the city of Pokhara. This study began with the Chinese Adolescent Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (CAAEQ), then used qualitative methods to …

Spatio-Temporal Distribution Of Negative Emotions In New York City After A Natural Disaster As Seen In Social Media, Oliver Gruebner, Sarah R. Lowe, Martin Sykora, Ketan Shankardass, Sv Subramanian, Sandro Galea

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Disasters have substantial consequences for population mental health. We used Twitter to (1) extract negative emotions indicating discomfort in New York City (NYC) before, during, and after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. We further aimed to (2) identify whether pre- or peri-disaster discomfort were associated with peri- or post-disaster discomfort, respectively, and to (3) assess geographic variation in discomfort across NYC census tracts over time. Our sample consisted of 1,018,140 geo-located tweets that were analyzed with an advanced sentiment analysis called ”Extracting the Meaning Of Terse Information in a Visualization of Emotion” (EMOTIVE). We calculated discomfort rates for 2137 NYC census …

Never Again! Surviving Liberalized Prostitution In Germany, Sandra Norak, Ingeborg Kraus

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article, co-authored by a six-year survivor of the sex trade industry in Germany (Sandra Norak) and a psychologist and trauma therapist (Ingeborg Kraus), provides perspectives on the difficulty of withstanding the coercion of traffickers and the difficulties of exiting prostitution in a country in which prostitution has been legalized, normalized and made “a job like any other.” This normalization persuades survivors to believe their traffickers that it is a legitimate occupation and encourages them to endure the violence. Liberalization also has prevented the development of needed trauma services to those seeking to exit the sex trade industry.

Parent-Child Discrepancies In Children With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Like Symptomatology, Carly S. Holtzman, Pamela A. Fox, Leonard A. Jason

DePaul Discoveries

In a sample of children and adolescents with symptoms related to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), we characterized the relationship between parent and child ratings of symptoms as well as domains of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) relevant for the assessment of substantial reductions in functioning. Parent-child dyads (N = 147) were recruited as part of a community-based epidemiological study of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and CFS in Chicago. Parents and children completed the Children’s Health Questionnaire (CHQ) as well as the DePaul Pediatric Health Questionnaire (DPHQ). Results show that inter-rater reliability between parent and child responses was typically strong, however, in …

An Overview Of Suicide And The Impact Of Interacting Factors On Current Suicide Trends, Shawna Burrow

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Approximately 44,965 people committed suicide in 2016 in the United States, and the rate has been rising for a decade and a half. Suicide has far-reaching consequences which affect not only the victim, but those close to the person as well. For every suicide, an estimated six people are futher traumatized, bringing the current loss survivor estimate to over 5 million. Additionally, suicide costs tax payers about 70 billion dollars annually. Despite outranking homicide as a leading cause of death, the long-standing stigma associated with suicide creates a barrier for open and effective communication about the issue. This paper investigates …

Detecting Suicide Risk From Wristworn Activity Tracker Data Using Machine Learning Approaches, Pallavi Atluri

Electrical Engineering Theses

Suicide is a prevalent cause of death worldwide and depression is a primary concern of many suicidal acts. It is possible that an individual during depression never has any suicidal thoughts at all. On the other hand, some individuals in stable condition with no apparent symptoms of depression feel urges to commit suicide (suicidal ideation). Many such individuals never let anyone know what they are feeling or planning. Suicidal ideation considered an important precursor to suicidal acts.

Detecting the suicide risk in individuals with mood disorders is a major challenge. The current clinical practice to assess suicide risk in these …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

Donne, Emigrazione E Prostituzione In Europa: Non Si Tratta Di “Sex Work”, Anna Zobnina, Chiara Carpita

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Health Disparities Among A Community Sample Of Lgbq College Students, Ashlee Sawyer, Paul Perrin, Eric Benotsch

