Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons^™

Clinicians' Perceptions Of Telehealth Services During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Virginia, Johnetta Hill Guishard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The onset of COVID-19 introduced unprecedented changes to how U.S. public health services were delivered. Many public and private agencies faced mandatory closures, social distancing mandates, and rapid transitions to telehealth interventions and treatment. Mental health clinicians witnessed disruptions in continuity of care and an increase in mental health risks overall. Although some studies have been conducted to survey clinicians’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of technology-based interventions, knowledge about mental health clinicians’ experiences and perceptions in Virginia was sparse. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how mental health clinicians in Virginia described …

Discipline Without Punishment For African American Male Juveniles: From The Eyes Of A Mental Health Professional, Mia Nichole Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile rehabilitation and incarceration among African Americans are not equal and up to the standards and recommendations of society. This study focused on identifying the differences between the juvenile rehabilitation and incarceration punishment among African American offenders, with the goal of helping improve the way that the society looks at African Americans. The paper followed qualitative research methodology, which provided social evidence and helped in breaking down information. Data were collected from focus groups, observations, questionnaires, and interviews. The research highlights issues regarding juvenile rehabilitation and incarceration of African Americans, which can encourage change.

Evaluating The Impact Of Mental Health Needs And Services Disruption: Covid-19 & Wisconsin Children’S Welfare Services, Gavin Rienne

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Children’s traumatic experiences have lifelong impacts on their mental health and quality of life, therefore mental health services are a critical part of necessary community resources. The increased frequency and severity of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and pandemics reinforces the need to examine and understand the importance of mental health and child services in response to disaster events. This research assesses the relationship between disasters and subsequent health service utilization amongst children and adolescents. We investigated current research on the relationship between children’s mental health and community mental health resource efficacy and accessibility after a major disaster by …

Barriers To Outdoor Recreation For Marginalized Groups At The University Of Montana, Sabine R. Englert, Beatrix Frissell, Adrienne Liebert, Sophia Rodriquez, Margaret Jensen, Rachana Harris, Abby Doss

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Exclusion from outdoor recreation reflects legacies of oppression of marginalized communities and makes access to the outdoors not equally available. In the United States, approximately 38% of Black Americans and 48% of Hispanic Americans participated in outdoor recreation in 2020. This is compared to 55% participation among Caucasian Americans. Many other intersecting identities are actively excluded, including people with disabilities, fat populations, and members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community; furthermore, class-based hierarchies are shown through the restricted outdoor access of low-income populations.

While numerous studies show a lack of diversity in outdoor recreation, little to no research has been conducted on …

Flourishing With Chronic Illness(Es) And Everyday Stress: Experiences From Soweto, South Africa, Megan Schmidt-Sane, Lindile Cele, Edna Bosire, Alexander C. Tsai, Emily Mendenhall

Brain and Mind Institute

The pursuit of flourishing, or living a good life, is a common human endeavor with different meanings across individuals and contexts. What is needed is a further exploration of the relationship between flourishing and health, particularly chronic illness, which affects individuals across the life course and is affected by experiences of stress derived from social and structural vulnerability.

Drawing on data from the Soweto Syndemics study, including a locally derived stress scale and in-depth interviews, we explore the connections between flourishing and health for those living with multiple chronic illnesses in Soweto, South Africa within a syndemic of communicable and …

Sustaining Breaths For Restorative Rest: A Preliminary Evaluation Of Sleep, Mental Health, And Cognitive Function Following Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation For Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Elliottnell Perez

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep-related breathing disorder that produces repetitive obstruction or collapse of the upper airway. Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is the gold standard treatment for OSA. Hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS) is considered an alternative treatment for patients who are unable to tolerate PAP therapy. The purpose of the study was to examine sleep, mental health, and cognitive health outcomes before and after HNS to determine its viability as an alternative treatment.

