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Graduate College of Social Work

Research

Research Discoveries

 

 

Recent Findings

 

Integration of cultural competence and cultural humility in all aspects of the therapeutic process is a promising approach for social work clinicians providing support to Black women with depression.

Both/And: employing the tenets of cultural competence and cultural humility when working with Black women with depression

Authors: Quenette L. Walton, Latoya A. Small, Marion L. Malcome, Joan M. Blakey | 2023

 

Clinicians should create interventions that target understanding mental health, through psychoeducation or reframe conversations around wellness.

Self-Identification of Mental Health Problems Among Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness

Authors: Sarah Narendorf, Anil Arora, Diane Santa Maria, Kimberly Bender, Jama Shelton, Hsun-Ta Hsu, Kristin Ferguson, & Anamika Barman-Adhikari | 2023

 

When interviewing Black women for qualitative studies, it is vital for researchers to employ specific techniques that build rapport, trust, authentic connection, and help Black women feel safe.

“This Person is Safe”: An Exemplar of Conducting Individual Interviews in Qualitative Research with Black Women

Authors: Quenette L. Walton, Priscilla P. Kennedy, Olubunmi B. Oyewuwo, and Phylicia Allen  | 2023

 

 

 

 

2022 Discoveries 

 

Young people with experiences of housing instability had many encounters with police prior to actually being homeless.

Experiences with Police Among Young Adults with Housing Instability

Authors: Sarah C. Narendorf, Aly Kramer Jacobs, Juan Bathelemy, Devonte Hill | 2022

 

Perceptions and expectations of gender roles may be driving differences in suicide stigma relative to gender and age.

Suicide Stigma in Jewish Communities in the United States

Robin Edward Gearing, Kathryne B. Brewer, Limor Smith, L. Christian Carr, Danny Clark, Andrew Robinson, and David Roe | August 2022

  

Support network members, particularly intimate partners, should be included in education and conversations about mental health symptoms and treatment.

Mental Health & Social Networks Among Youth Exiting Foster Care 

Authors: Sarah Narendorf, Anil Arora, Caitlyn Mytelka  | 2022

  

Social work scholars must prioritize public impact scholarship to forward the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Centering public impact scholarship among social work scholars to promote and contribute to the United Nations' sustainable development goals

Lead Author: Nicole F. Bromfield | July 2022

 

If the lack of research on suicide and its implications in low- to middle-income countries prevails, proper and potentially lifesaving care and assessment of those individuals will fail.

‘I didn’t do it!’ Lived Experiences of Suicide Attempts made without Perceived Intent or Volition

Authors: Shahnaz Savani & Robin Gearing | 2022

 

Policy education varied widely across Bachelor (BSW) and Master of Social Work (MSW) programs in the U.S.

Policy Education in U.S. Social Work Programs: Results of a National Study

Authors: Suzanne Pritzker and Natalia Giraldo-Santiago | 2022

 

The use of knowledge production paradigms and approaches that recognize power imbalances is critical.

Striving toward Community-Engaged and Participatory Methods: Considerations for Researchers in Academic Settings

Authors: Sarah C. Narendorf, Samira Ali, Charles H. Lea III, and Suzanne Pritzker | 2022

 

Conscientization is the process of learning to perceive sociocultural, economic, and political oppression to such extent one is moved to act against it. 

Catalysts of Conscientization Among the Professorate: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study

Authors: Kyee Altranice Young and Brandon Mitchell | 2022

 

Help-seeking attitudes in China are mainly impacted by an individual’s life experiences.

Mental health help-seeking in China

Authors: Robin Edward Gearing, Kathryne B. Brewer, Patrick Leung, Monit Cheung, Wanzhen Chen, L. Christian Carr, Arlene Bjugstad, and Xuesong He | 2022

 

Child marriage is a tragic human rights abuse that affects 600 million girls worldwide.

Professional Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Child Marriage in Lebanon among Syrian Refugees

Authors: Negin Najjarnejad, Nicole Bromfield | 2022

 

An epidemiological estimate found that 91% of 173 million adults in China with a mental disorder never received professional treatment.

