Health Psychology Commons^™

Does Space Matter? An Investigation Of The Spatial Variation In Gestational Weight Gain Associations With Country Of Birth Among Hispanic Women And Access To Care In Texas, Christopher R. Webb

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Inadequate and excess gestational weight gain (GWG) are serious, but potentially preventable adverse pregnancy outcomes which affect as many as two-thirds of pregnant women in the United States. While location and space are associated with a variety of pregnancy outcomes, limited research has investigated potential spatial variation in GWG. The goal of this research is to improve the knowledge of how spatial geography is associated with GWG through secondary analyses of 70,000 to 160,000 birth certificate registry records for Texas mothers with a live birth delivery in 2014. Specifically, this research attempts to assess whether access to obstetrics and gynecologist …

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) …

Posttraumatic Stress And Hazardous Alcohol Use In College Students: The Moderating Role Of Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies, Hallie R. Jordan

Master's Theses

The present study evaluated the moderating role of alcohol protective behavioral strategy subtypes (Al-PBS; Serious Harm Reduction [SHR], Manner of Drinking [MOD], Stopping/Limiting Drinking [SLD]) and gender on the relationships between traumatic stress symptoms and both hazardous drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. Participants were 915 traditional age (18 to 25 years old) college students from nine universities in the United States who reported drinking in the past. All participants reported their gender and completed measures of traumatic stress symptoms, Al-PBS use, hazardous drinking, and alcohol-related negative consequences through an online survey. Experiencing greater traumatic stress symptoms was associated with both …

Exited Prostitution Survivor Policy Platform, Marian Hatcher, Alisa L. Bernard, Allison Franklin, Audrey Morrissey, Beth Jacobs, Cherie Jimenez, Kathi Hardy, Marlene Carson, Nikki Bell, Rebecca Bender, Rebekah Charleston, Shamere Mckenzie, Vednita Carter

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Survivors of prostitution propose a policy reform platform including three main pillars of priority: criminal justice reforms, fair employment, and standards of care. The sexual exploitation of prostituted individuals has lasting effects which can carry over into many aspects of life. In order to remedy these effects and give survivors the opportunity to live a full and free life, we must use a survivor-centered approach to each of these pillars to create change. First, reform is necessary in the criminal justice system to recognize survivors as victims of crime and not perpetrators, while holding those who exploited them fully responsible. …

Measuring Novel Antecedents Of Mental Illness: The Questionnaire Of Unpredictability In Childhood, Laura M. Glynn, Hal S. Stern, Mariann A. Howland, Victoria B. Risbrough, Dewleen G. Baker, Caroline M. Nievergelt, Tallie Z. Baram, Elysia P. Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Increasing evidence indicates that, in addition to poverty, maternal depression, and other well-established factors, unpredictability of maternal and environmental signals early in life influences trajectories of brain development, determining risk for subsequent mental illness. However, whereas most risk factors for later vulnerability to mental illness are readily measured using existing, clinically available tools, there are no similar measures for assessing early-life unpredictability. Here we validate the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC) and examine its associations with mental health in the context of other indicators of childhood adversity (e.g., traumatic life events, socioeconomic status, and parenting quality). The QUIC was …

Breaking The Silence: Discussions About Disability, Sex, & Gender Identity, Janet Sauer, Kirsten Bond, Cassidy Donahue, Molly Wolber, Hannah Hunter, Elizabeth Bellin, Katherine Deluga

Violence Against Women conference

Silence often accompanies topics about disability, sexuality, and gender identity. This panel of Lesley students, alumni, and faculty discuss the issue of silence involving social stigma and ignorance that can often lead to violence against people with disabilities. The panelists participated in an interdisciplinary course, Disability Studies, in which students chose to research these topics for their social action projects and papers. Panelists who see themselves as allies and/or self-identify as disabled share their research, personal experiences, and interviews with the audience to provide insights into some of the systematic exclusion of people with disabilities in these discussions, particularly in …

Use Of Drug Dependency To Entrap And Control Victims Of Sex Trafficking: A Call For A U.S. Federal Human Rights Response, Jacquelyn C.A. Meshelmiah, Carra Gilson, Athapattu Pathirannelage A. Prasanga

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Survivors of sex trafficking who were forced into drug use as victims are in need of social services to treat their drug dependency and other mental disorders. Access to social services is a human rights issue that must be acted upon by state and federal officials. The law, however, requires approval of the T-Visa for receipt of benefits. Along with the T-visa application process, the applicant (human trafficking survivor) must be willing to assist in every reasonable way in the investigation and prosecution of the trafficker. The authors argue that drug dependency treatment and other social service benefits should be …

