Setbacks And Stigmas: The Career Consequences Of Mental Health Treatment For Soldiers In Combat Roles, Micah Mark Marchand

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines how potential career consequences, perceived stigma, and confidentiality concerns influence mental health help-seeking among United States Army Soldiers, with particular attention to differences across Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) categories. Despite the availability of behavioral health services, many service members delay or avoid treatment due to fears that seeking care may negatively impact their careers, including risks to promotion, deployment eligibility, and retention. Guided by Systems Theory, this research explores how interconnected military structures, policies, and cultural norms shape these perceptions and behaviors.

Using a confidential survey design, data were collected from current service members and recently separated …

The Power Of Beliefs: Cognitive Pathways Linking Mental Health Literacy To Psychological Distress, Katherine Elise Kirsch

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mental health disorders are prevalent in children and adolescents, and they are accompanied by challenges throughout the lifespan. Mental health literacy (MHL) provides a flexible framework to address child and adolescent mental health. Identifying significant relationships between MHL and mental health outcomes has the potential to inform successful interventions. This study uses a secondary analysis of data gathered for the Study on Attitudes of Adolescents and Young Adults Toward Relevant Health Issues to isolate MHL belief domains that significantly effect psychological distress levels in adolescents.

The Swiss Youth Mental Health Literacy and Stigma Survey was used to assess the MHL, …

A Qualitative Examination Of The Motivations For Homeschooling Among Black Americans, Portia J. Witt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study explored the motivations and lived experiences of African American homeschooling families. Twelve Black parents from multiple states participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using Moustakas’ (1994) Modified Stevick–Colaizzi–Keen method and coded thematically using NVivo. Nine themes emerged: autonomy, holistic education, community belonging, online networks, public resources, curriculum gaps, personal values, effective learning, and legacy of harm. While racialization in schools—including tracking, microaggressions, and misidentification—contributed to participants’ decisions, motivations also reflected intersectional factors such as faith, disability, mental health needs, giftedness, and a desire for cultural protection and flexible learning. Findings suggest homeschooling serves as a …

Examining Multi-Level Support-Related Factors Influencing School-Based Mental Health Services Across Various Types Of U.S. Public High Schools, Wendy L. Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Youth mental health is a global and national public health issue, with notable disparities in access to school-based mental health services (SBMHS; Kieling et al., 2024). This highlights the urgent need to identify supportive factors that can enhance service availability within educational settings. This cross-sectional, exploratory-descriptive study aimed to identify multi-level support-related factors (SRFs) at the student, school, and community levels that best predict SBMHS availability across different types of U.S. public high schools. The researcher conducted a secondary data analysis of a sample of 855 respondents who completed the 2017-18 School Survey on Crime and Safety. Various univariate, bivariate, …

The Influence Of Life Skills, Teammate And Coach Behavior, And The Sport Environment On The Mental Well-Being Of Intercollegiate Athletes, Lauren A. Shute

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Intercollegiate athletics generate significant interest in the United States, where concerns about the health and well-being of student-athletes have gained increased attention in recent years. Student-athletes face the same developmental challenges as their non-athlete college peers, but they also encounter biological, psychological, sociocultural, and spiritual challenges often introduced or exacerbated by their participation in sport. To assist this subgroup of the college student population in managing their various athletic, academic, and personal responsibilities, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has prioritized and implemented life skills programming. Yet, while much has been documented regarding life skills development at the youth …

“They Love Our Rhythm, But Not Our Blues:” An Examination Of The Relationship Between Hip Hop On Depression, Anxiety, And Self-Care Among African American And Hispanic/Latinx Emerging Adults, Richard W. Wiley Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Depression and anxiety are among the most common mental health problems for emerging adults of color in higher education. Specifically, African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx emerging adults on college campuses have poorer mental health than their White counterparts. Considering the systemic oppression and cultural stressors that impact mental health among African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx students, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Emerging Adulthood Theory were theoretical frameworks for this study. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Hip Hop music and depression, anxiety, and intentional use as self-care among African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx emerging adults who were college …

Exploring The Impact Of Social Media And Social Networks On Juvenile Sexual Behavior Problems: A Scoping Review, Shaleen Clay

LSU Master's Theses

The issue of juvenile problematic sexual behavior has become a pervasive problem, and little research exists on the topic. How social media and social networks impact problematic sexual behaviors in juveniles is even less known and understood. The objective of this scoping review was to determine what is known about the impact of social media and social networks on juvenile sexual behavior problems. Four key themes appeared in the literature including the use of adult terminology, rather than juvenile, to describe juvenile relationships; the normalization of abusive behaviors within adolescent relationship; the influence of social networks/peer groups on aggression and …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And High School Dropout: The Roles Of Student Disengagement And Social Support, Rachel D. Pounders

