Other Sociology Commons^™

Food Waste, Preference, And Cost: Perceived Barriers And Self-Reported Food Service Best Practices In Family Child Care Homes, Divya Patel, Daisy Butzer, Bethany D. Williams, Dipti Dev, Diane Horm, Denise Finneran, Bryce Lowery, Janis E. Campbell, Susan B. Sisson

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Background: Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs) are a setting where providers care for children at their own residence. FCCHs face unique challenges, and children may not always receive optimal nutrition and have higher risk of obesity compared to other programs. The objective of this study was to determine differences in food service best practices scores between FCCHs who did/did not perceive barriers to serving healthy meals. Methods: FCCHs (n = 167) self-reported demographics and perceived barriers to serving healthy foods. Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care was used to assess food served with 1 (indicating poor practice) …

Approaches Mainline Protestant Pastors Use To Work With Lgb People And Their Families: Implications For Family Therapists, Christi R. Mcgeorge, Katelyn O. Coburn

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

When a loved one comes out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), families often seek the assistance of a trusted professional. For many families that involves seeking the consultation of a religious leader. This queer theory informed qualitative study sought to explore how Christian pastors work with LGB individuals and their families. Additionally, this study explored how pastors’ approaches to working with LGB individuals and their families varied based on the degree to which families were accepting or rejecting of their LGB family members. Twenty-one mainline Protestant Christian pastors were interviewed. Thematic analysis identified three themes and a number of …

An Exploratory Study Of Early Childhood Coaches’ Practices And Professional Learning Needs, Rachel E. Schachter, Holly Hatton-Bowers, Hayley Jackson, Lisa Knoche

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Coaching is increasingly being used as a mechanism to improve the quality of early childhood education. Yet, for coaching outside of researcher-controlled interventions, limited information details coaches’ reports of their practices’ professional learning needs. We addressed this gap via an exploratory study utilizing online questionnaires of 91 coaches working with educators in a Midwestern US state across 12 coaching initiatives. Most participants had less than 5 years of experience working as an early childhood coach. Almost a third coached for multiple initiatives. Coaching occurred via multiple formats and often addressed behavior management and social emotional development regardless of the coaching …

Happiness And Policy Implications: A Sociological View, Sarah M. Kahl

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The World Happiness Report is released every year, ranking each country by who is “happier” and explaining the variables and data they have used. This project attempts to build from that base and create a machine learning algorithm that can predict if a country will be in a “happy” or “could be happier” category. Findings show that taking a broader scope of variables can better help predict happiness. Policy implications are discussed in using both big data and considering social indicators to make better and lasting policies.

Reaching For The Stars: A Constructivist Investigation Of Astrology As A Tool For Self-Discovery In A New Age Of Leadership, Cameron Martin

Dissertations

To fully understand leadership in today’s world, we need a radical reconceptualization of the developmental process required to lead. Changing paradigms demands new perspectives on leadership; these new paradigms suggest leaders must turn inward and develop knowledge of their inner selves to realize their full potential as leaders.

Astrology is an ancient way of knowing and making sense of the world and one’s place in it that provides benefits to many people in our modern world, despite fervent academic, religious, and scientific criticism. Astrology is more than a divination tool. It is an entire epistemology of self in relation to …

Training Packages For The Use Of Child Development Tools In Low/Middle-Income Countries: A Review, Maria Neocleous, Katelyn Hepworth, Vanessa Cavallera, Melissa Gladstone

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Background We are now moving beyond the focus of ’child survival’ to an era which promotes children thriving and developing rather than simply ’surviving’. In doing so, we are becoming more aware of the large variation of child development screening tools available globally, but in particular, those in low/middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods This narrative review identifies 24 child development tools used in LMICs. We aimed to identify information on training accessibility and training design, assessment methods and cost of training. For those tools with no training information identified or for any tools identified as providing online training, the tool author …

Reformation Within The Nation: Adapting The Nordic Rehabilitation And Reintegration Model To Positively Recondition The United States Criminal Justice System, Jessica Cornell

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

An analytical and statistical based comparison of criminal sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation and reintegration in the United States of America to those of the five countries which follows those of the Nordic Criminal Justice System.

