Browsing by Subject "Mental Health"

Now showing 1 - 15 of 15

A Critical Writing Pedagogy toward Mental Health: Novice Teachers and Collective Memory Work
(2023-06) Schick, Anna
Trauma studies in education (Dutro & Bien, 2015) emphasize that while teachers and students may experience acute traumatic events, they are also subjected to the ongoing trauma of institutional spaces that attempt to bracket the emotional from the cognitive. This study engages novice teachers in critical writing pedagogy to examine what teaching is doing to teachers. To engage in critical writing pedagogy, novice teachers participated in collective memory work (Haug, 1999) to write and analyze memories from teaching. Critical writing pedagogy is an urgent area of study. Defined as an approach to teaching writing that engages cognitive, sociocultural, and critical orientations (Kline & Kang, 2022), critical writing pedagogy is necessarily evolving and contextualized (Kamler, 2001; Anzaldúa, 1987). This interpretative study (Erickson, 1986) analyzes novice teachers’ engagement with artifacts, collective analysis, and “rewrite questions” to theorize what is possible in a critical writing pedagogy toward mental health. This study is significant because of the way critical writing pedagogy revealed the mental health of the novice teachers to them. Findings demonstrate how artifacts interrupted self-gaslighting, the tendency to minimize or suppress the trauma, pain, or uncertainty (Bendt, 2020). Collective analysis invited introspection, generated consensus, and called out the unreasonable. The outcome of “rewrite questions” is interpreted as a space for addressing discomfort (Kumashiro, 2002) and unsettling emotions such as resentment. Informed by a framework of critical writing pedagogy according to Kamler (2001) and Anzaldúa (1987), this study highlights how relocating the personal and sustaining contradictions with a collective can increase the visibility and accessibility of mental health.
Differential Effects of a Military Parenting Program on Child Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior: A Latent Profile Analysis
(2017-12) Gliske, Katherine
Some children who experience a parental deployment evince high rates of internalizing and externalizing behavior in the years following that parent’s return home. This dissertation explored the risk for mental health symptoms in military children in the years following a parent’s deployment, as well as the risk factors and outcomes associated with different profile membership. In the first phase, I studied heterogeneity in children’s internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior among 336 military youth who experienced a parental deployment since 2001 using a finite number of discrete mental health profiles with latent profile analysis (LPA), as well as risk factors associated with membership to different risk profiles. Results indicated that current parental mental health problems were associated with child membership in the higher risk profile relative to the low risk profile, but that deployment was not significantly associated with profile membership. In the second phase, I assessed whether parent assignment to a preventive parenting intervention developed for military families, After Deployment Adaptive Parenting Tools intervention (ADAPT; Gewirtz, Pinna, Hanson, & Brockberg, 2014) was associated with improvement in child internalizing and externalizing behavior at one year follow-up, and whether differential treatment effects emerged according to a child’s mental health profile at baseline. Results showed significantly lower anxiety and conduct problems for the intervention group relative to the control group that differed according to baseline profile membership.
EMS Provider Mental Health During COVID-19: A Pandemic Within a Pandemic
(Clarion Events, 2021-08-10) Shekhar, Aditya C
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to worsening mental health across many facets of society. Due to their proximity to the pandemic, in-hospital and prehospital providers have been especially affected. Methods: A survey designed to examine EMS provider mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic was shared through social media and through word-of-mouth. A total of 122 respondents – with an average of 16 years of experience in EMS – took the survey. Results: Survey responses indicated alarming deteriorations in EMS provider mental health took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents reported: 1) significant policy and guideline alterations have negatively impacted job performance and satisfaction; 2) decreases in agency morale; 3) increased stress; 4) worse mental health when compared with non-pandemic times; and 5) increases in hostility/aggression, loneliness and sadness, and weight gain coinciding with decreases in exercise. Important results worth highlighting include: 84.6% of respondents indicated morale within their agency has decreased; 88% of respondents reported feeling slightly or significantly more stressed when compared with non-pandemic times; 70.9% of respondents reported their mental health is either slightly or significantly worse when compared with non-pandemic times; and 33.3% of respondents reported starting to think about changing careers due to the pandemic. Conclusions: Our data emphasize the toll the pandemic has taken on EMS providers nationwide. In the immediate term, EMS agencies and leaders should consider ways to improve morale and provider mental health as the pandemic reaches its final stages and during the post-pandemic period. Second, planning and care should take place to prevent similar deteriorations in mental health from taking place during future large-scale events that tax the EMS system.
