Social Work Commons^™

An Integrated, Holistic Approach To Supporting The Wellbeing Of The Contemporary Social Services Workforce, Julia Moore

DSW Capstone Projects

Despite nearly 40 years of research regarding the effects of psychological distress among the social services workforce, there remains a lack of congruity among scholars and experts regarding the definition and epidemiology of the distinct constructs, including secondary traumatic stress, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout. Current literature on these phenomena indicates that a lack of empirical methods for scientifically studying outcomes regarding effective prevention and intervention strategies have stalled efforts to advance the field of secondary trauma and create practical approaches to protecting the workforce serving trauma-exposed clients. This capstone project is focused on understanding the current literature regarding …

Systemic Solutions To Addressing Juvenile Sexual Offending, Alyscia Mayhugh

DSW Capstone Projects

Research on and treatment of juvenile sexual offenders has surged since the 1980s. While research on this social justice issue has expanded over the past four decades, little has been done in the United States to systemically address the recidivism rates of juvenile sexual offenders. The systematic literature review explores existing literature on this topic, with a focus on thematic categories that emerged through data extraction and analysis. The conceptual paper presents a unique idea for addressing juvenile sexual offending systemically, emphasizing the value of utilizing incrementalism and trauma theory to enact changes to existing systems. The final practice application …

An Examination Of Diabetes Prevention Program Translations For Eastern Kentucky, William H. Robinson

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone project examined translations of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) that have been adapted to improve cultural competency and analyzed the potential application of these adaptations to serve communities in Eastern Kentucky. Findings in the project were synthesized using the Ecological Validity Model (EVM) posited by Bernal et al. (1995) and the RE-AIM framework developed by Glasgow et al. (1999). EVM and RE-AIM have been used in other systematic literature reviews of the DPP and provide a framework for conceptual analysis and practice application of the findings. This project recommends changes in public health policy and social work …

What's The Play? Using Social Learning Theory To Treat Men In Mental Health, Aaron Hemlepp

DSW Capstone Projects

Men have problems when it comes to mental health. Specifically, men are more likely to have a fatality of suicide than other genders and are more likely to have substance abuse problems than other genders. Combine this with societal problems such as the shrinking physical labor market and instability of family systems that have traditionally been seen as “men’s work.” The gender is not adapting to modern social functioning in the way that other genders have been, which means that therapy is not a useful tool for men and their problems. This means that therapy systems need an approach to …

Birthing While Black: Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practices For Improved Maternal Health Outcomes, Sara Hall

DSW Capstone Projects

Black women die at a disproportionate rate than white women in the United States due to maternal mortality. Black women are three times more likely to die because of a maternal complication than any other demographic. Although the United States has a highly developed healthcare system, it also has the worst maternal mortality rate out of developed nations. The focus of this research is social work practices that can be implemented to improve Black maternal health outcomes.

The systematic literature review focuses on gaps in social work literature related to maternal mortality and health equity, solutions for social workers to …

The Role Of Organizational Leaders In Employee Self-Care: A Change Management Approach, Olivia Dawn Honaker

DSW Capstone Projects

Although literature demonstrates that helping professionals have had high levels of stress and burnout for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the issue. The already burdened healthcare workers, now facing increased workloads, long hours, and high-level exposure to trauma, have created an urgency to address this significant risk to helping professionals. The current capstone will bring awareness to organizational leaders regarding the importance of employee self-care and the benefits of implementing employee self-care programs. First, a systematic literature review will examine self-care in helping professions and explore how organizational leaders operationalize employee self-care programs. In addition, the capstone aims …

Bolstering Leadership Engagement To Community Coalition Work In Rural Appalachia, Melissa Slone

DSW Capstone Projects

Rural Appalachian communities are overwhelmed with high cancer rates, diabetes, disabilities, and substance use disorder. The challenges in addressing these increase when you factor in workforce shortages and limited funding. The literature documents the effectiveness of coalitions in addressing healthcare challenges within communities. The need is for leaders to reduce their hesitancy to engage in community coalition efforts and increase awareness of the impact community coalitions can have on addressing rural populations' health and well-being needs.

