The Role of Social Support in the Link Between Economic Abuse and Economic Hardship

Washington University in St. Louis

More data is needed about the pathways through which intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts the economic well-being of survivors. The current study assesses the moderating influence of social support on the association between economic abuse (EA) and economic hardship. Female participants (n = 435) were recruited to participate in a web-based survey which included standardized measures of EA, other forms of IPV, domains of social support, and economic hardship. Analysis included bivariate and multivariate regression with an investigation into interaction effects.Experiencing EA was significantly correlated with economic hardship, even with extent of physical and emotional IPV controlled. Both tangible and appraisal support had significant negative association with extent of material hardship. Significant interactions between forms of social support and economic abuse were observed. For those at high levels of economic abuse, support had less influence on economic hardship. A mix of direct economic aid, advocacy, education and support could provide a blueprint for addressing the economic hardship experiences of community-dwelling survivors of economic abuse. A comprehensive response to EA requires interventions aimed directly at economically controlling and exploitative tactics, including credit building, individual economic advocacy, and education. Interventions that seek to enhance survivors’ access to social support may be necessary but not sufficient to buffer the impacts of violence on survivors’ economic outcomes.

Publication
Journal of Family Violence
Publication Year
2020

A Sociometric Approach to Understanding Concordance in Substance Use Perceptions Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness

University of Denver

Objective: Most studies examining peer influence on drug-use among youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) have relied on perceptions of peer use rather than measuring peers’ self-reported use, an approach that can inflate esti- mates of peer substance use behavior. Sociometric network data provide an op- timal mechanism to compare perceptual data to actual self-reports from peers. Method: Using an event-based approach, we recruited a sample of YEH (N 5 241), ages13–25years,between October 2011 and February 2012 from 2 drop-in cen- ters—1 in Hollywood, CA, and 1 in Santa Monica, CA. We used multilevel multiple membership modeling to investigate participant-level, network-level, and relationship- level factors associated with the accuracy of respondent perceptions. Results: The accuracy of respondent perceptions of peer substance use was high (70%–90% de- pending on the substance). The individual- and network-level factors associated with accuracy or inaccuracy varied by substance. Conclusions: Interventions designed to reduce the risk of substance use among YEH may benefit from using a social norms approach that emphasizes changing norms at a community/group level rather than at an individual level.

Publication
Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research
Publication Year
2020

Identity in the context of early psychosis: a review of recent research

New York University

Purpose: The emergence of psychosis most frequently occurs during adolescence and young adulthood, a period of development in which identity is developed and consolidated. The present narrative review surveyed and synthesized recent empirical contributions to the issue of identity in the context of early psychosis, to inform clinical and future research considerations. Materials and Methods: A systematic search obtained 983 reports pertaining to identity and psychosis among youth and young adults. After screening the abstracts, 81 studies were reviewed in full, yielding 17 that met inclusion criteria. Studies were reviewed with regard to major themes by authors. Results: Three major themes emerged, the majority of which employed qualitative methods. The first theme indicated a disruption to personal identity posed by psychosis symptoms and the diagnosis of mental illness. The second theme suggested that identity difficulties may confer additional emotional and behavioural risk among this population. Third, young people with psychosis indicated the importance of restoring their personal identity, as distinct from their experiences of psychosis, during the recovery process. Conclusions: Identity-related concerns are important aspects of young people’s experience in the early stages of psychosis. Research is needed to determine the potential for interventions to support and enhance identity within early psychosis care.

Publication
Psychosis
Publication Year
2020

Effects of homophobic name‐calling and verbal sexual harassment on substance use among young adults

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Verbal aggression victimization, such as homophobic name‐calling, has been linked to heavier substance use among young people, but little longitudinal research has examined how different types of victimization may affect substance use or whether certain psychosocial factors moderate these risks. In a diverse cohort (N  = 2,663), latent transition analysis was used to model heterogeneity in victimization (age 19) and substance use (age 20). Four victimization (high victimization, homophobic name‐calling only, verbal sexual harassment only, and low victimization) and three substance use (poly‐substance use, alcohol, and cannabis only, low all) classes were identified. The high victimization and homophobic name‐calling only classes had the highest probabilities of transitioning into the poly‐substance use class, and the high victimization class had the highest probability of transitioning into the alcohol and cannabis only class. The probability of transitioning into the low all substance use class was highest in the low victimization class and lowest in the high victimization class. For the high victimization class, greater depressive symptoms increased the odds, and better peer relationship quality decreased the odds, of transitioning into the poly‐substance use and alcohol and cannabis only classes. For the homophobic name‐calling only class, greater depressive symptoms increased the odds of transitioning into the poly‐substance use class. Homophobic name‐calling, alone or in combination with verbal sexual harassment, is a risk factor for escalating substance use in young adulthood, especially among victims with depressive symptoms.