Methods: The study utilized a single-group, pretest-posttest design. Objective and subjective sleep was measured using actigraphy, sleep diary, and questionnaires. Objective and subjective …

Staff Education For Nurses And Providers On Rapid Mood Screener, Lolade Adekemi Ogunleye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Advances in the psychiatric field have led to the development of valuable tools that can be used in screening patients to understand their condition better. Indeed, instruments such as the Rapid Mood Screener (RMS) have been significantly used to help diagnose conditions such as bipolar disorder. The implication is that such tools need to be appropriately used by health care practitioners such as nurses for better and more accurate diagnostic results. A more accurate diagnosis is a foundation for better patient management and outcomes. Therefore, as part of a bigger plan, mental health facilities should make deliberate efforts to ensure …

Help-Seeking Behaviors And Employment Hope Among Depressed Black Male Foster Care Alumni, Vanessa Jennings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traumatic depression is a system of experiences where the mind, heart, and gut track happenings lingering among systemic models of prevention and intervention and personal stories. This nonexperimental correlational study aimed to provide insights into mental help-seeking and employment hope among depressed Black/African American foster care male alums. The central research question was to what degree, if any, a positive relationship exists between employment hope and seeking access to mental health-related services among male foster care alums who identify with depression. It was hypothesized that a statistically significant relationship exists. The social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behavior …

The Human-Canine Bond: Levels Of Stress Among Military Spouses During Deployments, Angela L. De Leon-Muniz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research has found that deployment may impact military spouses’ emotional wellbeing and attachment with family members. There remains a critical gap in the literature regarding difference in stress levels between military spouses who own canines and those who do not. The theoretical foundations for this study were Bowlby’s attachment theory and Bowen’s family systems theory. Research questions included exploring the relationships between (a) pet canine ownership, deployment length of time, and military spouses’ stress levels, and (b) pet canine owners’ pet attachment and stress experienced, when their significant others are deployed. The sample comprised 82 spouses with deployed military …

Help-Seeking Behaviors And Employment Hope Among Depressed Black Male Foster Care Alumni, Vanessa Jennings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traumatic depression is a system of experiences where the mind, heart, and gut track happenings lingering among systemic models of prevention and intervention and personal stories. This nonexperimental correlational study aimed to provide insights into mental help-seeking and employment hope among depressed Black/African American foster care male alums. The central research question was to what degree, if any, a positive relationship exists between employment hope and seeking access to mental health-related services among male foster care alums who identify with depression. It was hypothesized that a statistically significant relationship exists. The social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behavior …

Stress And Coping Among Sud Certified Peer Recovery Specialists, Cynthia June Thomas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CPRSs) are individuals with lived experience in the successful recovery of substance use or mental health disorders. CPRSs provide services for individuals seeking or enrolled in substance use disorder (SUD) recovery, provide mentoring and coaching, service and resource connections and lead recovery groups but, the job of a CPRS can have beneficial and detrimental impacts on the CPRS’s personal recovery. The purpose of this quantitative study, guided by Lazarus’s theory of coping and stress, was to determine whether there is (a) a relationship in stress and coping effectiveness among CPRSs, (b) a difference in the level …

Cme: Vitamins, Antidepressants, And The Placebo Effect - How To Help Your Patients, Nicko Inocencio

Capstone Showcase

Depression affects roughly 280 million people globally. The disease puts patients at increased risk for stroke, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes. The psychosocial causes of depression are well-known, but the biochemical causes are multifactorial. Theories range from homocysteine excess, calcium modulation at the neuron, inflammation, cortisol elevation, and disruption of the HPA axis. At the center, however, is serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Pharmacologic treatment directly aims at modulation of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. First-line treatment is a combination of SSRIs/SNRIs with cognitive behavioral therapy. If patients do not see improvement with the above therapy other agents such as bupropion, mirtazapine, …

The Relationship Between Loneliness And Experiential Avoidance After Implementation Of A Self-Compassion Intervention, Alyssa Mielock

