Medicine and Health Commons^™

Depressive Symptoms Among College Students: An Exploration Of Fundamental Cause Theory, Peter A. Carrico

Theses and Dissertations

Fundamental Cause Theory suggests that socioeconomic and demographic factors are causal to various illnesses, including depression. However, no known previously existing research has used Fundamental Cause Theory to create a model of depression among college students. To do this, the present study conducted a stepwise binomial logistic regression to examine how socioeconomic status and the sociodemographic variables of Gender, Race, and Sexual Orientation, and others predict depressive symptoms in a large sample of undergraduates when controlling for stressful life events and social support (N = 2,915). Results support the hypothesis that socioeconomic disparities in depressive symptoms are the result …

The Role Of Afrocentric Features In Mental Healthcare Utilization And Counselor Preferences In Black College Students, Randl B. Dent

Theses and Dissertations

Though mental health issues are prevalent in Black young adults, they underutilize mental healthcare services. This research examined the role of feature-based discrimination in mental healthcare (under)utilization. Study 1, a secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, provided no evidence supporting a link between skin tone and mental healthcare utilization, when controlling for depression diagnosis. However, when controlling for depression symptoms, there was a trend such that Black young adults with darker, as opposed to lighter, skin tone utilized healthcare less. Study 2, an experimental study with 33 Black college students, showed 73% of the …

Recovery From Design, Cassandra J. Ellison

Theses and Dissertations

Through research, inquiry, and an evaluation of Recovery By Design, a ‘design therapy’ program that serves people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities, it is my assertion that the practice of design has therapeutic potential and can aid in the process of recovery. To the novice, the practices of conception, shaping form, and praxis have empowering benefit especially when guided by Conditional and Transformation Design methods together with an emphasis on materiality and vernacular form.

Towards Active Ageing: A Comparative Study Of Experiences Of Older Ghanaians In Australia And Ghana, Daniel Doh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Population ageing has become a central feature of the 21st century, as most countries search for economically viable strategies to support and manage their ageing populations to live in a dignified way. In 2002, the World Health Organisation (WHO) proposed the active ageing policy framework to guide countries to develop policies that promote the quality of life for their older people. However, the interpretation and application of the active ageing model in the literature and policy discussions are inconclusive on the most important elements that promote the quality of life of older people. The discussions have largely focused on health …

Mending Invisible Wounds: The Efficacy And Legality Of Mdma-Assisted Psychotherapy In United States' Veterans Suffering With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Jonathan Perry

Journal of Law and Health

Though Veteran Affairs has provided crucial life sustaining—and often lifesaving—treatments to returning soldiers, the substantial and ever-increasing rates of veteran suicides, drug addictions, and criminal behavior indicate a need for broader options in treatment. One of the most profound discoveries uncovered through MDMA-assisted psychotherapy research is MDMA’s facilitation of the alleviation of addictive behavior in subjects, and, as a result, an alleviation of addictions in general. Addiction is one of the key symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and drug abuse plays a large role in the other afflictions suffered by veterans, namely criminal activity and a high rate of …

Self-Care Among Older Adults With Heart Failure, Sumayya Attaallah, Kay Klymko, Faith Pratt Hopp

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: It is estimated that 5.7 million Americans are living with heart failure (HF) today. Despite the fact that HF is one of the most common reasons people aged 65 years and older are admitted into the hospital, few studies describe the self-care in this older adult population. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to review the current literature on self-care in this population to better understand the influence of selected factors on self-care and health outcomes. Methods: A literature search was completed and resulted in including 28 studies. Results: Multiple factors have been reported as barriers to self-care …

Career Morph: Quantitizing Adversity In Academic Medicine, Carol Isaac, Rebecca Mcsorley, Alexandra Schultz

The Qualitative Report

Many qualitative researchers reject textual conversion based on philosophical grounds although others believe it facilitates pattern recognition and meaning extraction. This article examined interview data from 52 physicians from a large academic medical center regarding work–life balance. Analysis ranked men and women in four career tracks: Clinician-Educator, Clinician-Researcher, Clinician-Practitioner, and residents. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a qualitatively driven (QUAL→quan) mixed method design illustrated differences between stratified groups. Although many initial codes were similar for men and women, their language was gendered and generational in context of work-life balance. Results indicated that women (and low-status men) …