Publication
Aggressive Behavior
Publication Year
2020

Characterizing the predictive validity of measures of susceptibility to future use of combustible, vaporized and edible cannabis products in adolescent never-users

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Background and aims: The construct of susceptibility to substance use initiation (i.e. cognitive proclivity to future use) is critical for prevention efforts in adolescent populations. This study aimed to provide empirical evidence for the validity of the susceptibility construct for different cannabis products (i.e. combustible, edible or vaporized cannabis), and evaluate whether susceptibility measures are predictive of subsequent initiation. Design: Prospective cohort study including baseline data (Spring 2015) and four follow-up surveys administered every 6 months through Spring 2017. Setting: Ten schools in the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. Participants: Adolescents [n = 2100; mean age = 16.1; standard deviation (SD) = 0.41; 54% female] who reported never having used any cannabis product at baseline.Measurements: We assessed five indices of a susceptibility to use cannabis composite index at baseline, adapted from a validated tobacco use index (intention to use, willingness, curiosity and positive/negative cannabis use outcome expectancies, with four response categories, definitely not [1] to definitely yes [4]), by cannabis product (combustible, edible or vaporized). A composite index was created for each product by averaging responses across the five susceptibility items. Subsequent initiation of use of each cannabis product was assessed at each follow-up wave. Findings: Factorial validity for unidimensionality for each five-item index (by product) was confirmed. The composite index for susceptibility to cannabis use was greatest for combustible (mean = 1.44; SD = 0.58), moderate for edible (mean = 1.37; SD = 0.53) and lowest for vaporized cannabis (mean = 1.30; SD = 0.44). The associations of each composite susceptibility index with subsequent initiation of that product and each of the other cannabis products over follow-up (i.e. cross-product associations) were statistically significant, with hazard ratios ranging from 2.30 to 2.80 across 24 months of follow-up (all Ps < 0.05). Conclusions: A five-item susceptibility to cannabis use composite index (by product) appears to be useful for characterizing and predicting youth at risk for cannabis use initiation across a spectrum of cannabis products.

Publication
Addiction
Publication Year
2020

Social Work Scholarship on Forced Migration: A Scoping Review

University of Washington

This scoping review identifies and analyses historical to present–day contributions of social work scholarship on forced migration, with the aim of reviewing trends and identifying priority areas for the discipline moving forward. This review examined 331 articles related to forced migration published in 40 social work journals over four decades (1978 to 2019). Findings illustrate notable trends in temporal, methodological, topical and geographical dimensions and how those vary by first authors’ locations, research sites and study populations. Temporally, the number of articles has been increasing, quadrupling between 2001–2010 and 2011–2019, with 20 social work journals doubling their number of articles. Methodologically, the large majority of articles were qualitative and/or conceptual. Topically, the most common were practice, intervention, health and mental health, while the least common topics included human rights, social justice, poverty, religion, violence, history and theory. Geographically, social work scholarship was mainly focused on refugees in the Global North and third-country resettlement contexts, and authored by scholars in the Global North. Findings thus reveal critical gaps in topics and geographical biases, raising questions related to issues of ethics, power and the production of knowledge about forced migration in the social work academy.

Publication
The British Journal of Social Work
Publication Year
2020

Structural and operational factors as determinant of meaningful community participation in sustainable disaster recovery programs: The case of Bangladesh

University of Washington

The debate around community participation in post-disaster sustainable recovery is largely neglected in both development discourse and literature on developing countries. However, the philosophy of build back better (BBB) in sustainable disaster recovery (SDR), with roots in the early 90s, is seeing a resurgence, as tracked by the United Nations Office of the Disaster Risk Reduction Sendai Framework of Action (2015–2030). Among the most disaster vulnerable countries globally, Bangladesh has shown remarkable progress in disaster preparedness, response policy, and planning, but the disaster recovery phase remains neglected in national policy and planning. This study aims, using quantitative analyses, to identify the factors that regulate community participation in disaster recovery in governmental and nongovernmental organization programs. This study also provides recommendations to strengthen the local and national strategies for bottom-up participation in a disaster recovery program for sustainability. Findings reveal 11 dominant factors that regulate community participation in sustainable disaster recovery programming (SDRP), and five factors that control decision making participation: disaster management system, leadership decentralization, community capacity building, community resources, and disaster experiences and vulnerability. In addition, the factors associated with the type of community participation fall variably along structural, operational, community, and participant domains. The study findings argue that to promote bottom-up participation, collaboration and integration between recovery programs are needed to improve existing policies or to adopt a new policy.