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

An individual’s perception of a social relationship is distinct from an individual’s difficulty forming and maintaining social relationships. Loneliness is defined as an individual’s distress resulting from the discrepancy between perceived and desired social relationship quality. In the short term, loneliness may act as a motivator for an individual to seek social support to minimize distress. However, long-term loneliness is associated with physical and psychological impairments. There have been several risk factors identified that contribute to chronic loneliness, such as social isolation, psychopathology, and ineffective coping strategies. Ineffective coping may be one mechanism by which loneliness is associated with psychopathology …

Stuffed Animals For Coping And Communication In The Hospital: A Child Life Perspective, Becca Scobee

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Quality Of Life Perceptions Of Cochlear Implant Recipients And Their Frequent Communication Partners, Jessica L. Bishop, Ashley G. Flagge

Ashley Flagge Publications

Purpose: Quality of life (QoL) after cochlear implantation has been investigated using a variety of QoL questionnaires. However, few studies have examined the perceived QoL of cochlear implant (CI) recipients compared between the recipient and a frequent communication partner (FCP) using both hearing-related (hearing-specific), and health-general (health-general) measures.

Method: For this multiple case study, five participant pairs were recruited, consisting of five adult recipients who were implanted at least six months prior to the time of evaluation, and five adult frequent communication partners who lived with the recipient at the time of evaluation. All ten participants (five pairs) completed a …

Identification And Removal Of Barriers To Va Mental Health Treatment For Black Female Veterans, Thea Jenune Williams

DSW Capstone Projects

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) operates the largest integrated health care system in the country. The VA dates back to 1865, when President Lincoln signed legislature establishing a network for caring for the nation’s wounded after the Civil War. Many see this system as a safety net for the nation’s military veterans. Research shows veterans have reported several factors that interfere with them receiving needed mental health treatment from the VA. The majority of veterans are males however the number of females is quickly growing. Currently, females make up 11% of the veteran population and are projected to reach …

African American Women And Social Support Networks To Overcome The Strong Black Woman Schema And Depression, Teia Jelisia D. Clements

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental illness disorders within the United States are on the rise. Researchers have indicated that African Americans are less likely to seek mental health compared to European Americans. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand how social support networks influence African American women between the ages of 25 and 50 in addressing the strong Black woman (SBW) schema and depression. A conceptual framework consisting of the SBW collective theory guided the study. A purposive sample of 16 African American women who use social support networks to address the SBW schema and depression was obtained through flyers posted …

Experience Of Established Mental Health Counselors Working With Adults Who Have Intellectual Disabilities, Margarete Denk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals with disabilities make up the largest minority population in the United States. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) make up a significant portion of this population, yet there are limited studies addressing counseling with the I/DD population. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs has addressed the need for disability competence in their upcoming 2024 standards. The purpose of the phenomenological study was to describe lived experiences of established counselors working with adult clients diagnosed with an I/DD. A descriptive phenomenological approach was used along with the social model of disability. The study involved six …

Long-Term Psychological Adaptation Of U.S. Human Resource Personnel In Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Samantha Ann Denson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted employee psychological outcomes in various workforce sectors. Although research showed that U.S. human resource (HR) employees experienced unique occupational challenges during the pandemic, the literature did not explore pandemic-related psychological outcomes in this population. This quantitative survey-based study included a purposive sample of 294 U.S. HR professionals to explore the pandemic’s impact on their psychological well-being. The transactional model of stress and coping served as the theoretical framework to understand the independent effects of appraisal, meaning-based coping, and coping efforts on psychological well-being. A mediation analysis was used to understand the …

Mothers Of Children With Disabilities: Perceptions Of Online Peer Mentoring Support, April S. Felder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been a trend of increased diagnoses of childhood disabilities in the United States. Mothers who care for a child diagnosed with disabilities typically experience increased parental obligations and maternal mental health deficits that often go undiagnosed or untreated, resulting in adverse events. Researchers found that peer mentoring is an effective, nonclinical resource for addressing these mothers’ intervention needs but have not established alternative ways to increase access and delivery. The purpose of this generic, qualitative study was to explore how mothers of children with disabilities perceive online peer mentoring as an intervention resource for stress and coping. Lazarus’s …