The Development Of The Police Department Wellness Survey (Pdws), Tia White

Social Work Doctoral Dissertations

Police officers dedicate their careers to serving and protecting the communities they work in. Research is finding that the intensity of demands put on their mental health has turned suicide rates amongst police officers is at critical levels and has been declared by experts to be a ‘pandemic’ in the population (Wylie, 2020). There are very few researchers who broach police officers’ mental health. Social workers’ education and values make them uniquely qualified to engage in this study. The literature in policing supports that there are no assessments designed specifically for police and there are no known measures that provide …

What Knowledge Do Early Childhood Teachers Use During Literacy Instruction? Using Stimulated Recall To Investigate An Unexplored Phenomenon, Rachel E. Schachter

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This study utilized a novel phenomenological approach with a stimulated recall procedure to understand the pedagogical reasoning of eight early child teachers during the enactment of literacy instruction in whole-group meeting and language arts activities. This approach to investigating knowledge—in contrast to more tra­ditional conceptualizations of knowledge—focused on knowledge use as a process and prioritized teachers’ perspectives on knowledge used to enact literacy instruc­tion in their own classrooms. Additionally, it allowed for a more nuanced investi­gation of the role of setting and teacher characteristics that are often examined in association with literacy instruction (e.g., degree attainment, years of experience, curriculum, …

Mitigating The Mental Health Impact Of Marginalization And Discrimination, Debra A. Hope

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

In honor of the life and work of Aaron T. Beck, this paper describes the application of cognitive therapy to management of marginalization stress among minoritized communities. Collaborative empiricism, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral interventions are highlighted as being particularly useful in a contemporary multicultural approach for the anxiety, depression, stress, and other sequelae of marginalization due to a stigmatized identity. Although primarily illustrated through recent work with transgender and gender diverse adults, the discussion extends to other groups including racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities and immigrants. This work illustrates the power of Dr. Beck’s approach to address the presenting concerns …

Test–Retest Reliability And Sensitivity Of A Brief Clinical Monitoring Measure For Transgender And Gender Diverse Adults: The Trans Collaborations Clinical Check-In (Tc3), T. Zachary Huit, Natalie R. Holt, Alexander Farquhar-Leicester, Rebecca L. Brock, Richard Mocarski, Nathan Woodruff, Debra Hope

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

The current study aimed to examine the test–retest reliability and sensitivity of the Trans Collaborations Clinical Check-In (TC³) in a 3-month period with four assessment points at baseline, 1, 2, and 3 months to examine its utility as a clinical progress monitoring measure. This study builds on the initial validation study conducted by Holt et al. (2019). The sample of 32 transgender and gender diverse (TGD) participants were chosen who met screening for at least modest depression and anxiety, and did not have other significant risk factors (e.g., mania, self-harm). Participants completed a battery of measures that assessed …

Bridging The Gap Between Practice Guidelines And The Therapy Room: Community-Derived Practice Adaptations For Psychological Services With Transgender And Gender Diverse Adults In The Central United States, Debra A. Hope, Natalie Holt, Nathan Woodruff, Richard Mocarski, Heather M. Meyer, Jae A. Puckett, Joshua Eyer, Shelley Craig, Jamie Feldman, Jay A. Irwin, John Pachankis, K. J. Rawson, Jae Sevelius, Sim Butler

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

Individuals who identify as transgender and gender diverse (TGD) are presenting at mental health clinicians’ offices with increasing frequency. Many TGD clients are seeking care related to affirming their gender identity but also may present with anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, or other problems forwhich a clinician may commonly provide services. Some clinicians may hesitate to accept TGD clients into their practice if they have little specialized training to work with this population in an affirming manner, especially in more underserved areas where a generalist practice is the norm. Numerous professional associations and experts have developed guidelines for affirmative behavioral …

Educational Preparedness To Care For Transgender And Gender Diverse Adults: Perspectives Of Mental Health Professionals, Sharon N. Obasi, Robyn E. King, Natalie R. Holt, Richard Mocarski, Debra A. Hope, Nathan Woodruff

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

Ensuring that mental health professionals are appropriately trained to provide affirming and sensitive care to transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adults is one mechanism that may reduce the marginalization sometimes experienced by TGD adults in mental health contexts. In this study, mental health professionals (n = 142) completed an online survey documenting the sources and types of training received to provide TGD-sensitive care; and, shared a self-assessment of their comfort, competence, and ability to provide TGD-sensitive care. Findings revealed that the majority of the mental health professionals in the study (approximately 81%) received specific training to work with TGD …

‘Read For Nutrition’ Programme Improves Preschool Children’S Liking And Consumption Of Target Vegetable, Maha Elrakaiby, Saima Hasnin, Virginia C. Stage, Dipti Dev

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: To determine whether the ‘Read for Nutrition’ programme would increase liking and consumption of broccoli (a target vegetable) in preschool children and test acceptability and practicality of the programme.