Product One was a systematic review focused on research that examined agency leaders’ perspectives on community coalition involvement. The purpose of conducting the systematic …

Healthcare Equity For Transgender Individuals, Mollie Staggs

DSW Capstone Projects

In the field of social justice and integrity, Social Work has dedicated itself to improving the welfare of the world, in which we all participate and interact. There are countless issues in our society that warrant professional attention for the fundamental purpose of positively impacting the livelihood of subcategories of people. For this particular Capstone Project, the focus is on transgender individuals’ systemic healthcare barriers that cisgender people within the United States do not similarly experience. The purpose is to unveil these disparities to then pose progressive alterations within the healthcare system to make the navigation and accessibility better for …

Children And High Conflict Divorce: Using Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy As Treatment, Ashley Berry

DSW Capstone Projects

The act of divorce has been commonplace throughout the world during the 20^th century, plateauing around the 1970s at around 50% of all marriages. While most divorces end peacefully, many contain ongoing conflict which can become detrimental to all involved, including the children. While historical treatment methods focus on changing the behavior of parents, there are instances where these methods may be ineffective, especially when the parents are unable or unwilling to change their conflictual behaviors. Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP), which has been used with individuals who have suffered from trauma, may be an option to use with this population …

Meta-Practice For The Bachelor Level: A Needed Compliment To The Generalist Model, Patrick Callahan

DSW Capstone Projects

Meta-practice in this concept is the web or roadmap, that is, the interconnectedness of the three pillars of the generalist model of social work. The generalist model teaches that micro, mezzo, and macro are interconnected. However, students and new professionals often do not understand precisely what the connection is. This work gathers the available literature, the conceptual idea of the introduction for the bachelor level of education, and an application of introducing it in a course for instruction. There is a need for introducing meta-practice at the bachelor’s level because of the continued globalization of society. By teaching the concept …

Neuroleadership A New Burnout Prevention Strategy, Zakery David Sloan

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone project examines the current state of burnout, prevention strategies, prevalence, and introduces neuroleadership as a new leadership theory to advance burnout prevention among the public human service population. Neuroleadership presents a new conceptualization of leadership practice and burnout prevention method by utilizing neuro-informed leadership practices. This new neuro-informed leadership strategy is explored throughout the three major products of this capstone project including a systematic literature review, conceptual paper, and practice application paper.

The first product completed was a systematic literature review. This literature review included a total of 13 articles which were used to answer the research question, …

Defining Posttraumatic Stress In Law Enforcement: Normalizing Trauma Response, Britta D. Caudill

DSW Capstone Projects

Significant inequalities exist within the expectations of police officers regarding trauma exposure and the lack of mental health preventive efforts and treatment opportunities. The prevalence of stigma thrives within the thought process of this culture paired with the expectation for resiliency, as police culture focuses on the ability to repress emotion instead of utilizing appropriate coping methods. This review takes an interesting look at the history, definition, and diagnostic criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by focusing on its evolution within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) over time. The primary goal is to establish a relationship between the definition …

Postpartum Depression: Mitigating Treatment Barriers For Women In Appalachia, Tabitha Simpson

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone focuses on maternal mental needs, specifically postpartum care and postpartum depression. Each article in this capstone centers on postpartum depression, treatment barriers, introducing standard care of practice for women in rural communities, and identifying gaps leading to further research in postpartum education. Countless articles were read and utilized in conducting the systematic literature review to begin this process.