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

More than two million students a year leave high school without a completion credential (NCES, 2024). Students who drop out are at-risk for detrimental long-term outcomes physically, mentally and economically (Rumberger, 2020). Students with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are significantly more likely to have poor educational outcomes, including school dropout (Metzler et al., 2017; Pan et al., 2019). However, there is limited insight into what affects the pathway between ACEs and poor educational outcomes for students (Dupéré et al., 2019; Morrow & Villodas, 2018). Informed by prominent dropout theories with ecological foundations and the theory of stress and coping, this …

Race And Racism Through The Lens Of Black Men: Exploring The Talk And Lessons Black Fathers Teach Their Children About Race And Racism In America., Conial C. Caldwell Jr

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The history of racism and racial violence is embedded in the fabric of America and has driven Black people to develop strategies to navigate society that racism has produced. “The Talk” is a racial socialization practice and cultural phenomenon that has existed within Black families for centuries and remains a necessity due to the ongoing acts of racism and violence of Black Americans. Prior research has found that parents rear their children based on their own lived experiences, which many Black Americans have experienced or have been exposed to racism and racial violence. Yet, there are few empirical studies that …

Understanding The Influence Of Colorism On The Dating Preferences Of Black Undergraduate Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Odessa Foster

LSU Master's Theses

This study examined the effects of colorism on emerging Black undergraduate college students and how it influences their dating preferences while attending a Predominantly White Institution. The participants were 18-24 years old and self-identified as Black women attending a PWI. A secondary analysis was conducted. The findings of this study revealed that family can influence emerging Black adults dating preferences as they are likely to have the same preference as their family. There is a significantly positive relationship between family preference and dating preferences. This study also examined the correlation between media/social media and dating preferences. As there were positive …

The Influence Of Child Maltreatment In The Manifestation Of Anxiety And Depressive Symptoms At The Age 18, Maria J. Velasquez

LSU Master's Theses

Child maltreatment affects thousands of children and adolescents every year. This phenomenon is multidimensional, meaning there are different subtypes (i.e., physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect) known to predict various mental health issues, including depression and anxiety. While previous research has investigated mental health outcomes in maltreated youth, results may vary based on the dimensions of abuse considered. This study aims to expand on previous literature to examine how a history of child maltreatment subtypes influences the manifestation of anxiety and depressive symptoms in youth at age 18. The current study uses secondary data analysis of the Longitudinal …

Louisiana Children's Trust Fund Annual Report 2021-2022, Elizabeth Winchester, Jada Thomas-Smith, Harleen Sandhu, Aimee H. Moles, Judith L. F. Rhodes

Reports

Child abuse and neglect is a leading factor in the staggeringly high rates of child mortality in Louisiana. In 2017, Louisiana had 44,793 total referrals for child abuse and neglect of which 19,851 were investigated (CWLA, 2019). Child abuse and neglect can have multiple detrimental effects on a child’s physical, psychological, and behavioral health. Effective prevention efforts are critical to ensuring the immediate and long-term safety and well-being of children in Louisiana. Each year, LCTF selects high-quality proposals and funds a range of prevention efforts to protect children, strengthen family well-being, and educate the public about children’s safety. Local, national, …

Longitudinal Associations Between Housing Instability, Primary Caregiver's Mental Health, Parenting Skills, And Child Behavior Problems: A Latent Growth Modeling Approach, Xi Du

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Children who grow up in disruptive environments have heightened vulnerability to psychological and behavioral difficulties, which may influence overall well-being through the course of their lives. This study combined a life course perspective with Conger’s family stress model to investigate the longitudinal associations between housing instability, primary caregiver’s mental health, parenting skills, and child internalizing/externalizing behavior problems by unpacking dynamic change from a focal child’s early childhood to adolescence in each factor.

Data came from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its Child Development Supplement survey. The analytic sample comprises 783 children who aged 3-7 at enrollment with consistent …

Understanding The Effects Of Socioeconomic Variables, Career Motivation, And Msw Education On Practice Preferences: A Quantitative National Survey Of Msw Students, Tina B. Granger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past several decades, there has been much debate over the role of social workers in the mental health field. Factors related to career motivation and practice preferences has had limited research and many have attributed materialistic and self-seeking motives as the reason for a social work career choice. Research has shown that there may be a divergence or ‘mission drift’ from traditional social work values and mission of social justice and social change at the systems level. Identifying factors related to career motivation and practice preferences is important in an ever-evolving field such as social work. This study …