Design: Pilot pre-post intervention study, where childcare teachers received training and coaching followed by reading the book ‘Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli’ multiple times with the children during a three-week intervention.

Setting: Five classrooms of Educare, Lincoln, Nebraska in 2018.

Participants: Sixty-nine (11 to 16 children per classroom) preschool-aged children and sixteen teachers (minimum, three per classroom).

Results: Average total consumption of broccoli increased 35 % (0·14 ounces or 0·05th cup) …

Correlates Of Children’S Dietary Intake In Childcare Settings: A Systematic Review, Saima Hasnin, Jaclyn A. Saltzman, Dipti A. Dev

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Context: Children consume up to two-thirds of their daily dietary requirements in full-time childcare, making the setting a critical vector for preventing childhood obesity. Objective: To summarize the ecological correlates of children’s dietary intake in childcare settings that were identified and categorized using the Six-Cs developmental ecological model of contributors to overweight and obesity in childhood. Data Sources: A literature search was conducted in 4 electronic databases. Study Selection: English-language, peer-reviewed publications that investigated at least 1 correlate of children’s (ages 2–6 years) dietary intake in childcare settings and measured children’s actual consumption of foods and beverages from food groups …

Toddler Play Preferences And The Teacher’S Role In The Outdoor Play Environment, Keting Chen, Erin E. Hamel

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Direct experience with nature is a primary component of environmental education and especially beneficial for young children. The present study examined the outdoor play preferences of toddlers and investigated the role teachers play in the outdoor space. Toddlers’ outdoor play was video recorded by GoPro cameras and coded for preferred play locations and initiator of the play. Results showed that the three most preferred spaces for toddlers in the outdoor classroom were the sandbox, swing area, and play structures; least frequently visited were open areas close to the classrooms, the garden, and the tree area. In addition, toddlers initiated play …

Relationships Between Proximity To Grocery Stores And Oklahoma Early Care And Education Classroom Nutrition Practices, Bethany D. Williams, Susan B. Sisson, Bryce Lowery, Dipti Dev, Diane M. Horm, Janis E. Campbell, Denise Finneran, Jennifer Graef-Downard

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The study purpose was to determine associations between proximity to grocery stores and Early Care and Education programs’ (i.e., ECEs) classroom nutrition practices and barriers, by ECE context (Head Start, community-based childcare [CBC], and family child care homes [FCCHs]). A statewide cross-sectional survey was implemented in Oklahoma ECEs. Directors reported classroom nutrition practices with the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment tool, and barriers to implementation. Locations of 457 grocery stores statewide were determined by in-person audit. Geocoded ECEs were considered within a “low proximity” area if no grocery stores were available within a 0.25-mile radius for urban, or 10-mile radius …

Implementation Of Federal Waivers For Feeding Children In Early Care And Education During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Dipti Dev, Carly Hillburn, Jordan Luxa, Laura Lessard, Katherine W. Bauer, Caree Cotwright, Alison Tovar

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: To capture Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) state directors’ experiences implementing federal waivers for feeding children in early care and education (ECE) settings during coronavirus disease 2019.

Design: Qualitative semistructured interviews.

Setting: Virtual interviews with state CACFP directors.

Participants: Child and Adult Care Food Program directors from 21 states from December 2020 to May 2021.

Phenomenon of Interest: Implementation of state-level waivers.

Analysis: Qualitative thematic analysis.

Results: State directors reported that the coronavirus disease 2019 waivers allowed ECE programs to continue feeding children despite being closed or having limited enrollment. The meal pattern, noncongregate feeding, parent/guardian meal …

A Life-Course Perspective Of Sex Trafficking Among The Bedia Caste Of India, Rochelle L. Dalla, Kaitlin Roselius, Victoria J. Johnson, Jessie Peter, Trupti Jhaveri Panchal, Ramani Ranjan, Mrinalini Mischra, Sagar Sahu

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Thousands of Indian women and girls enter the commercial sex industry (CSI) annually based solely on membership in particular castes (e.g., Bedia, Nat). CSI-involved females bear the burden of sustaining entire family units on money earned in the sex trade; it is a life-long responsibility with negligible social status or personal indemnity. Based on the life-course developmental theory (Elder, Jr. 1994, 1998) this investigation was intended to examine trafficked women’s experiences within the commercial sex industry across time. Beyond the CSI, we were equally interested in experiences with factors that could promote well-being (i.e., social support) and normative developmental transitions …