Environmental Risks and Children’s Mental Health Treatment Outcomes: A Person-Centered Analysis
(2017-10) Witham, Matthew
Treatment outcomes for children receiving mental health services at community-based clinics have been inconsistent. There is an urgent need to study treatment effectiveness and to identify factors that influence symptom changes. Previous research has demonstrated the impact of environmental risks on children’s functioning, and research is needed to understand the effects of risks on mental health treatment outcomes. In partnership with a community-based mental health clinic, this study aimed to (a) determine whether a racially-diverse sample of children (N = 1176; 59.4% male; ages 4-17 years) demonstrated post-treatment symptom reduction, (b) identify environmental risk subgroups of children through latent class analysis, and (c) assess for subgroup differences on outcome change scores. Paired sample t-tests were used to test for significant change over time between pre- and post- treatment symptoms levels and between high- and post- treatment symptoms levels. Significant symptom reduction was observed over time, as assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Latent class analysis was used to identify and define environmental risk subgroups. Fit indices and theoretical constructs conjointly endorsed four parsimonious latent classes: Low-Risk, High-Poverty, High-Risk, and Low-Poverty with Maltreatment. An ANCOVA was used to test whether the four classes differed on their respective change scores; no significant differences were found. Findings indicate meaningful symptom reduction after treatment and the existence of meaningful subgroups of children based upon risks. However, there is inadequate evidence that symptom changes vary based upon environmental risk classes. Implications of findings for clinical practice and future research are discussed.
Essays on Household Finance and Health Economics
(2024-04) Ascarza Mendoza, Diego
This dissertation consists of three chapters. The first chapter studies why two out of three Americans claim Social Security benefits before reaching their Full Retirement Age and why even sufficiently rich people often claim early. I resolve this puzzling phenomenon by extending a standard incomplete markets life-cycle model to incorporate health dynamics and bequest motives. Relative to the existing literature, health plays a broader role, affecting medical expenses and mortality and directly the marginal utility of consumption. This role of health is disciplined using microdata on consumption, assets, income, and health from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS). The calibrated model successfully replicates the fraction of early claimers. Counterfactual exercises show that health-dependent preferences and bequest motives are crucial for this result. The model's success is explained by a novel channel that comes from the interaction between the negative effect of worsening health on the marginal utility of consumption, the downward health trend because of aging, and bequest motives. These two elements reduce the gains from delaying by 1) making individuals more impatient and 2) increasing the strength of bequest motives relative to future consumption. The second chapter is joint work with Christian Velasquez and Walter Ruelas-Huanca. This chapter explores the dynamics of mental health over the life cycle and assesses how sensible it is to approximate health by only considering physical health. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and approximating mental health with the presence of depression symptoms, we document seven facts about the evolution of mental health and contrast them with physical health. The results show two striking differences between mental health and physical health. First, while physical health consistently deteriorates with age, depression incidence follows a U-shape. Second, the likelihood of full recovery from physical health deficits decreases with age and is lower than the one for mental health, which exhibits a flat pattern. Finally, we propose and estimate a parsimonious statistical model for mental health that replicates these facts and can be easily incorporated into life cycle models. The third chapter is joint work with Tomas Rose and James Schmitz. This chapter studies the welfare implications of granting access to a standard mortgage-type credit market for financing affordable, factory-built homes. First, we briefly describe the legal regulations that have allegedly precluded low- and middle-income households in the US from accessing regular mortgage credit lines to finance the purchase of factory-built homes. We further document the current status of the credit market in the manufactured homes segment and highlight the predominance of loans featuring higher interest rates, shorter maturity, and absence of tax deductions (since some of these loans do not qualify legally as mortgages). We build a simple, dynamic, life-cycle model of housing decisions to quantify the welfare gains from changing these regulations. Using data from IPUMS (US Census Bureau), the PSID, and several other available sources, we calibrate our model to match the current home-ownership distribution at the bottom half of the US income distribution. Even at our most conservative exercise, in which we only allow for tax deductions at the factory-built homes credit segment (without modifying either the interest rate or the time to maturity), we find significant welfare gains that are equivalent to, on average, a permanent real income transfer of 6%, or to a present discounted life-time real income transfer of 94%.
From Problem to Promise: An Examination of the Effects of Peer Group Coaching on the Wellbeing of Undergraduate Students
(2015-05) Sommers, Jayne
College student mental health has historically been framed as a "crisis"� in need of a solution. Currently, college counseling centers report an inability to meet the demands of students. This study invites a shift in thinking about college student mental health to a focus on student wellbeing. This focus is not meant to replace attention to severe mental health needs of students, but is instead intended to augment the work being done by student affairs staff. Given college students' increasing mental health needs, higher education professionals are obligated to explore additional means of supporting students. The practice of peer coaching has been demonstrated as beneficial to participants in spheres outside of higher education. This mixed methods study sought to examine the experiences of 30 undergraduate students enrolled in a semester-long peer group coaching program. Students who participated in peer group coaching (n = 30) showed significant increases in multiple dimensions of wellbeing as measured by the Ryff (1989) Scales of Psychological Wellbeing and the Social Provisions Scale (Cutrona & Russell, 1987), while a comparison group (n = 34) increased in only one dimension. Analysis of qualitative interview data provided description of the experience of peer group coaching in students' own words, and a third analysis involving both the quantitative and qualitative data provided support for and illumination of the quantitative changes. Overall, the results of this study support the creation of peer coaching groups as one means of addressing the needs of today's undergraduate students.