Staying Current In Your Field Of Interest: Tips For Aspiring Students As Researchers, Dor D. Abelman

Health Studies Publications

Undergraduate students are becoming increasingly involved in research. They already posses the skills required to make meaningful contributions to their field of interest. Some important components of their success relates to a student's ability to stay up to date in the research of their field, and to learn practical skills pertaining to the publishing process. This article hopes to help with this through presenting easy-to-follow summary tables and short paragraphs on tips for success. Topics include staying up to date in a practical way, getting involved, reaching out for help, and publication. For students, by students, this report is relatable …

Worldwide Trends In Blood Pressure From 1975 To 2015: A Pooled Analysis Of 1479 Population-Based Measurement Studies With 19·1 Million Participants, Bin Zhou, James Bentham, Mariachiara Di Cesare, Honor Bixby, Goodarz Danaei, Melanie J. Cowan, Christopher J. Paciorek, Gitanjali Singh, Kaveh Hajifathalian, James E. Bennett, Cristina Taddei, Con Burns, Tara Coppinger, Ver Bilano, Rodrigo M. Carrillo-Larco, Shirin Djalalinia, Shahab Khatibzadeh, Charles Lugero, Niloofar Peykari, Wan Zhu Zhang, Yuan Lu, Gretchen A. Stevens, Leanne M. Riley, Pascal Bovet, Paul Elliott, Dongfeng Gu, Nayu Ikeda, Rod T. Jackson, Michel Joffres, Andre Pascal Kengne, Tiina Laatikainen, Tai Hing Lam, Avula Laxmaiah, Jing Liu

Publications

Background Raised blood pressure is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney disease. We estimated worldwide trends in mean systolic and mean diastolic blood pressure, and the prevalence of, and number of people with, raised blood pressure, defined as systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher. Methods For this analysis, we pooled national, subnational, or community population-based studies that had measured blood pressure in adults aged 18 years and older. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1975 to 2015 in mean …

Young Adult Perspectives On The Selection Of Pharmaceuticals For Mental Health Treatment, Alaina N. Talboy, Angela M. Aylward, Daniel Lende, Rodney P. Guttmann

Patient Experience Journal

Shared decision making places an emphasis on patient understanding and engagement. However, when it comes to treatment selection, research tends to focus on how doctors select pharmaceutical treatments. The current study is a qualitative assessment of how patients choose among three common treatments that have varying degrees of scientific support and side effects. We used qualitative data from 157 undergraduates (44 males, 113 females; mean age = 21.89 years) that was collected as part of a larger correlational study of depression and critical thinking skills. Qualitative analysis revealed three major themes: shared versus independent decision making, confidence in the research …

The Health Care Expenditure And Income: A Global Perspective, Badi H. Baltagi, Raffaele Lagravinese, Francesco Moscone, Elisa Tosetti

Center for Policy Research

This paper investigates the long-run economic relationship between health care expenditure and income in the world using data on 167 countries over the period 1995-2012, collected from the World Bank data set. The analysis is carried using panel data methods that allow one to account for unobserved heterogeneity, temporal persistence, and cross-section dependence in the form of either a common factor model or a spatial process. We estimate a global measure of income elasticity using all countries in the sample, and for sub-groups of countries, depending on their geo-political area and income. Our findings suggest that at the global level, …

Fish, Christine Stark

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Results From Ireland North And South's 2016 Report Card On Physical Activity For Children And Youth, Deirdre M. Harrington, Marie Murphy, Angela Carlin, Tara Coppinger, Alan Donnelly, Kieran P. Dowd, Teresa Keating, Niamh Murphy, Elaine Murtagh, Wesley O'Brien, Catherine Woods, Sarahjane Belton

Publications

Background: Physical activity (PA) is a key performance indicator for policy documents in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Building on baseline grades set in 2014, Ireland's second Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth allows for continued surveillance of indicators related to PA in children and youth. Methods: Data and information were extracted and collated for 10 indicators and graded using an international standardized grading system. Results: Overall, 7 grades stayed the same, 2 increased, and 1 decreased. Grades were assigned as follows: Overall PA, D (an increase); Sedentary Behavior (TV), C-; Physical Education, D-; …