Examining Public Stigma of Schizophrenia in China

Authors: Robin Edward Gearing, Wanzhen Chen, Kathryne B. Brewer, Patrick Leung, Monit Cheung, L. Christian Carr, Gregory R. Gomez, Keri Powell, and Xuedong He | 2022

 

Among older Vietnamese Americans, having more physical disabilities is associated with greater depressive symptoms and loneliness, while more social support was shown to moderate the effect of physical disability on loneliness.

Social support as a moderator of physical disability and mental health in older Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S.: Results from the Vietnamese Aging and Care Survey (VACS)

Authors: Christina E. Miyawaki; Minhui Liu; Van Ta Park; Mindy Thy Tran; Kyriakos S. Markides | 2022

 

The exploratory study was conducted in a specialized correctional facility and identifies three dimensions of burnout and their association to the prevalence of devaluation of consumers (DCS) and their respective families (DCFS).

An Exploratory Study on the Role of Burnout and Devaluation among Staff in Psychiatric Facilities

Authors: Lindamarie Olson, Robin Gearing, Berenice Perez Ramirez, Luis R. Torres | 2022

 

 

2021 Discoveries 

 

One in four Baby Boomers fills the informal caregiver role in the United States.

Baby Boomers Who Provide Informal Care for People Living with Dementia in the Community

Authors: Christina E. Miyawaki, Erin D. Bouldin, Christopher A. Taylor, and Lisa C. McGuire  

 

Through COVID‐19 we learned it is critical to adopt effective teaching and learning strategies that include teaching with compassion and empathy. 

Trial by Fire: Innovative Approaches and Evaluation of Course Transition During COVID‐19 

Authors: Sujeeta E. Menon, Virginia (Ginger) Lucas, and Susan P. Robbins 

 

Nearly 75% of youth experiencing homelessness also report experiences of discrimination. 

Experiences of Discrimination among Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness: Relationship to Mental Health Outcomes 

Authors: Sarah C. Narendorf, PhD, Ashley Palmer, PhD, Kenya Minott, PhD, and Realyst co-Lab partners 

 

We should promote being good company to each other - that will help caregiver-recipient dyad. 

Association between caregivers’ characteristics and older care recipients’ well-being among Vietnamese immigrant families in the United States 

Authors: Christina E. Miyawaki, Minhui Liu, Kyriakos S. Markides 

 

Open and constructive family communication contributes to effective individual and family coping with cancer in minoritized populations. 

Family communication and coping among racial-ethnic minority cancer patients: A systematic review 

Authors: Yu-Ju Huang; Chiara Acquati; Monit Cheung 

 

Identify and address the ways in which discursive, epistemic, and material power are generated by and influence implementation processes. 

A typology of power in implementation: Building on the exploration, preparation, implementation, sustainment (EPIS) framework to advance mental health and HIV health equity 

Authors: Megan C. Stanton, Samira B. Ali, and SUSTAIN Center Team 

 

Low-income minorities often face many complex barriers to building stable and healthy families. 

The impact of Strong Families, Strong Communities on relationship functioning in low-income African American and Hispanic individuals: Findings from a federally funded randomized control trial. 

Authors: Sheara W. Jennings, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, Roderick A Rose, and Roberta M. Leal 

 

The ability to offer high-quality cancer care relies on patient-centered communication and decision-making. 

Patient activation and treatment decision-making in the context of cancer: examining the contribution of informal caregivers’ involvement 

Authors: Chiara Acquati, Judith H. Hibbard, Ellen Miller-Sonet, Anao Zhang, and Elena Ionescu 

 

 

 

 

Past Research Discoveries

 

SMART Cougars prevents and reduces substance abuse and transmission of HIV/AIDS among Hispanic/Latino and African American college students ages 18-24 at the University of Houston, as well as the communities surrounding the university.  

 

YouthCount 2.0! is a community-generated project led by the University of Houston and funded by the Houston Community Foundation to count youth in unstable housing in Harris County.  

 

Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) Youth in Child Welfare uses data from the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW II), the first nationally representative child welfare data set to include information on youth sexual orientation, to determine the  proportion of youth involved in the child welfare system who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, (LGB), and to compare the outcomes of LGB system involved youth to outcomes of system involved non-LGB youth. 

 

3/40 Blueprint helped build the capacity of runaway and homeless youth providers to better understand and address the needs of LGBTQ youth and prevent these poor outcomes such as victimization, substance abuse and suicide through identifying promising practices, training methods, and tools to address the needs of LGBTQ homeless youths.