IBRT partners with NSMHG to raise awareness
(Rainy Lake Gazette, 2024-08) Beard, David
Minutes: Health Plan Task Force: February 17, 1998
(1998-02-17) University of Minnesota: Health Plan Task Force
Moral Injury: A Statewide Assessment on the Burden, Risk, and Protective Factors in Minnesota Firefighters
(2022-07) DeMoulin, Douglas
IntroductionThe construct of moral injury is relatively new, primarily studied in trauma-exposed military personnel, and measurement scales recently available to screen symptoms of moral injury. However, no scale exists for firefighters; consequently, resulting in limited data for the risk and protective factors of moral injury in firefighters. Firefighters are considered one of the most stressful occupations, responding to critical incidents involving personal threat or harm to self, a violation of core beliefs about the world, and witnessing pain and suffering of others. Exposures to a single traumatic event or cumulative traumatic events can result in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, suicide ideation and possibly risk for moral injury. The objective of this study aims to address the gap in available instruments by developing a moral injury scale for firefighters and assess the potential risk and protective factors of moral injury in firefighters. MethodsA multi-phased study was conducted using qualitative methods to modify an established moral injury scale used in veterans by employing the Delphi method paired with cognitive interviewing with firefighters, and quantitative methods testing the psychometric properties. A cross-sectional study was conducted using dual-frame sampling methods to recruit Minnesota firefighters statewide assessing the association between moral injury and perceived stress towards traumatic calls, perception of being trained to cope with mental health of firefighting, and moral injury comorbidity with PTSD, depression, and suicide ideation. This study assessed the use of department debriefs and department resources (chaplains, critical incident stress management “CISM”, city employee assistance programs “CEAP”, and department employee assistance programs “DEAP”) and the protective effects for moral injury in trauma-exposed firefighters. ResultsPsychometric properties of the EMIS-F are comparable to the original military scale. The internal consistency of the EMIS-F was excellent (ω=0.94), inter-item correlations showed evidence of EMIS-F measuring a unidimensional construct (ρ=.30-.72). Multivariable analyses identified the risk factors for change in mean moral injury risk scores, which were firefighters self-reporting high perceived stress levels of calls involving fatalities (β=7.7) and children (β=3.1), and strongly disagreeing that they were trained to cope with mental health of firefighting (β=9.9). Firefighters with two or more mental health comorbidities showed over a 16.0 increase in mean moral injury risk scores, and greatly influenced by PTSD comorbidity. The protective factors of moral injury among firefighters self-reporting their most traumatic experience was those that used department debriefs and found them helpful, chaplains, and DEAP. Firefighters who found debriefs unhelpful showed evidence of debriefs as a risk factor for moral injury, in addition to using CEAP and CISM. Stigma showed evidence as a potential effect modifier regarding the impact or use of debriefs and increased moral injury risk scores. ConclusionThis study provides a reliable and valid moral injury scale that can be applied in research, clinical, and fire organization settings to screen symptoms of moral injury in firefighters. Knowledge of specific risk and protective factors presented not only serve for interventions, but an opportunity to evaluate and improve existing practices to enhance the well-being of firefighters.