Validating A Measure Of Beliefs In Health Prevention Screenings Among Old Adults In China, H. Xu, Paulin Tay Straughan, W. Pan, Z. Zhen, B. Wu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We aimed to examine the psychometric properties of a modified 16-item Attitudinal Index (AI), a measure of health beliefs in health prevention screenings among Chinese older adults. We used the 2013 Shanghai Longitudinal Survey of Elderly Life and Opinion data including 3418 respondents aged 60 and above. We examined the validity and reliability of the modified AI. Psychometric evaluation of the modified AI revealed good response patterns. The overall scale had good reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.835) with four distinct dimensions: barriers, fatalism, unnecessary, and detects (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.815 to 0.908). Confirmatory factor analysis of the modified AI’s factor …

Chemical Reactions: Marijuana, Opioids, And Our Families, Denise A. Hines Ph.D, Staci Gruber Ph.D, John F. Kelly Ph.D, Kathleen M. Palm Reed, Hilary Smith Connery M.D., Ph.D.

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Chemical Reactions: Marijuana, Opioids, and Our Families is the seventh Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar. This seminar was designed to emphasize a family perspective in policymaking on issues related to the legalization of marijuana and managing the opioid abuse crisis in the Commonwealth. In general, Family Impact Seminars analyze the consequences an issue, policy, or program may have for families.

Involvement In The Juvenile Justice System For African American Adolescents: Examining Associations With Behavioral Health Problems, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

While researchers have found that African American youth experience higher levels of juvenile justice involvement at every system level (arrest, sentencing, and incarceration) relative to their other ethnic counterparts, few studies have explored how juvenile justice involvement and number of contacts might be correlated with this broad range of problems. A convenience sample of 638 African American adolescents living in predominantly low-income, urban communities participated in a survey related to juvenile justice involvement. Major findings using logistic regression models indicated that adolescents who reported juvenile justice system involvement versus no involvement were 2.3 times as likely to report mental health …

Actually, Let’S Not Talk About Sex: The Value-Laden Sex Education Received By China’S Young Women, Allyson Tsu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

New Measures To Capture End Of Life Concerns In Huntington Disease: Meaning And Purpose And Concern With Death And Dying From Hdqlife (A Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System)., N E Carlozzi, N R Downing, M K Mccormack, S G Schilling, J S Perlmutter, E A Hahn, J S Lai, S Frank, K A Quaid, J S Paulsen, D Cella, S M Goodnight, J A Miner, M A Nance

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

PURPOSE: Huntington disease (HD) is an incurable terminal disease. Thus, end of life (EOL) concerns are common in these individuals. A quantitative measure of EOL concerns in HD would enable a better understanding of how these concerns impact health-related quality of life. Therefore, we developed new measures of EOL for use in HD.

METHODS: An EOL item pool of 45 items was field tested in 507 individuals with prodromal or manifest HD. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA, respectively) were conducted to establish unidimensional item pools. Item response theory (IRT) and differential item functioning analyses were applied to …

Hdqlife: Development And Assessment Of Health-Related Quality Of Life In Huntington Disease (Hd), N E Carlozzi, S G Schilling, J-S Lai, J S Paulsen, E A Hahn, J S Perlmutter, C A Ross, N R Downing, A L Kratz, M K Mccormack, M A Nance, K A Quaid, J C Stout, R C Gershon, R E Ready, J A Miner, S K Barton, S L Perlman, S M Rao, S Frank, I Shoulson, H Marin, M D Geschwind, P Dayalu, S M Goodnight, D Cella

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

PURPOSE: Huntington disease (HD) is a chronic, debilitating genetic disease that affects physical, emotional, cognitive, and social health. Existing patient-reported outcomes (PROs) of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) used in HD are neither comprehensive, nor do they adequately account for clinically meaningful changes in function. While new PROs examining HRQOL (i.e., Neuro-QoL-Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders and PROMIS-Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System) offer solutions to many of these shortcomings, they do not include HD-specific content, nor have they been validated in HD. HDQLIFE addresses this by validating 12 PROMIS/Neuro-QoL domains in individuals with HD and by using established PROMIS …

The Costs Of Cancer, Jamie Mosely

Honors Papers and Posters

This poster explores the relationship between more advanced cancer-fighting technologies and the increase in healthcare costs over the last several decades, and the socioeconomic impact this has for patients with less disposable income or no health insurance.