Health Behavior Among Men Occupying Multiple Family Roles And The Moderating Effects Of Perceived Partner Relationship Quality, Nicole Depasquale, Courtney A. Polenick, Jesse Hinde, Jeremy Bray, Steven H. Zarit, Phyllis Moen, Leslie B. Hammer, David M. Almeida

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Men in the U.S. are increasingly involved in their children’s lives and currently represent 40% of informal caregivers to dependent relatives or friends aged 18 years or older. Yet, much more is known about the health effects of varying family role occupancies for women relative to men. The present research sought to fill this empirical gap by first comparing the health behavior (sleep duration, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, fast food consumption) of men who only occupy partner roles and partnered men who also fill father, informal caregiver, or both father and informal caregiver (i.e., sandwiched) roles. The moderating effects …

Lifestyles, Income, Health Factors, And Life Satisfaction Of Older Hispanic Adults, Gina Fe G. Causin Ph.D., Hyunsook Kang Ph.D., Mary S. Olle Ph.D.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

The aim of this study was to explore to what extent life styles, income, and health factors contribute to the life satisfaction of Hispanic older adults. A secondary data analysis from a national survey of Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (HEPESE) (Markides, Ray, Angel, & Espino, 2012) was used. Subjects were Hispanic older adults (over 75 years, n = 1542). For this study, Hispanics and Latinos were considered as one and the same. A two-step hierarchical regression was conducted to address the research question. The results showed health status and income were unique predictors in …

Involuntary Termination From Substance Use Disorder Treatment: Unknown Phantoms, Red Flags, And Unexplained Medical Data, Izaak L. Williams

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

In the United States, all treatment programs receiving public funds are required by law to regularly submit admission and discharge data, inclusive of the forced/involuntary termination or administrative discharge of clients, to their local state authorities. In some states, this requirement even extends to programs not receiving public funds. The aim of collecting discharge data—collected under the auspices of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association [SAMHSA]—is to assist state and county authorities, funders, and accreditors to monitor recovery-focused program performance. However, investigation here undertaken shows that published discharge data from many state treatment settings are perennially and grossly …

A Critical Analysis Of The Delivery Of A Psychosocial Workshop For Cancer Survivors With Lymphedema, Ryan Hamilton, Roanne Thomas, Yvonne Anisimowicz, Marquelle Piers, Renee Matte

The Qualitative Report

Secondary lymphedema is a chronic condition that can develop after the treatment of cancer and can often lead to negative psychological and social impairments. When dealing with chronic illness, hoping and coping are interdependent. Previous research has assessed the outcomes of workshops designed to enhance hope but has not examined the workshop itself to determine how those outcomes were achieved. This study deconstructs the Living Hopefully with Lymphedema workshop to identify (1) what aspects of the workshop facilitated or interfered with therapeutic progress, (2) key aspects of facilitation that contributed to the functioning of the workshop, and (3) how participants …

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 …

Older Adults' Health Care Utilization A Year After Experiencing Fear Or Distress From Hurricane Sandy, Laura P Sands, Yimeng Xie, Rachel Pruchno, Allison Heid, Yili Hong

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether self-reports of disaster-related psychological distress predict older adults' health care utilization during the year after Hurricane Sandy, which hit New Jersey on October 29, 2012.

METHODS: Respondents were from the ORANJ BOWL Study, a random-digit dialed sample from New Jersey recruited from 2006 to 2008. Medicare hospital, emergency department (ED) and outpatient claims data from 2012 and 2013 were matched to 1607 people age 65 and older in 2012 who responded to follow-up surveys conducted from July 2013 to July 2015 to determine their hurricane-related experiences.

RESULTS: In total, 7% (107) of respondents reported they experienced …

Older Adults’ Social Relations: Life Satisfaction To Widowhood, Hyunsook Kang, Bonnie Ahn

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the breadth and depth of relationships with relatives and friends and the possible implications of those relationships with regards to life satisfaction to widowhood. Data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) survey were used, which sampled persons 57-85 years of age (N=3005). It was hypothesized that older widowed adults have greater quality of both family and friend relationships than do older married adults. Structural Equational Modeling analysis results supported these hypotheses, revealing that older widowed adults reported higher quality of engagement in family and friend …

Review Of A Politically Incorrect Feminist By Phyllis Chesler, Robert Brannon

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Phyllis Chesler’s new memoir, A Politically Incorrect Feminist (St. Martin's Press, 2018), spans almost fifty years of second-wave feminism. She names 100s of women, both famous and virtually unknown today who took part in the awakening and growing women’s movement, marching, sitting-in, writing and organizing since the 1960’s. It is the personal life story of one of the earliest feminist authors and political activists of the second-wave, the author of Women and Madness and 17 other books. Chelser discusses major issues of the time and provides an insider’s view of many of the feminism’s most significant public events. This big …

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.