Publication
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Publication Year
2020

The role of the internet in the grooming, exploitation, and exit of United States domestic minor sex trafficking victims

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Internet (e.g., social networking, online marketing, and encryption technologies) has been identified as a means to facilitate domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST; a.k.a., commercial sexual exploitation of children). At the same time, the Internet is increasingly being identified as a method of primary prevention and intervention for DMST among youth. However, to-date there are limited examinations of the role of the Internet in the lives of youth who experience DMST victimization. The current study aims to consider the role of the Internet in DMST grooming, exploitation, and exit. In-depth, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 service providers in North Carolina and Texas. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded line-by-line using a grounded theory approach. Results feature two overarching themes in service provider interviews: 1) Initial exploitation and 2) Exit from exploitation. Within each of these larger themes were subthemes including technology facilitated risk and prevention needs. Overall, these qualitative findings reveal the role of the Internet in: (1) Facilitating DMST, (2) Preventing Internet-facilitated DMST, and (3) Victim exit and survivorship. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Publication
Journal of Children and Media
Publication Year
2020

A Path Analysis Investigating the Relationships between Family Violence, Addictive Behaviors, and Trauma among Adolescents in China

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Family violence is a public health concern in China. Exposure to family violence, including witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) between parents and/or experiencing child abuse, has numerous deleterious effects on adolescent’s mental and behavioral health. This study examined specific mental and behavioral health outcomes of family violence exposure including trauma symptoms and addictive behaviors using a nationally representative sample of adolescents in China. Cross-sectional, self-report data were collected from 16,254 adolescents (M = 15.89 years of age, 47.69% female) using a self-administered survey. More than two-thirds of the sample reported having been exposed to child abuse or IPV at home. Adolescents who were exposed to child abuse and/or IPV were significantly more likely to misuse substances, engage in gambling activities and exhibited more trauma symptoms than their non-exposed peers. A multivariate path analysis revealed that child abuse had an indirect effect on severity of trauma symptoms through problem drinking, cigarette smoking, and gambling behavior. Witnessing IPV between parents had an indirect effect on trauma symptoms through problem drinking and cigarette smoking. An alternative pathway model suggested that child abuse and witnessing IPV between parents had indirect effects on a variety of substance misuse and gambling behavior through PTSD. Findings offer a unique insight into the effects of family violence exposure on adolescents in Greater China. Family violence awareness and intervention could be a meaningful intervention strategy to address substance use and behavioral health problems among adolescents in China.

Publication
Journal of Family Violence
Publication Year
2020

Collective Threat: Conceptualizing Blumer’s Threat as a Collective Emotion

Northeastern University

This manuscript lays the groundwork for considering racial threat as a collective emotion. Although sociologists regularly study racial threat, a disconnect exists between Blumer’s theoretical framework (1958) and modern empirical measurement. Research has largely measured racial threat as perceptions of competition or increases in racism. Neither, however, squarely fits the symbolic interactionist framework that Blumer championed. This manuscript frames racial threat as an affective group response that is generated through sustained interaction with social groups and group representations. After showing how Blumer’s threat conceptualization fits the parameters of a collective emotion, I demonstrate how quantitative measurement and experimental research design can be used to capture threat as Blumer outlines it. Then, using factor analyses and regression, I illustrate that collective threat is distinct from other collective emotions and operates according to Blumer’s theoretical predictions. The manuscript concludes with a discussion of how ongoing attempts to measure collective threat and the evolution of racism in the United States highlight the continued relevance of Blumer’s work.

Publication
Sociological Inquiry
Publication Year
2020

Hate Knows No Boundaries: Online Hate in Six Nations

Northeastern University

This paper examines cross-national commonalities and differences in online hate speech content, exposure, and emotional reaction. Using online surveys from 18 to 25-year-old respondents in six countries, we find a majority of respondents were exposed to online hate in the preceding 3 months. Commonalities across countries are the platform where the respondents were exposed and how they arrived at such content. Unique national cultures of hate speech also exist, including the common targets and respondents’ emotional reactions. A majority of respondents report feeling angry, sad, or ashamed, but most worrisome may be the substantial numbers who report feelings of hatred or pride after seeing online hate. Given the potential for repeated exposure and the recent increase in hate crimes in the US. and Europe, this finding should serve as a reminder of the dangers of online hate and its potential link to offline violence.

