Perspectives on Help-Seeking for Youth Mental Health Issues: The Influence of Parents' Religiosity
Alexandra Bowling, Lindsay Holly
Research with adults suggests that religiosity is related to increased likelihood of seeking help for mental health problems from a religious or spiritual healer, compared to a formal mental health professional. Because parents play an important role in accessing mental health care for youth, research on the influence of parental religiosity on child mental health help-seeking and service use is important. The current study addresses a gap in the literature by examining how parents' religiosity is related to mental health help-seeking perspectives and provider preferences. Findings from the current study may advance our understanding of barriers and facilitators of parental help-seeking and inform programming to increase service utilization.
Marquette Irenaeus Project
Christopher Krall, Stephen Molvarec, Catherine Melesky Dante, Ed de St. Aubin, Alexi Colburn, Henry Licht
This study investigates the biopsychosocial impact of maintaining either a contemplative prayer or a meditation practice daily for a ten week period. Participants wear MUSE Headbands during their sessions so that we can collect data regarding 5 brain patterns. Each also completes psychosocial surveys focused on wellness – lengthy batteries before and after the study and brief weekly ones. Findings from a pilot study were mixed but include a statistically significant increase in one’s ability to calm the brain. The current study is in week 6 and engages Marquette undergraduates as participants. Funded by the Marquette Beyond Boundaries Explorer Grant.
A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Self, Strength, and Trauma in Black Women
Ed de St. Aubin, Jessica Krukowski, Alexi Colburn, Lizzie Porter, Deziray Moore
This is a large research endeavor that explores the resilience of Milwaukee Black women. It is the self-defining stories of participants that guide this work. We seek to discern patterns of strength and resilience for those living at the intersection of two (sex; race) identity markers associated with discrimination and oppression. The particular investigation described here focuses on the women’s “low-point” narrative – a story about a difficult life episode. We analyze the manner in which recurrent themes and salient images that exist in the stories relate to quantitative measures of psychosocial well-being, anxiety, stress, and depression. This research funded by Marquette University Institute for Women's Leadership and through the Summer Faculty Fellowship/Regular Research Grant program
Who Will Tend to the Shepards?
Ed de St. Aubin, Jessica Krukowski, Matthew Evans, Peg Flahive, Stephen Jenkins, Susan Mountin, Sheila Stafford
The Companions in Ministry (CIM) program, Funded by The Lilly Endowment, Inc., provides Pastors with two years of activities designed to provide respite, increase resilience/well-being, and engender networking. Previous research provides evidence that congregational Pastors are at a greater risk of experiencing certain negative consequences (e.g., compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, stress) due to the nature of their work. Most Pastors also possess strong faith, which provides resilience in their work. The research team seeks to discern whether the CIM program significantly benefits participating Pastors. We are collecting both interview (qualitative) and survey (quantitative) date before and again after a Pastor’s participation in CIM.
HIV Prevention Among HIV-Negative Latino Males: Identifying Sociocultural Factors Associated with Pre-exposure Prophylaxis
Juan Zapata, Ed de St. Aubin, Laura Rodriguez, Jose Salazar, Jacob Stanley
HIV is a significant public health concern affecting U.S. Latinxs, with infection rates three times higher than non-Hispanic Whites. While Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been one of the most successful biomedical advances in HIV prevention, uptake among at-risk Latinx men is considerably lower compared to non-Hispanic Whites. This study seeks to understand how Latinx sociocultural variables may impact the implementation of PrEP in order to inform a culturally sensitive prevention program. The first study identifies specific barriers and facilitators to PrEP within the Latinx community by interviewing 25 community stakeholders. The second study administers surveys to 150 Latinx men at risk for HIV. Combined, this data will be integrated into a theoretical framework to inform the development of a community-based PrEP prevention program. The work is funded both by a TL1 grant from the Clinical & Translational Science Institute and by the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center.
Formerly Incarcerated Citizens Living in Transitional Housing: Guiding Principles and Trajectories Towards Independence
Ed de St. Aubin
This project, which was funded by a grant from Marquette’s Office of Community Engagement, is a collaboration with Table of the Saints (TOS), a Milwaukee non-profit that provides transitional housing to formerly incarcerated individuals during the reentry process. We are creating a document that specifies “principles of healthy living” to which residents adhere and lists milestones along a “trajectory towards independence” that residents take towards self sufficiency. The “we” here includes Marquette undergraduate Psychology Interns, a faculty member, the Executive Director of TOS, and formerly incarcerated folks with relevant lived experience.
