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  • Publication
    “I don’t belong to either side. I lost my identity”: A Thematic Analysis Study on Chinese International Students’ Interpersonal Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (2024-11-19) Fan, Linlin; Wong, Irene
    Background and Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has had tremendous impacts on everyone’s life globally. However, Chinese international students (CIS) are not only susceptible to challenges brought about by COVID-19 but also endure stigma and discrimination for being “virus carriers” due to their Chinese nationality. As international students, they face additional challenges because of travel restrictions and visa issues, which exacerbate their social isolation and precipitate psychological distress. This study aims to inform practice to promote anti-discriminatory and culturally competent interventions that support this population’s mental health. Research Questions: What are CIS’s interpersonal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic? Does CIS face stigma and discrimination related to COVID-19 in their interpersonal encounters with the non-Chinese population? How do they cope with mental health challenges during the pandemic? In what ways do family and ethnic/national identity shape CIS’s experiences? Methods: Ten in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with CIS (aged 20 to 28) who resided in the United States for at least 10 months during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to May 2022). Purposive sampling was employed, recruiting participants through social media advertisements, including a Chinese students’ association WeChat group in a university and Facebook. Interviews were conducted in Mandarin Chinese via Zoom. Reflective thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke's (2012, 2013, 2014, 2020) framework, was employed using NVivo for coding and analysis. Findings: The findings suggest that CIS employed mostly active coping strategies to address the challenges they faced during the pandemic. They struggled to deal with discrimination because of their ethnic and national identity, with some participants coping with direct confronting and providing information to counter stereotypes, whereas others resorting to secrecy and withdrawal. The findings also shed light on the emergence of Chinese nationalism among some participants, spurred by perceived discrimination by the non-Chinese population in the host country and satisfaction with their home country’s government's handling of the pandemic. Conversely, others expressed a loss of national identity, stemming from marginalization experienced both in their home country (othered Chinese-ness) and the host country. Conclusions and Implications: This study highlights the complex challenges faced by CIS during the pandemic, including the experiences of stigma, discrimination, mental health struggles, and issues related to national and ethnic identity. Most participants employed active coping strategies, such as self-care and seeking support from others. Among different types of support, peer support emerged as particularly crucial, while family support was more nuanced—sometimes highly beneficial but at other times counterproductive due to high expectations and cultural values that discourage giving up. Despite their active coping efforts, the combination of social isolation, experiences of discrimination and stigma, and confusion surrounding their identity significantly impacted their overall well-being and triggered mental health crises. These findings underscore the importance of creating inclusive, anti-racist campus environments to address discrimination and racism within academic settings. The findings also suggest that the Yin and Yang philosophy, with its emphasis on dialectical thinking and a process-oriented worldview, can serve as an effective coping mechanism for managing crisis and pandemic-related stress.
  • Publication
    Contextualizing Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention in the Military: A Qualitiative Study of Mental Health Clinicians
    (2024) Trinity Salazar; Werner-Lin, Allison
    Background: Suicide rates among military personnel have steadily increased in the most recent decades. The role of clinicians’ personal beliefs about suicide and their impact on clinical judgment, treatment planning, and adherence to military protocols is not well understood. Further, the impacts of these policies and perspectives on building a therapeutic alliance are understudied. This study aims to explore how these beliefs influence clinical decision-making and suicide intervention practices within military healthcare settings. Methods: This study used phenomenological methods to understand the core experiences of providing therapeutic care to service members exhibiting suicidal behavior in the unique military context. Qualitative interviews were conducted with clinical social workers and psychologists with at least one year of experience working with active-duty service members. Participants were recruited from various branches of the military. The interviews focused on their philosophies and approaches regarding suicide risk assessment, the influence of military doctrine, and the challenges they face when navigating patient care within the constraints of military policies. Verbatim transcripts were coded and analyzed for core elements of the phenomenon in question. This included attention to participant reports and researcher experiences with military protocol regarding the care of service members exhibiting suicidal behaviors for a rich and detailed picture of the phenomenon. Finally, this researcher evaluated participant-reported challenges in establishing therapeutic relationships using the tenets of Relational Cultural Theory. Results: Analysis of the interviews revealed three distinct clinician typologies regarding personal beliefs, which influenced clinical judgment and at times conflicted with military protocol: autonomy advocates, pro-life determinists, and nuanced navigators. Autonomy advocates struggled with the complexity of self-determination within the military institution. Pro-life determinists aligned their actions with life preservation, often guided by religious or spiritual ethos. Nuanced navigators emphasized situational context while adhering strictly to military doctrine. These varying belief systems shaped clinicians’ decision-making processes regarding suicide intervention, revealing challenges in balancing ethical complexities with military requirements. Participants shared that within the hierarchies, policies, and procedures of the military complex, connection and power imbalances challenged clinicians to create the space for authentic relationships. They worked to balance the requirements of their role with the ethics of their profession. Conclusions: Clinicians’ personal beliefs intersected with their clinical judgment and approaches to suicide intervention within military settings. Understanding these perspectives—autonomy advocacy, pro-life determinism, and nuanced navigation—offers insights into the complexity of providing mental health care in a structured military environment. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of how personal beliefs intersect with clinical practice and provide recommendations for enhancing clinician training and support to improve care quality for military personnel facing suicidal challenges. Approaches to care that utilize relational cultural theory methods that explicitly address the challenges of therapeutic care in the military context may facilitate building robust therapeutic relationships that address power differences and chronic disconnection while engaging authenticity towards connection.