Publication
Deviant Behavior
Publication Year
2020

Marginalized Youth, Mental Health, and Connection with Others: A Review of the Literature

Rutgers University

For marginalized youth, the transition to adulthood is a stage of life in which inequalities can be either magnified or reduced. While most descriptions of these young people highlight their difficulties achieving self-sufficiency, the ability to form connections with others is an equally significant marker of adult maturity. Given that social isolation poses serious risks to health and well-being, the relational experiences of marginalized youth are a critical component of the transition to adulthood. Experiences of trauma, marginalization, and involvement in public systems of care can place these youth at heightened risk for mental health difficulties, all of which can pose particular challenges for interpersonal relationships. This critical review of the literature explores the research on the relational experiences of marginalized young people living with emotional and behavioral challenges. It discusses the unique developmental context of marginalized youth, including experiences with trauma, mental illness, marginalization, and involvement in public systems of care. It then reviews the benefits young people derive from mutually empathic connections with others. The review explores facilitators of connection for marginalized youth, as well as barriers to connection for these young people. Following this review, the article identifies several gaps in the literature, and ends with a call for both practitioners and researchers to focus on the importance of connection as an underappreciated and crucial resource for marginalized youth.

Publication
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 
Publication Year
2020

Assessing trustworthiness: Marginalized youth and the central relational paradox in treatment

Rutgers University

Marginalized youth are at elevated risk for mental health difficulties, yet they encounter numerous barriers to engagement with mental health services. Past negative experiences with family, social workers, and systems of care contribute to distrust of service providers and ambivalence about engaging in trusting relationships with adults. This longitudinal qualitative study explored how marginalized youth living with mental health conditions make decisions about trust in their relationships with helping professionals. Semi-structured, open-ended in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 young women living with a mood or anxiety disorder, exploring trust, mutuality, and disconnection in relationships between marginalized youth and helping professionals. Eleven of the participants also participated in a second interview, 3 months later, that explored participants’ relationships with friends and family. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis and interpreted through the lens of relational-cultural theory. Results indicated that the majority of interview participants described feeling unseen, judged, or invalidated in their relationships with family members. Four themes emerged as factors in the assessment of the trustworthiness of service providers: genuine caring; understanding; non-judgmental acceptance; and adult respect for youth agency. Concerns about confidentiality and mandated reporting informed participants’ decisions about disclosure in these relationships. Analysis of findings reveals evidence of the central relational paradox in these descriptions of helping relationships, reflecting the simultaneous appeal and peril of vulnerability in relationships, especially relationships characterized by power differentials. Findings suggest that practitioners working with marginalized youth can expect both openness and guardedness in the treatment relationship.

Publication
Children and Youth Services Review
Publication Year
2020

Developing Interprofessional Competence: Results of Embedding TeamSTEPPS® in All Semesters of an Accelerated and Traditional BSN Program

City University of New York School of Public Health

This study assessed the effectiveness of a curriculum designed to teach interprofessional communication and teamwork skills to traditional and accelerated baccalaureate nursing students. The curriculum was designed to incorporate TeamSTEPPS® concepts using incremental learning experiences and a variety of instructional techniques throughout all clinical program semesters; more than 200 students representing four cohorts were enrolled in the study. Three tools were used to evaluate program effectiveness. Both accelerated and traditional groups demonstrated varying degrees of improvement on all tools. The curriculum design positively influenced students’ communication and teamwork skills, advancing their interprofessional competency.

Publication
Nursing Education Perspectives:
Publication Year
2020

“Problem Children” and “Children with Problems”: Discipline and Innocence in a Gentrifying Elementary School

New York University

This article examines the ways Hazel, a white girl entering kindergarten, became known as a child with a problem rather than a problem child in her gentrifying school. Building on a year of classroom observations and interviews with students, school staff, and parents, author Alexandra Freidus identifies the role of racialized discourses related to disposition, medicalization, family, and community in shaping Hazel’s reputation and contrasts Hazel’s reputation with that of Marquise, a Black boy in her class. Hazel’s and Marquise’s storylines teach us that to fully understand and address the differences in how Black and white children are disciplined, we need to look closely at the allowances and affordances we make for some students, as well as how we disproportionately punish others. By examining the ways educators in a gentrifying school construct white innocence and Black culpability, this study illustrates the relational nature of the “school discipline gap” and helps us understand how and why some children are disproportionately subject to surveillance and exclusion and others are not.