North Shore Mental Health Group partners with Icebox Radio Theater to raise awareness
(Lake County Press, 2024-08) Beard, David
Perceptions and coping strategies of dental hygienists practicing during the COVID-19 pandemic
(2022-02) Christensen, Shelah
Purpose: This study investigates perceptions and coping strategies used by dental hygienists during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, March 1, 2020 until present. The Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping was used as the framework for this study. Methods: An electronic questionnaire (QualtricsTM) with questions in three domains: demographics, perceptions, and coping strategies, was emailed to dental hygienists in five Midwest states, summer of 2021. Participants were asked to indicate perceptions of and coping strategies used, while practicing during the COVID-19 pandemic since March 1, 2020. Bivariate comparisons between respondent demographics and survey responses regarding coping, risks, and strategies were computed using Fisher’s Exact Test. Survey responses were both analyzed as the original 5-point Likert scale and a collapsed 3-point Likert scale assessing overall agreement, disagreement, and neither agreement nor disagreement. Results: Completed questionnaires totaled 167, with a 4.4% response rate. Majority of respondents were white females aged 56 or over, were employed full time, and had been in practice for ≥ 21 years in private general practices. Reduction in working hours was reported by 8.4% of respondents, and 7.2% reported leaving the profession. Perceptions of practicing during the pandemic were reported as experiencing increased risk of infection, a threat to the health of self, family/loved ones, and more physically demanding. The vaccine aided in reducing risk perceptions. Adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies were used while practicing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Dental hygienists perceive practicing dental hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic as putting themselves and family/loved ones at risk of contracting the virus. Respondents reported dental hygiene practice is more physically demanding than before the COVID-19 pandemic and dental hygienists are more easily agitated and worried. Dental hygienists are finding ways of coping with these stresses by engaging in practice to improve mental health, using personal relationships for support, exercising, turning to spirituality, and using social media more than before the pandemic. Dental hygienists in this study reported reduced hours of work, leaving the profession, and considering a different profession, contributing to workforce attrition.
Predictors of mental health service utilization among Minnesota high school students.
(2009-09) Leonard, Nicholas G.
Mental health is an essential component of young peoples' overall health and wellbeing. Untreated, mental health problems interfere with normal development and functioning. Unfortunately, for most adolescents with mental health problems, the overwhelming majority will not receive the supports and services they need. By merging two extant databases, this study provides Minnesota's first state-wide assessment of mental health utilization. Patterns of utilization are provided. Findings indicate that 7% of Minnesota high school students utilized mental health services during a 12-month period. In addition, Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Care Utilization was utilized to examine predictors of mental health utilization. Various predisposing, enabling, need variables were found to be significant predictors of mental health utilization. Finally, the study examined school-based mental health in the context of an enabling variable. Findings suggest that students from schools with greater mental health promotion and prevention efforts are less likely to utilize mental health supports and services.
Religiousness/Spirituality and Well-being in Parents of Autistic Children
(2023) Khan, Lila
Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder often experience worse mental health and well-being compared to parents of typically-developing children and children with other developmental disabilities (Lai et al., 2015; Blacher & Baker, 2019; Bourke-Taylor et al., 2012; Griffith et al., 2010). This study explores predictors of mental health and well-being in this context, adding to the emerging body of literature on the influence of religiousness and spirituality (R/S; Chu et al., 2020; Kheir et al., 2012; Schertz et al., 2016). This study examines four R/S elements: daily spiritual experiences, private religious/spiritual practices, religious/spiritual community support, and organizational religiousness. Study participants were recruited through Prolific.co, an online research platform. 178 participants answered the full study survey via the University of Minnesota Qualtrics site. All participants live in the United States, are 18 years or older and the parent of at least one child (age 6-18 years old) with an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, and are fluent English speakers. Daily spiritual experiences emerged as a significant predictor for depression, anxiety, meaning in life, and satisfaction with life. However, contrary to my hypotheses, after accounting for covariates, private R/S practices, religious/spiritual community support, and organizational religiousness did not significantly predict mental health or well-being. Notably, religious/spiritual community support and organizational religiousness moderated the impact of private religious/spiritual practices and daily spiritual experiences on some mental health and well-being variables. The moderation effects of organizational religiousness and religious/spiritual community support on the relationships between multiple R/S and mental health & well-being variables suggests possible implications for practice in using public R/S-based interventions to support the mental health and well-being of parents of autistic children.
sorry mom i'm trying my best, MFA Thesis Paper, 2022
(2022-05) Teachout, Hayden,T
Syrian Resettlement Practices and Experiences in the United States: A Nationwide Survey and Phenomenological Study
(2017-08) Utrzan, Damir
Violence in Syria has displaced an unprecedented number of people. But a relatively complex asylum process in the United States, combined with rising anti-refugee sentiment, challenges its longstanding values of welcoming the “tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (Lazarus, 1883). This dissertation adds to the broader understanding of refugee resettlement and placement practices. In the first aim, 49 leaders of non-government organizations – which collectively resettled 224,491 refugees, including 7,366 Syrians between 2013 and 2016 – were surveyed about placement efforts. In the second aim, 12 refugees from Syria – 8 men and 4 women –were interviewed about their experience across each stage of resettlement (i.e., pre-resettlement, resettlement/ migration, and post-resettlement/adjustment). Findings suggest that both resettlement organizations and refugees are impacted by the sociopolitical climate. Organizations are faced with more demands and less resources; refugees are unsure about their future in the United States but grateful for a second chance. Recommendations for policy change, along with clinical and pedagogical implications, are discussed in the context of these findings.

University Digital Conservancy

Browse by Subject

Browsing by Subject "Mental Health"