Psychology Publications

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) individuals are a marginalized population in the United States, and this status places them at a greater risk for adverse health outcomes, such as tobacco and substance use, obesity, cancer, sexually-transmitted infections, violence, mental health issues, and suicide. The present study used individual- and microsystem-level data from the American College Health Association (ACHA)-National College Health Assessment (NCHA) to compose a risk assessment for LGBQ students at a mid-Atlantic university. The study incorporated various levels of the ecological social model in an analysis of potentially influential factors on the development of LGBQ health disparities. 856 …

Log Kya Kahenge: Psychological Well-Being And Perceived Stigma In The South Asian American Community, Khushboo Jain

Pomona Senior Theses

Current research has independently studied depression, stigma, and coping mechanisms in relation to culture, yet the effects of perceived stigma on the relationship between depression and control coping are heavily understudied. Typically, studies have broadly focused on comparing eastern and western cultures, but have not analyzed how populations with mixed cultural influences experience depression and stigma and further engage in control coping mechanisms. This study thus explores how perceived stigma moderates the relationship between depressive symptoms and control coping mechanisms for South Asian Americans. The study hypothesizes that the level of perceived stigma will moderate the relationship between depression and …

When We Say 'Physician Burnout,' We Really Mean Depression, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

There has been controversy regarding the extent to which burnout overlaps depression. I enumerate eight reasons explaining to why depression is at the heart of burnout. Some of these reasons pertain to the highly similar work-related causes of burnout and depression, burnout adherents' faulty categorical and dimensional conceptualizations of burnout and depression, problematically high correlations between emotional exhaustion (the core of burnout) and depressive symptoms, research on physicians and dentists that underline burnout-depression overlap, and the problem of alexithymia being similarly related to burnout and depression. Suggestions for addressing the problem of burnout-depression among physicians are presented.

What Is The Difference Between Depression And Burnout? An Ongoing Debate, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Renzo Bianchi, Stefano Palazzi

Publications and Research

Il burnout è concepito come una sindrome che si sviluppa in risposta a condizioni di lavoro cronicamente avverse. Si ritiene che il burnout comporti esaurimento emotivo, depersonalizzazione e riduzione della realizzazione personale. Storicamente, tuttavia, il burnout è stato difficile da separare dalla depressione. In effetti, i sintomi del burnout coincidono con i sintomi della depressione. L'evidenza della validità discriminante del burnout nei confronti della depressione è debole, sia a livello empirico sia a livello teorico. L'esaurimento emotivo, il nucleo del burnout, riflette una combinazione di umore depresso e affaticamento / perdita di energia e si correla molto bene con altri …

Burnout And Depressive Symptoms Are Not Primarily Linked To Perceived Organizational Problems, Renzo Bianchi, Eric Mayor, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

In this 257-participant study (76% female; mean age: 44.84), we examined two ideas that are widespread among burnout researchers: (a) the idea that burnout is primarily related to occupational-level factors; and (b) the idea that burnout should be considered a sentinel indicator in research on negative occupational outcomes. We investigated the links between burnout and a series of generic and work-related variables, namely, depressive symptoms, neuroticism, extraversion, effort-reward imbalance in the job (ERI), social support at work (SSW), and turnover intention. Burnout was assessed with the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure, depressive symptoms with the PHQ-9, neuroticism and extraversion with the NEO-Five …

Black Males, Trauma, And Mental Health Service Use: A Systematic Review., Robert Motley, Andrae Banks

Brown School Faculty Publications

Objective: To systematically review the evidence of and synthesize results from relevant studies that have examined barriers and facilitators to professional mental health service use for Black male trauma survivors ages 18 and older.

Methods: A thorough search of selected databases that included EBSCO, ProQuest, and Web of Science Core Collection and careful consideration of inclusion and exclusion criteria yielded a final six studies for detailed review.

Results: Black male trauma survivors were significantly less likely to be utilizing mental health services than other sex-ethnic groups. High levels of daily crises, a lack of knowledge of steps to …

Exploring Research-Based Yoga Interventions Targeting Underserved Women And Sexual Trauma: A Descriptive Study, Shannon Steele

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

BACKGROUND

Racial/ethnic, minority women of low socioeconomic status are disproportionately affected by sexual assault and are more likely to develop PTSD. Women’s social, economic and environmental circumstance may contribute to this disadvantage. Yoga has shown to reduce symptoms of PTSD in underserved women. However, it is unknown whether yoga interventions for underserved women who have experienced sexual trauma in the research literature are theory-based and whether constructs are consistent across interventions. Furthermore, it is unknown whether existing trauma-based yoga training programs incorporate similar constructs found in yoga interventions for underserved women who have experienced sexual trauma.