Mental Health Matters: Mental Health Service Utilization Among African American Emerging Adults, Tamecia Curry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Evidence indicates that people of color underutilize mental health services, but little is known empirically about the help-seeking behaviors of African American emerging adults. The present mixed method study utilizes a concurrent design with nested samples for the qualitative and quantitative components to examine willingness to seek help and help-seeking intentions among college students. Data was collected from four location sites including Louisiana State University (n=38), Texas State University (n=15), The University of Southern Mississippi (n=65) and Southern University and A&M College (n=3). Minority and non-minority participants completed the Willingness-To-Seek-Help Questionnaire and …

From The Mouths Of Women: The Life Model Of Homelessness, Janeal M. White

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify commonalities in life events preceding a first episode of homelessness for women living in shelters in Texas. This built on the work of Nooe & Patterson (2010) who identified fourteen factors that contributed to increased risk of homelessness as visualized in the Ecology of Homelessness. While based on existing literature at the time, Nooe & Patterson may not have heard clearly the voices of women with lived experience. The current study sought to explore how these risk factors manifest in the lived experiences of women residing in Texas homeless shelters.

The significance …

What Is Working To Reduce Violent Crime? Evidence-Based Solutions, Elizabeth Winchester, Timothy T. Reling, Kristina Little, Leanna Cupit, Melanie Fields, Judith F. Rhodes

Reports

The purpose of this review is to examine and evaluate current approaches to reducing violent crime. The review reports on supportive techniques, strategies, programs, and practices that are evidence-informed to combat criminal activity, delinquency, and community disorder. Ineffective techniques, strategies, and programs are also included. The review provides potential strategies and programs that require additional empirical research to show whether they work. This review includes the integration of education, employment, social services, and public health services into efforts to reduce crime and ease the burden on law enforcement and justice systems. Recommendations for reducing violent crime are included.

Benefits And Limitations Of The Use Of Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing Therapy And The Implications For Treatment Of Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Rachel J. Bridges

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Five Love Languages: Assessment Of Marital Satisfaction In African American Couples, Freddricka C. Lee

LSU Master's Theses

This mixed-methods study examined marital satisfaction among five (n = 10) heterosexual, African American married couples. In particular, this study examined how acknowledging a partner’s love language (Chapman, 1995) can affect these couples’ level of marital satisfaction. The participants were native to the South and ranged from 26-55 years of age. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed couples were satisfied with their marriages. Although only marginally significant, the findings also revealed acknowledging a spouse’s love language was positively related to higher levels of marital satisfaction. Seven themes emerged throughout the interviews, namely communication; financial stability; understand a spouse’s …

The Benefits And Barriers To Receiving Medication-Assisted Treatment Inside And Outside Of Prison And Its Implications For Louisiana, Jennifer Johnson

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Modeling Cumulative Risk During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Psychosocial And Socioeconomic Factors For Older Minority Adults, James F. Osborne Iv

LSU Master's Theses

Continued response to the sum consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has disparately affected the physical and mental health of older minority adults in the United States. SARS-CoV-2 created an acute epidemiological crisis of public health coinciding with a chronic pandemic of accentuated psychosocial stress. Biological and socio-economic risk of morbidity and mortality follow a demographic gradient of subjectively constructed social status that disproportionally threatens older adults and minority racial/ethnic communities. Pathways to increased socio-economic and psychosocial vulnerability are multifactorial and complex. Factors of race, socio-economic status, gender, and age, each contribute to individualized profiles of vulnerability to risk exposure.

The …

The State Of Immigration: An Analysis Of Attitudes Towards Immigration Policies, Economic Context And Political Ideology, Heather Kuntz

LSU Master's Theses

Division of attitudes towards immigration policy is more polarized than ever (Public Religion Research Institute, 2018). Historically, restrictive attitudes towards immigration policies have been highest in times of rising nationalist ideals and economic vulnerability (Jaret, 1999; Ngai, 2004). Primarily a federal responsibility, immigration enforcement was decentralized and that power shared with individual states (Pantoja, 2006), leading to policy disparities among states (Butz & Kehrberg, 2019; Gulasekaram et al., 2015; Johnson, 2019). Studies focusing on the relationship between state economic context and immigration policies, found that states that are more economically vulnerable had higher numbers of restrictive immigration policies (Ybarra et …

Transport-Related Social Exclusion In East Baton Rouge Parish, Andrew Dietz

LSU Master's Theses

Transportation systems are powerful tools, capable of entrenching existing inequalities or facilitating the pursuit of a more equitable society (Wellman, 2015). This is particularly true for urban areas that are plagued by sprawl, congestion, and racialized poverty like East Baton Rouge Parish. Transport-related social exclusion (TRSE) provides a framework for understand the relationship between access to transportation (or lack thereof, known as transport disadvantage) and individuals’ ability to participate in the economic, social, cultural, and political aspects of life (Kamruzzaman, Yigitcanlar, Yang, & Mohamed, 2016) Transport-related social exclusion is associated with numerous negative outcomes including poor mental and physical health, …