Describing Parents' Beliefs About the Causes of Child Mental Health Issues: Differences Across Race/Ethnicity
Madeline Buchanan
Beliefs about the causes of mental health problems have been shown to influence help-seeking attitudes and service utilization in adults. Understanding parental beliefs about the causes of child mental health problems may be especially relevant given parents’ role as gatekeepers to services for youth. Research examining cross-ethnic differences in parents’ beliefs about causes of mental health problems is limited and may help explain the disparity observed between help-seeking and service utilization among minority populations. Thus, the current study seeks to describe parental beliefs about the causes of child mental health problems across racial and ethnic groups.
Who Supports #MeToo and the Kavanaugh Confirmation? Exploring Young Adults' Tolerance for Sexual Harassment
Erick Herrera Hernandez, Debra Oswald
Young adults have become increasingly involved in political and social movements centered around sexual harassment. This involvement likely reflects political identity as well ideological beliefs about sexual harassment. We examined how young adults’ ideological beliefs and political party identity are associated with their tolerance of sexual harassment, support for the #MeToo movement, and the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh.
Predicting Parents' Expected Barriers to Participation in Mental Health Treatment: The Role of Parenting Stress and Family Income
Maia Karpinsky, Nora Wood
In parents of children who are seeking psychological help, it has been found that higher parental stress is correlated with a greater number of perceived barriers to treatment and higher treatment drop-out rates. Additionally, past research has shown that low socioeconomic status is a significant predictor of parenting stress, and may also contribute to increased barriers during their child’s treatment. The current study seeks to understand how the degree of parental stress is related with perceived barriers to treatment, and how it may be moderated by household income. The findings from this study may help explain why some parents are less likely to seek out mental health care for their child, as well as provide suggestions for clinical interventions that seek to decrease perceived barriers among families of lower socioeconomic status.
Work in Progress: Honors in Psychology Student Independent Research Projects
Astrida Kaugars
This poster will highlight the six ongoing independent research projects conducted by undergraduate students in the Honors in Psychology program. Brief project summaries and descriptions about the unique contributions of the research will be provided.
The Influence of a Defendant's Race and Gender on Outcomes for a Defendant Pleading Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI)
Mira Soldon, Simon Howard
Past research has shown that a Black male defendant is more likely to be acquitted using a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) plea than a White male defendant (Poulson, 1990). The present study is the first to investigate the influence of a female defendant’s race in NGRI pleas. The present study examined the influence of a female defendant’s race (Black/White) on mock juror decisions for a schizophrenic defendant pleading NGRI. Online mock juror participants (N=138) read a fictional felony assault and battery case and were asked to respond to a set of questions regarding the case and render a verdict of guilty or NGRI. Mock jurors were marginally more likely (p=.07) to find the Black female defendant NGRI as compared to the White female defendant and were more likely to perceive the Black female defendant as dangerous. The results imply that society may views Black women as less mentally stable and more dangerous than White women, leading to racial bias in insanity trials. Limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed.
Emotional Synchronization: A Measure of Friend Quality
Joia Wesley, Keara Kangas, Nakia Gordon
The success of a relationship is related to how closely connected individuals are. One way to measure interpersonal connection is by quantifying their emotional synchrony. Our research explores friendship dyads engaged in conversation. This approach strengthens the understanding of how friendship quality impacts their emotional connectedness.
Depressive Symptoms and Familismo in Mexican-American Mother/Child Dyads
Valeria Zendejas
Children with mothers with depressive symptoms are at risk for developing internalizing/externalizing problems. However, minimal research has investigated cultural differences within vulnerable groups. Familismo, a core value in Mexican collectivist culture, is the belief that family comes first. Differences in maternal depression are associated with differing adherence to traditional Mexican culture. However, few studies have investigated whether familismo impacts the relationship between maternal and youth depression. We hypothesized that among mothers with high familismo, maternal depressive symptoms will not be related to depressive symptoms in preschool-aged children. Mothers (N=58) of Mexican descent completed questionnaires measuring maternal and children's depressive symptoms along with mothers' adherence towards familismo when children were between 3.5 to 5 years of age. Results showed that mothers with more depressive symptoms reported more internalizing symptoms in their children. This relationship was moderated by familismo such that when mothers had fewer depressive symptoms and reported higher adherence to familismo they also reported less child internalizing symptoms compared to mothers with more depressive symptoms. Our findings highlight the importance of the association between maternal and child depressive symptoms and the potential role culture may play in Mexican-American mother-child dyads.