Publication
Harvard Educational Review
Publication Year
2020

Disrupting hegemony in social work doctoral education and research: Using autoethnography to uncover possibilities for radical transformation

Fordham University

Social work has enhanced its profile in the United States by adopting a particular dialect of scientific inquiry wherein positivism and evidence-based practice are considered gold standards of social work research and practice. This ideological shift permeates doctoral education and research training, as well as social work more broadly. Little attention, however, is paid to the pedagogical approaches used to train doctoral students into a “science of social work,” and we know even less about critical methodologies in doctoral education. This collaborative autoethnography weaves together the personal narratives of three doctoral students and one early career faculty member navigating an academic context within a large public university in the United States. We employ a participatory and intersectional approach to analyze narrative data in terms of how our identities interact with the structures relevant to where we study and work. Three themes emerged from our collaborative analysis: becoming disillusioned by disciplinary shortcoming; confronting dissonance with radical solidarity; and making change on the inside using perspectives from the outside. We argue throughout that critical reflexivity is a tool to document, resist, and transform hegemonic discourse that narrowly defines what it means to embody social work research, practice, and education.

Publication
Qualitative Social Work
Publication Year
2020

Organizing as “Collective-Self” Care Among African American Youth in Precarious Times

Fordham University

African American youth have responded with hope and action to protect their well-being in violent political, economic, and social conditions, through organizing. While contemporary organizing frameworks prioritize self-care to promote sustainability, there is little research on the meaning and definition of self-care for African American youth organizers, in their own words. In this paper, findings from interviews with 20 Black youths in navigating organizing spaces in New York City will be presented, highlighting how they destabilize the narrowness of commonly defined self-care to embody “collective-self” care strategies. Implications for community practice, recovery from systemic violence, and historical trauma among African Americans will be explored.

Publication
Journal of African American Studies
Publication Year
2020

Associations between childhood exposure to community violence, child maltreatment and school outcomes

Simmons College

This study examined whether physical abuse and community violence exposure (CVE) at age 5 were independently associated with academic performance at age 9, whether these effects were mediated by externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and whether the effects of CVE on mental health and academic performance were observed after accounting for the effects of physical abuse. Data were drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Bayesian factor analysis was conducted in Mplus to form latent factors for internalizing behavior, externalizing behavior, and academic performance. Path analysis was then used to examine direct and indirect associations between CVE, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and academic performance. CVE at age 5 was independently negatively associated with academic performance at age 9. Physical abuse at age 5 was not independently associated with academic performance at age 9. The effects of CVE and physical abuse on academic performance were mediated by externalizing behavior, and not internalizing behavior. CVE, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavior all had a direct negative association with academic performance, after accounting for the effects of physical abuse on externalizing behavior. The findings confirmed that community violence has a negative impact on school performance above and beyond the effects of interpersonal violence. These findings reinforce the need for communitywide prevention programs that reduce violence. These findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid to how younger children are impacted by CVE and physical abuse, both through their own experiences or the experiences of their caregivers.

Publication
Child Abuse & Neglect
Publication Year
2020

Addressing Gaps in Pediatric Scientist Development: The Department Chair View of 2 AMSPDC-Sponsored Programs

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

None available.

Publication
Journal of Pediatrics
Publication Year
2020

Setting the Stage for Research Success: Creation of Standardized Physician-Scientist Training Program Guidelines to Facilitate Research During Clinical Training

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: To ameliorate the leaky pipeline of physician-scientists, we must address the factors that cause medical trainees to disengage from research. Here we describe the development of standardized Physician-Scientist Training Program guidelines that may be implemented across disciplines to address these challenges. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Maintenance of a robust pool of physician-scientists is critical to meet the rapidly growing need for novel therapeutics. A variety of factors contribute to the decline of this pool. Key among these are a lengthy training period that segregates research from clinical training, thus impeding research progress and milestones that allow for a successful research career. Through engagement of residency program directors and Vice Chairs of Research, we have created a series of guidelines that promote residency research tracks and enable better integration of research and clinical training time. Guidelines have been piloted in the Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine and Surgery in the context of 2 new R38-supported programs. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Our physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP) guidelines were developed by our central Office of Physician-Scientist Development (OPSD) after a successful pilot of an integrated research residency program in the Department of Pediatrics [Duke Pediatric Research Scholars (DPRS); Hurst, et al, 2019], which has included 36 resident and fellow scholars over 3 years. To date, eight clinical departments have adopted our PSTP guidelines as part of their R38-supported or pending programs. The OPSD has recently created a tracking database for scholar metrics, which will further promote PSTP development by enabling centralized reporting on scholar success to individual programs. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: PSTP guidelines enable effective implementation of new programs by sharing best practices and lessons learned, standardizing expectations, and defining metrics of success. By promoting proven strategies for integrated clinical and research training, PSTP guidelines may aid in retaining trainees pursuing research careers.

Publication
Journal of Clinical and Translational Science
Publication Year
2020