The first article in the capstone, the Systematic literature review, details the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression and how it differs from a major depressive disorder. A thorough review of the literature was conducted, identifying the central concern of …

Good Trouble: Disrupting The Disproportionality Of Black Boys In Special Education Due To Misdiagnosed And Unaddressed Trauma, Montrell Pryor

DSW Capstone Projects

Black boys experience a myriad of trauma as they navigate through society under the gaze of white patriarchy and archetypes. Whether engaging in trauma or witnessing it, it impacts Black boys tremendously, particularly in the educational setting. What typically looks like misbehavior in the classroom can be symptoms of unaddressed and untreated trauma that have been triggered and exacerbated in the school setting. As a result, this phenomenon contributes to the disproportionality of Black boys in special education and adds to the expansion of the school-to-prison pipeline.

This capstone provides a thorough examination of the literature in the form of …

Addressing The Mental Health Disparities Among Black Children During Natural Disasters: A Clinical Perspective And Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic., Brittany Reed

DSW Capstone Projects

The experiences of Black children resulting from the events surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic present a projection to create long-term mental health effects at higher rates than their peers of other races. While the long-term effects of this pandemic are still considered ongoing, the disparities within the Black community will subsequently develop into a trickle-down effect of secondary traumatic experiences faced by Black children. Then, where does that leave Black children and their mental health? This capstone project aims to examine how the Covid-19 pandemic will affect Black children, explore the mental health challenges and disparities faced by Black children resulting …

A Seat At The Table: Visioning Social Work’S Leadership Future, Lucas Hall

DSW Capstone Projects

This capstone focuses on the history of social work leadership, current trends in social work leadership, what is lacking and where we can go in the future. The systematic literature review was focuses on what is in the literature as it relates to social work leadership preparation. The conceptual paper proposes the creation of social work leadership fellowships and certification programs. Finally, the practice application paper is the full realization of the first two papers. A solution to the crisis of a lack of social work leadership preparation is proposed and fully fleshed out. The solution being the full-scale implementation …

Back To Basics: Re-Envisioning Job Satisfaction Through Social Work-Strengths-Based Leadership, Mary Mcdaniel

DSW Capstone Projects

Social work job satisfaction is a pressing concern, becoming even more dire, in times of depleted social work workforces like experienced in Kentucky in 2021 or during an overall depleted workforce like experienced nationally due to The Great Resignation labor trend of 2022. Over recent years, it has become evident social workers and social service workers are less willing to settle for employment experiences and work environments of high stress, exhaustion, and frustration. Instead, social workers’ work expectations are changing, with social workers looking for positive work experiences such as workplaces which promote wellness, self-care, work-life balance, flexibility, and professional …

Black Youth Are Suffering In Silence: Advancing Social Work Education To Better Address The Mental Health Of African American Youth., Alicia Dawson

DSW Capstone Projects

African American youth’s rates of major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide have increased in the last three years due to COVID-19 and national social injustices. African American students who seek help at school are less likely to receive adequate treatment from school social workers. Mental health care for African American students should be available, and those services must be effective. African American youth continue to suffer in silence when school social workers lack African-centered conceptual teaching and therapeutic skills. Current social work education curriculums contribute to 'Whiteness,' which influences future social workers to carry biases and …

The Effect Of Travel Burden On Depression And Anxiety In African American Women Living With Systemic Lupus, Ashley A. White, Brittany L. Smalls, Aissatou Ba, Trevor D. Faith, Viswanathan Ramakrishnan, Hetlena Johnson, Jillian Rose, Clara L. Dismuke-Greer, Jim C. Oates, Leonard E. Egede, Edith M. Williams

Family and Community Medicine Faculty Publications

The United States has a deficit of rheumatology specialists. This leads to an increased burden in accessing care for patients requiring specialized care. Given that most rheumatologists are located in urban centers at large hospitals, many lupus patients must travel long distances for routine appointments. The present work aims to determine whether travel burden is associated with increased levels of depression and anxiety among these patients. Data for this study were collected from baseline visits of patients participating in a lupus study at MUSC. A travel/economic burden survey was assessed as well as the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) and …

Longitudinal Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) Acceptability, Initiation And Adherence Among Criminal Justice-Involved Adults In The Usa: The Southern Prep Cohort Study (Specs) Protocol, Katherine Lemasters, Carrie B. Oser, Mariah Cowell, Katie Mollan, Kathryn Nowotny, Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