  • Publication
    ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN CULTURAL VALUES AND CAREGIVER SUPPORT AS PERCEIVED BY LATINE TRANSGENDER YOUNG ADULTS
    (2024) Covarrubias, Norah; Hillier, Amy
    Background: Transgender Latine people are rarely focused on, however, this population is growing and lives at the intersection of identities repeatedly targeted by conservative policies. Social workers, who often engage with marginalized populations, are likely to interface with Latine transgender youth due to the unique challenges they face. Parental support is widely recognized as a primary protective factor for transgender youth, significantly influencing their mental health and well-being. While previous qualitative studies identify key cultural factors that influence Latine LGBTQ+ experiences of family and community acceptance, much of the existing research focuses on sexual minority groups and is approached through a deficit/harm lens, overlooking the distinct challenges and strengths held by Latine transgender individuals and their families. The process of acculturation further shapes these experiences. This study aims to fill that gap by focusing specifically on Latine transgender young adults and their perception of how these cultural factors influence parental support. Methods: Adults ages 18-25 who identify as Latine and transgender were recruited to complete an online survey (N=75). Existing scales were used to measure the study’s variables of interest: religiosity (Behavioral Religiosity Scale), familismo (Attitudinal Familism Scale), gender norm traditionalism (Marianismo and Machismo/Caballerismo scales) and experienced parental support (Parental Reactions to Adolescent Distress [PRAD] and Parental Attitudes of Gender Expansiveness [PAGES-Y] scales). Answers to one open-ended question were analyzed to identify other factors of interest for future research (N=67).Results: Every 1-point increase in Marianismo predicted a 0.03 of a point increase PRAD scores (negative parental reactions) (B=0.03, p=0.01). Every 1-point increase in Caballerismo predicted a 0.02 of a point decrease in PRAD scores (B= -0.02, p=0.02). This suggests a negative impact of constraining gender expectations on people AFAB and the parent-child relationship. Acculturation (control), significantly predicted an increase of 0.15 points in PAGES-Y scores, signifying increased perceived parental support in relation to adolescent gender expansiveness with every 1-point increase in acculturation (B=0.15, p=0.01). Acculturative stress and an acculturation gap between within families may contribute to the perception of decreased capacity to engage in conversations related to gender. Responses to the open-ended question identified additional factors: parent-child relationship, socio-economic class, and media influence. Implications: Mental health professionals should contextualize the experiences of Latine families within the greater sociopolitical climate of the U.S. While holding an awareness of these cultural concepts, clinicians should explore individual, family and youth needs in order to strengthen experienced parental support.
  • Publication
    Character Strengths-Based Intervention for Adolescent Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: A Scoping Review
    (2024-11-18) Debbie Hudak-Jockin; Corcoran, Jacqueline
    Adolescent nonsuicidal self-injury (A-NSSI) is a significant mental health problem that is stigmatized with limited treatment interventions. Positive psychotherapy (PPT) (Seligman et al., 2006), a humanistic modality, provides a character strengths (CSs) approach that can be integrated with current evidence-based interventions to contribute to effective treatment. This scoping review maps the literature on treatment interventions for A-NSSI that integrate CSs and specifically investigates the extent to which PPT has been used for this problem. Peer reviewed studies published between January 2004 and June 2024 were identified using five databases- PsycINFO, Scopus, CINAHL, PubMed, and Embase- with keywords (“nonsuicidal self-injury” AND “intervention” AND “adolescent”) AND each of the 24 universal CSs in separate searches. Inclusion criteria were the following: adolescents aged 10-19 years having the disorder NSSI as defined by DSM-5 (2013); intervention present in study design with CS from the 24 universal CSs (Seligman & Peterson, 2004) associated with a treatment intervention; dates of studies between 2004-2024; peer reviewed journal articles; English language source. Studies were analyzed using a five-phase review process developed by Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005). A total of 2,063 records were retrieved with 25 (1.2%) of the studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Inclusive studies used interventions in methodology with CSs of self-regulation (80%), open-mindedness (8%), hope (4%), hope with self-regulation (4%), and open-mindedness with self-regulation (4%) implemented in treatment modalities. Treatment interventions utilizing CSs were the following: dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) (28%), emotion regulation therapy (ERT) (20%), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (16%), mentalization (4%), mindfulness-based (4%), expressive (4%), and miscellaneous eclectic-based (24%). PPT as a stand alone approach or integrated modality was not identified in the research as a current intervention for A-NSSI.
  • Publication
    The Effect of Implementing a Quiet-Hour in a Kennel Environment on the Activity Levels of Working Dogs
    (2024) Amanda Christy; Parsons, Tom
    Studies have shown that dog kennels are considered an overstimulating environment which can result in a negative welfare state. This study investigated the effects of implementing a quiet-hour during the day on the activity levels of 12 working dogs. Dogs had accelerometers placed on their collars and activity levels were recorded continuously for three weeks. After the first three weeks, a quiet-hour was implemented from 12-1pm each day (Monday-Friday) and data was continuously recorded for another three weeks. The implementation of a quiet-hour reduced not only overall activity levels, but also activity levels at night when the dogs were not in the kennel as well as during the days the dogs were not in the kennel (weekends and holidays). Quiet- hour is an easily implemented method that has the potential to improve welfare of not only working dogs, but other dogs in a kennel environment. Further studies are required to explore the extent of how a quiet-hour could improve sleep patterns and the performance of working dogs.