A Qualitative Comparison Of Parent And Childcare Provider Perceptions Of Communication And Family Engagement In Children's Healthy Eating And Physical Activity, Danae Dinkel, Maggie Rasmussen, John P. Rech, Kailey Snyder, Dipti Dev

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Background: Parents and childcare providers play a substantial role in the development of health behaviors among the children they care for. In order to ensure the optimal growth and development of children, communication and family engagement in childcare is critical. Previous studies examining parent or provider perceptions about healthy eating or physical activity have explored these concepts individually and/or have only included only parents or providers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare childcare provider and parent perceptions of communication regarding healthy eating and physical activity as well as use of best practice strategies on family engagement for …

Promising Findings That The Cultivating Healthy Intentional Mindful Educators’ Program (Chime) Strengthens Early Childhood Teachers’ Emotional Resources: An Iterative Study, Holly Hatton-Bowers, Caron Clark, Gilbert R. Parra, Jessica L. Calvi, Michael Yellow Bird, Pearl Avari, Jaclynn Foged, John Smith

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Findings suggest that an eight-week mindfulness compassion-based program, Cultivating Healthy Intentional Mindful Educators (CHIME), is a feasible professional development intervention for early childhood (EC) teachers to support their emotion regulation and psychological and workplace well-being. We offer preliminary evidence that learning about mindfulness, self-compassion, and social-emotional learning supports EC teachers in strengthening their knowledge and application of practices to be more mindful and less emotionally reactive and emotionally exhausted at work. In analyzing both EC teacher feedback and survey data from two pilot studies, there was promising evidence that participating in CHIME enhanced awareness of emotions and the development of …

Investigating Moderators Of Daily Marital To Parent–Child Spillover: Individual And Family Systems Approaches, Patty X. Kuo, Kejin Lee, Victoria J. Johnson, Emily J. Starr

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: We tested whether cognitive reappraisal and coparenting quality moderate marital to parent–child spillover in mothers and fathers.

Background: The influence of marital relationship quality on parent–child relationships, referred to as the spillover effect, is well documented. Factors that may attenuate the occurrence of spillover, however, remain unclear. Cognitive reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy that promotes the reframing of emotional situations as neutral or positive, and coparenting—the intermediate subsystem between the marital and parent–child relationships—may buffer the effects of marital to parent–child spillover.

Method: Using daily diary data from mother–father couples (N = 96) of young children (M_age = …

The Development Of Social Competence In Children With Disabilities, Soo-Young Hong, Elizabeth A. Steed, Lori E. Meyer, İbrahim H. Acar

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Children with disabilities experience unique challenges in developing social skills critical to achieve their social goals. Although there are individual differences, children with delays and disabilities may struggle to communicate with others, understand gestures, and take other people’s viewpoints. These differences may prevent children with disabilities from initiating and sustaining social interactions and, in turn, from developing high levels of social competence (Hebbeler & Spiker, 2016).

To support social development of children with disabilities, it is important to promote positive relationships within the family system as well as the teaching of social skills in inclusive early learning environments (Mahoney et …

The Role Of Ethnicity And Nativity In The Correspondence Between Subjective And Objective Measures Of In-Home Smoking, Vincent Berardi, Georgiana Bostean, Lydia Q. Ong, Britney S. Wong, Bradley N. Collins, Melbourne F. Hovell

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Studies are needed to understand the association between self-reported home smoking bans and objective measures of in-home smoking according to smokers’ ethnicity/nativity. Data came from a trial that used air particle monitors to reduce children’s secondhand smoke exposure in smokers’ households (N = 251). Linear regressions modeled (a) full home smoking bans by ethnicity/nativity, and (b) objectively measured in-home smoking events, predicted by main and interaction effects of self-reported home smoking bans and ethnicity/nativity. Among smokers reporting < a full ban, US-born and Foreign-born Latinos had fewer in-home smoking events than US-born Whites (p < 0.001). Participants who reported a full smoking ban had a similar frequency of smoking events regardless of ethnicity/nativity. Results indicate that self-reported home smoking bans can be used as a proxy for in-home smoking. Establishing smoking bans in the households of US-born White smokers has the largest impact on potential exposure compared to other ethnicity/nativity groups.