Sociology Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: HIV prevalence among criminal justice (CJ)-involved adults is five times higher than the general population. Following incarceration, CJ-involved individuals experience multilevel barriers to HIV prevention. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a widely available, daily medication efficacious in preventing HIV. Little is known about PrEP knowledge, acceptability, initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved persons or about how these outcomes vary by multilevel factors. The Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Study (SPECS) will investigate barriers and facilitators for PrEP initiation and sustained use among CJ-involved adults, building a foundation for PrEP interventions for this underserved population.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS: SPECS uses a mixed-methods sequential …

Temporal Trends In Suicidal Ideation And Attempts Among Us Adolescents By Sex And Race/Ethnicity, 1991-2019, Yunyu Xiao, Julie Cerel, J. John Mann

Social Work Faculty Publications

Importance: Disparities by sex and racial/ethnic group in suicide death rates are present in US adolescents. Whether disparities in suicide death extend to groups targeted for suicide prevention efforts, namely, those with suicidal ideation or nonfatal suicide attempts, is unknown.

Objective: To examine differences in temporal trends between suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in US adolescents from 1991 through 2019 by sex and race/ethnicity subgroups.

Design, Setting, and Participants: A cross-sectional analysis of the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, weighted to represent US adolescents from 1991 to 2019, included 183 563 US high-school students in grades 9 to 12. Data …

Age At First Alcohol Use And Weapon Carrying Among Adolescents: Findings From The 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Philip Baiden, Nusrat Jahan, Henry K. Onyeaka, Shawndaya Thrasher, Savarra Tadeo, Erin Findley

Social Work Graduate Research

Background
Although studies have investigated the association between alcohol use and violent behaviors such as weapon carrying, few studies have examined the association between age at first alcohol use and weapon-carrying among adolescents. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between age at first alcohol use and weapon carrying among adolescents.

Methods
Data for this study came from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. An analytic sample of 13,442 adolescents aged 14–18 years old (51% female) was analyzed using binary logistic regression. The outcome variable investigated in this study was weapon carrying during the past 30 days, …

A Description Of Covid-19 Lifestyle Restrictions Among A Sample Of Rural Appalachian Women, Michele Staton, Martha Tillson, J. Matthew Webster

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: COVID-19 has led to swift federal and state response to control virus transmission, which has resulted in unprecedented lifestyle changes for U.S. citizens including social distancing and isolation. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 lifestyle restrictions and related behavioral risks is important, particularly among individuals who may be more vulnerable (such as rural women with a history of substance use living in Appalachia).

Purpose: The overall purpose of this study was to better understand the perceptions of lifestyle changes due to COVID-19 restrictions among this vulnerable group.

Methods: The study included a mixed methods survey with a convenience sample of …

Mental Health And Psychosocial Functioning In Recently Separated U.S. Women Veterans: Trajectories And Bi-Directional Relationships, Karen A. Lawrence, Dawne Vogt, Adam Dugan, Shawn R. Nigam, Emily Slade, Brian N. Smith

Social Work Faculty Publications

Prior research on the relationship between veterans’ mental health and psychosocial functioning has primarily relied on male samples. Here, we investigated prospective longitudinal relationships between mental health and psychosocial functioning in 554 female Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans who were surveyed three times between two- and seven-years following separation from service. Mixed effects modeling revealed that increasing depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity predicted declines in work functioning. Increasing PTSD severity predicted declining parental functioning and worsening depression predicted a decline in relationship functioning. In turn, decreased work and intimate relationship functioning predicted increased PTSD and depression symptom severity …

Does Bullying Victimization In Middle Childhood Influence Adolescent Risk Behaviors: Differences Across Racial/Ethnic Groups?, Shawndaya Sabrina Thrasher

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Bullying is a public health problem that negatively affects millions of children annually and can have serious, long-lasting effects on victims. Emergent research concludes a higher prevalence of bullying occurs in earlier school years, especially among racial/ethnic minorities. Evidence also suggests that risk behaviors associated with bully victimization may vary by racial/ethnic profile, leading to disproportionate chances of adverse psychosocial and health-related behaviors. Therefore, racial/ethnic minority youth may be more likely to cope with being bullied through risk behaviors (e.g., coping by fighting).