Positive Affect And Health: What Do We Know And Where Next Should We Go?, Sarah D. Pressman, Brooke N. Jenkins, Judith T. Moskowitz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Positive affect (PA) is associated with better health across a wide range of physical health outcomes. This review reflects on why the study of PA is an essential component of our understanding of physical health and expands on pathways that connect these two variables. To encourage forward movement in this burgeoning research area, measurement and design issues in the study of PA and health are discussed, as are the connections between PA and a range of different health outcomes. Plausible biological, social, and behavioral pathways that allow for positive feelings to get under the skin and influence physical wellness are …

Advancing Research On Psychological Stress And Aging With The Health And Retirement Study: Looking Back To Launch The Field Forward, Alexandra D. Crosswell, Madhuvanthi Suresh, Eli Puterman, Tara Gruenewald, Jinkook Lee, Elissa S. Epel

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objectives

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was designed as an interdisciplinary study with a strong focus on health, retirement, and socioeconomic environment, to study their dynamic relationships over time in a sample of mid-life adults. The study includes validated self-report measures and individual items that capture the experiences of stressful events (stressor exposures) and subjective assessments of stress (perceived stress) within specific life domains.

Methods

This paper reviews and catalogs the peer-reviewed publications that have used the HRS to examine associations between psychological stress measures and psychological, physical health, and economic outcomes.

Results

We describe the research to date …

Employee Perceptions Of Well-Being Programs, Alice V. Edwards, Susan Marcus

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Measuring the effectiveness of well-being programs in the workplace is important for optimizing the return on investment and selection of programs that meet organizational objectives. A pilot study was performed to assess employee well-being using the Happiness Mini-Survey and a one-sample pre–post study design intended to quickly allow employees to subjectively rate their well-being before and after participating in various classes as part of a well-being program. The findings demonstrated statistical significance in employee subjective ratings; they reported feeling better emotionally, physically, and mentally after participating in the classes. The employees’ self-rating for stress level also had statistically significant improvement …

A Functional Neuroimaging Study Of Self-Regulatory Control In Adults With Gambling And Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders, Nidhi Parashar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Objective: Recent findings suggest phenomenological similarities across gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The key similarity between the disorders is the failure to inhibit or control a repetitive behavior (or urges to engage in a behavior) and intrusive thoughts. Our current understanding of the neural pathophysiological mechanisms linking gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorders is limited. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine the functioning of frontostriatal brain regions that support self-regulatory control in adults with gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Methods: The study compared functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygen level dependent response in 19 adults with pathological gambling (PG), …

Stereotype Threat As An Explanation For Sexual Risk Taking Behavior In Gay Men: A Multi-Study Exploration Of Mechanisms, Inna Saboshchuk

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Stereotype threat is a hindrance in performance that occurs when an individual’s awareness of negative stereotypes associated with his/her group results in inadvertent conforming to that stereotype. Stereotype threat research has been conducted on myriad group and domain identifications but gay men are strikingly absent from the stereotype threat literature. One of the most prevalent stereotypes about gay men indicates they are sexually promiscuous and that this promiscuity is linked to HIV infection. In a series of three research projects, a theoretical model proposing stereotype threat as a mechanism for sexual risk taking behavior in gay men is tested. In …

Wellness And Karate, Cristina Kumpf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The promotion of wellness is an integral part of the counseling field and is considered to be a central focus to the counseling process (Barden, Conley, & Young, 2015; Myers, 1992). The counseling profession adopted the concept of wellness because it harmonizes with many of the founding principles of the ACA and is seen as a process of questing toward optimal health and well-being in body, mind, and spirit (Barden, Conley, & Young, 2015; Myers, 1992; Myers, Sweeney, & Witmer, 2000). Additionally, ACA Code of Ethics (2014) state that counselors “engage in self-care activities to maintain and promote their own …

Yardwork: A Biography Of An Urban Place By Daniel Coleman, Vivian M. Hansen

The Goose

Review of Daniel Coleman's Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place.