Preventing School Absenteeism: The Case For Relationships, Rachel Denise Pounders

LSU Master's Theses

Chronic absenteeism affects nearly 20% of high school students every year (ED, 2016). It is an indicator of students at-risk and the strongest indicator of student dropout. Poor outcomes and risk indicators associated with chronic absenteeism are well established, but little is known about factors that could mitigate chronic absenteeism among vulnerable high school students. This study explored the potential influence of teacher, counselor, and peer relationships on chronic absenteeism in students, after controlling for sex, race, and socioeconomic status. The nationally representative sample came from the National Longitudinal Study of 2009 (NSLS:09) and included 17,777 students. Data were collected …

Cognitive Maturity As An Intervening Influence On Exposure To Adverse Childhood Experiences, Negative Attributions, And Symptoms Of Depression Among Pre-Adolescent And Adolescent Youth., Mckenzie Marie Ketchum

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Most depression interventions targeted to youth are adapted from adult curricula without enough consideration given to the developmental level and capacity of the intended audience (Kovacs & Lopez-Duran, 2012). Although depression in youth has received recognition and treatment, there remains a gap between the theoretical knowledge base of youth cognitive development and the application of this knowledge to the innovation of developmentally appropriate depression interventions suited for youth of varying levels of cognitive maturity. The current study investigated the influence of cognitive development over the moderation of negative attributions on the relationship between exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and …

The Criminal Justice Response To The Opioid Crisis In East Baton Rouge Parish, Elizabeth Winchester, Kristina Little, Timothy T. Reling, Gabriele Richardson, Judith F. Rhodes

Reports

This report describes: 1) the history and current state of the opioid crisis in East Baton Rouge Parish; 2) the current and planned efforts of the Innovative Prosecution Solutions for Combating Violent Crime and Illegal Opioids (IPS) grant to respond to the crisis; and 3) recommendations for criminal justice practitioners regarding the opioid crisis in our community. The goal of the IPS grant is to reduce opioid-related deaths by fostering interagency collaboration to disrupt local opioid supply chains, educate the community about the dangers of opioid abuse and addiction, and provide support for individuals with opioid use disorder.

The rising …

The Role Of An Educational Intervention In Addressing Parent Spectator Behaviors In Louisiana Youth Sports, Jerry F. Reynolds Ii

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Contemporary youth sports environments present significant psychosocial challenges to the family system. Among the greatest challenges to address are spectator behaviors of parents, which in the public eye has deteriorated and is out of control. Spectator behaviors and their impact upon the sports environment and family system is the topic of investigation in this study. Within the state of Louisiana, the advent of Act 355 extends the consequences of parent behavior and presents challenges to families, referees, and sports organizations. To better understand how legislation impacts parent perceptions of their spectator behaviors, the author examined spectator behaviors parents are observing, …

Examining Relationships Between Early Childcare Teachers' Adult Attachment Orientations And Quality Of Interaction In The Infant Classroom, Alexandra Morris Benoit

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past several decades, women have entered the workforce in increasing numbers. This has led to the majority of infants and young children being cared for outside of the home by extra-familial caregivers. Research has shown the benefits that quality childcare can have on the developmental trajectories of children, as well as the detrimental effects that can be seen when children experience low quality care. Further, children are particularly vulnerable in the first year of life when they are establishing attachment bonds with their primary caregivers. With the long hours that many spend in the care of childcare workers, …

The Perceptions Of Foster Care Alumni's Experiences With Four-Year Post-Secondary Institutions: A Case For Capital And Field Advantage, June M. Durio

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The focus of this study was to explore, through the lens of Pierre Bourdieu’s constructs of habitus, field, and capital, the post-secondary experiences of foster youth who transitioned out of the Louisiana foster care system. Specifically, this comparable multiple case study sought out to understand how cultural, social, and financial capital influenced the post-secondary educational outcomes of foster care alumni as compared to first-generation and continuing-generation students. Seven common themes emerged from the study: predisposing factors towards post-secondary education; values, knowledge, and skills associated with post-secondary education attainment; informal and formal social networks facilitating post-secondary support; financial resources addressing …

Couples' Relationship Qualities And Child Behavior Problems, Erin Wallace Lovett

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation examines couples’ relationship quality on child externalizing behavior problems. Family systems theory and Belsky’s determinants of parenting model posit that child behavior problems stem from problematic familial relationships and lack of support within the couple’s relationship. A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the National Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. The independent variables represent couples’ relationship quality and are affection/support, relationship instability, and coercion. Dependent variables represent child behavior problems and are aggression measured when children are age five and age nine, and rule-breaking behavior when the child is age nine. To examine what …