Current investigations of racial/ethnic differences in the bullied-risk relationship examine few risk behaviors (i.e., academic performance and …

Transforming Outcomes To Increase Participation In The Independent Living Program Sponsored By Sunrise Children’S Services, Richard R. Burslem

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Research demonstrates the transition for aging-out foster youth evidences they are not equipped with the necessary tools to live a self-sufficient adult life. Many children who age-out of the foster system have encountered trauma at multiple levels. Sunrise Children’s Services is an agency in Kentucky committed to changing negative outcomes for this population of individuals.

The optimum goal for children and youth is for them to grow up within their biological family where they receive guidance and support as they mature. For some individuals that is not an option, and the government along with agencies like Sunrise are focused on …

Enhancing Evidence-Based Tobacco Treatment Services For Clients With Mental Illnesses, Janet Otachi

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Tobacco users with mental illnesses (MI) have continued to experience disparate rates of tobacco use, related illnesses and mortality. Despite higher rates of tobacco use among clients with MI, few providers in mental health settings deliver evidence based tobacco treatment. If tobacco use is not addressed, clients with MI will continue to experience disproportionate rates of tobacco use and related burden. Utilizing the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study examined factors associated with provider intentions to deliver tobacco treatment, and their tobacco treatment delivery practices. Based on the main constructs of the TPB, providers’ attitudes about tobacco treatment delivery, …

Gender In The Time Of Covid-19: Evaluating National Leadership And Covid-19 Fatalities, Leah C. Windsor, Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, Alistair J. Windsor, Robert Ostergard, Susan Allen, Courtney Burns, Jarod Giger, Reed Wood

Social Work Faculty Publications

In this paper we explore whether countries led by women have fared better during the COVID-19 pandemic than those led by men. Media and public health officials have lauded the perceived gender-related influence on policies and strategies for reducing the deleterious effects of the pandemic. We examine this proposition by analyzing COVID-19-related deaths globally across countries led by men and women. While we find some limited support for lower reported fatality rates in countries led by women, they are not statistically significant. Country cultural values offer more substantive explanation for COVID-19 outcomes. We offer several potential explanations for the pervasive …

Technical Reviewing For The Family First Prevention Services Act: Strategies And Recommendations, Antonio R. Garcia, Peter J. Pecora, Audrey H. Schnell, Cynthia Burnson, Elizabeth Harris, Allison Finseth

Social Work Faculty Publications

The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) has compelled states to expand their priorities to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs) as a means to prevent foster care placement. While the states may opt to include EBPs already approved by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), some state leaders are opting to commission an independent technical review for the EBP they would prefer to implement as part of their FFPSA plan. While the goal is for ACF to approve their plan and issue a temporary license, little guidance is provided on how to conduct technical reviews. Relying upon the expectations that …

Cross-National Associations Among Cyberbullying Victimization, Self-Esteem, And Internet Addiction: Direct And Indirect Effects Of Alexithymia, Sebastian Wachs, Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Michelle F. Wright, Gabriela Ksinan Jiskrova

Family Sciences Faculty Publications

The relationship among cyberbullying victimization, lower self-esteem, and internet addiction has been well-established. Yet, little research exists that explains the nature of these associations, and no previous work has considered the inability to identify or describe one’s emotions, namely, alexithymia, as a potential mediator of these links. The present study sought to investigate the indirect effects of cyberbullying victimization on self-esteem and internet addiction, mediated by alexithymia. The sample consisted of 1,442 participants between 12 and 17 years (M_age = 14.17, SD = 1.38, 51.5% male) from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Results showed a direct …