Advocacy Opportunities From Academic- Community Partnerships: Three Examples From Trans Collaborations, Debra A. Hope, Nathan Woodruff, Richard Mocarski

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

For a number of years, much of what we know about marginalized communities from psychological research, even most social science work, came from the perspective of “research on” a particular marginalized group, with the majority group as the “healthy” reference sample (Awad et al., 2016). In part, this occurred because very few researchers are themselves members of these communities. In addition, researchers would come into a community, collect their data, and leave, with little ongoing benefit to the community itself. Over time, this exploitation led to communities becoming more suspicious of researchers (e.g., Christopher et al., 2008). Recognizing the problem, …

“My Daughter Was Sacrificed By My Mother”: Women’S Involvement In Ritually Motivated Violence And Murder In Contemporary Africa, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Ritually motivated crimes are grave crimes that continue to plague contemporary Africa. Occasionally, victims abducted for ritual purposes are discovered and set free. Fresh or decomposing bodies are spotted somewhere, often with missing parts taken by the ritual killers who killed the victims. Some missing persons in the continent are presumed to have been abducted or killed by ritually motivated criminals. Although ritually motivated crimes take different forms, most of them involve brutal acts of violence and murder. The barbaric manner in which these criminals attack or slaughter their victims creates fear and panic. Traditionally, men commit serious crimes involving …

Associations Between Community Built Environments With Early Care And Education Classroom Physical Activity Practices And Barriers, Bethany D. Williams, Susan B. Sisson, Dipti Dev, Bryce Lowery, Diane Horm, Janis Campbell, Denise Finneran, Jennifer Graef-Downard, Linda Whaley

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The influence of community-built environments on physical activity (PA) support in Early Childhood Education settings (ECEs) is unknown. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine associations between community PA environments and ECE classroom PA practices. We included licensed Oklahoma ECE directors serving 3-to-5-year-old children. Parks and playground locations were exported from Google Earth. NationalWalkability Index was derived from 2010 US Census data. ArcMap 10.6 was used to geocode ECE locations, which were within an Activity Desert if no parks/playgrounds were located within a 1-mile radius or if Walkability Index was 10.5 or below. Classroom PA practices were determined …

Can I Buy My Health? A Genetically Informed Study Of Socioeconomic Status And Health, Jennifer W. Robinette, Christopher R. Beam, Tara L. Gruenewald

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

A large literature demonstrates associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, including physiological health and well-being. Moreover, gender differences are often observed among measures of both SES and health. However, relationships between SES and health are sometimes questioned given the lack of true experiments, and the potential biological and SES mechanisms explaining gender differences in health are rarely examined simultaneously.

Purpose

To use a national sample of twins to investigate lifetime socioeconomic adversity and a measure of physiological dysregulation separately by sex.

Methods

Using the twin sample in the second wave of the Midlife in the United States survey …

Examining Correlates Of Feeding Practices Among Parents Of Preschoolers, Deepa Srivastava, Lucy R. Zheng, Dipti Dev

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Background: Parent feeding practices play a critical role in children’s eating behaviors. Limited research has explored child-level correlates of parent feeding practices.

Aim: To identify correlates of feeding practices (responsive and controlling) among parents of preschoolers in the United States.

Methods: Participants included parents (n = 273) of preschoolers (3–5 years), recruited from early care and education settings (n = 24) located in a metropolitan city in the US. Analysis included descriptives, correlations, and multiple regression.

Results: For responsive feeding practices, positive associations included child’s weight with unintentional modeling (β = .17, 95% CI [0.12, 0.53]), child vegetable …

Associations Between Community Built Environments With Early Care And Education Classroom Physical Activity Practices And Barriers, Bethany D. Williams, Susan B. Sisson, Dipti Dev, Bryce Lowery, Diane Horm, Janis Campbell, Denise Finneran, Jennifer Graef-Downard, Linda Whaley

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

The influence of community-built environments on physical activity (PA) support in Early Childhood Education settings (ECEs) is unknown. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine associations between community PA environments and ECE classroom PA practices. We included licensed Oklahoma ECE directors serving 3-to-5-year-old children. Parks and playground locations were exported from Google Earth. National Walkability Index was derived from 2010 US Census data. ArcMap 10.6 was used to geocode ECE locations, which were within an Activity Desert if no parks/playgrounds were located within a 1-mile radius or if Walkability Index was 10.5 or below. Classroom PA practices were …