METHODS

A descriptive research …

Food For Thought: The Effects Of Past And Present Food Insecurity On Subjective Well-Being And Child Behavior, Jena C. Styka

Senior Independent Study Theses

Food insecurity arises when one does not have physical, social, or economic access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (2016), food insecurity affects 15.6 million U.S. households. Its effects go beyond the physical consequences that might arise from not having adequate nutrition, influencing subjective well-being and behavior in both adults and children. This 2 x 2 quasi-experiment investigated how current and prior food insecurity influenced depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, and happiness in parents, as well as how it influenced child behavior. Results indicated that prior experiences of food insecurity resulted in …

Relationships Between Religious Denomination, Quality Of Life, Motivation And Meaning In Abeokuta, Nigeria, Mary Gloria Njoku, Babajide Gideon Adeyinka

Journal of Global Catholicism

Inter-disciplinary research that combines methods in psychology of the impact of religious change in Africa and theological approaches has been very scant in Nigeria. This study examines the relationship among religious denominations, quality of life, motivation and meaning in life in Abeokuta metropolis in Ogun State, Nigeria using psychological and religious tools. The study hypothesizes that members of the Roman Catholic denomination would differ from members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Living Faith Church in motivational factors and meaning making.

Neighborhood Cohesion, Neighborhood Disorder, And Cardiometabolic Risk, Jennifer N. Robinette, Susan T. Charles, Tara Gruenewald

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Perceptions of neighborhood disorder (trash, vandalism) and cohesion (neighbors trust one another) are related to residents’ health. Affective and behavioral factors have been identified, but often in studies using geographically select samples. We use a nationally representative sample (n = 9032) of United States older adults from the Health and Retirement Study to examine cardiometabolic risk in relation to perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and disorder. Lower cohesion is significantly related to greater cardiometabolic risk in 2006/2008 and predicts greater risk four years later (2010/2012). The longitudinal relation is partially accounted for by anxiety and physical activity.

Preschoolers And Pandas Making Friends: A Journey About Healing From Brain Injury, Barbara Anne Doucette

Museum Studies Projects

Preschoolers that have obtained Non-Accidental Injury (NAI) from familial child abuse are in need of having a unique place for neurorehabilitation in correlation with traditional therapies. My thesis project suggests adding an exhibit annex to an existing giant panda exhibit that will give preschoolers an opportunity to help develop new neuropathways when exposed to mediation and creative activities. Meditation and creative activities are being examined by neuroscientists as an aid in neuroplasticity after brain injury. This thesis reviews the neurotypical preschooler’s milestones and the playful means by which they are achieved. Conjoining the contemporary museums’ and zoological gardens’ outreach to …

A Whole New Ballgame: Does Participating In A Walking Football Club Lead To Increased Levels Of Social Engagement?, Aiden Carthy, John Byrne, John Barrie

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Growing Up With Porn: The Developmental And Societal Impact Of Pornography On Children, Gail Dines

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Reconstruction Of The Destroyed Sinjali Secondary School, Isabella Kaganowski

Sustainability and Social Justice

This practitioner paper chronicles my involvement of the grant writing proposal that was designed on behalf of a non-for-profit organization, the Association of Dalit Women’s Advancement of Nepal (ADWAN), in order to secure funding and donations for the reconstruction of the destroyed Sinjali Secondary School in Gorkha district, Taklung village, after a 2015 earthquake struck Nepal. The proposal was guided by and collaborated with Professor Jude Fernando of Clark University, as Professor Fernando was able to visit Taklung village and gather information about the needs in the educational sector damaged by the earthquake. Literature review and research was gathered to …