Examining Sexual Assault Victimization and Loneliness as Risk Factors Associated with Non- Lethal Self-Harm Behaviors in Female College Students: Is It Important to Control for Concomitant Suicidal Behaviors?

2015-2016 U-M Library Undergraduate Research Award - Second Place, Maize Award for Single-Term ProjectsThe present study examined sexual assault victimization and loneliness as predictors of self-harm behaviors in a sample of 224 female college students. Results from conducting regression analysis indicated that both sexual assault victimization and loneliness were unique and significant predictors of self-harm behaviors. This pattern remained even after controlling for concomitant suicidal behaviors. Interestingly, in a post-hoc analysis predicting suicidal behaviors, it was found that loneliness, but not sexual assault victimization, was the only unique and significant predictor after controlling for self-harm behaviors. Some implications of the present findings for understanding self-harm behaviors in female college students and the importance of controlling for suicidal behaviors in studies of self-harm behaviors (and vice versa) are discussed.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/123055/1/Lee - Project.pdf-1Description of Lee - Project.pdf : Projec

Mindfulness and engagement in COVID-19 preventive behavior

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents a significant risk to population health. Health organizations worldwide have recommended numerous preventive health behaviors to slow the spread of COVID-19. Yet, considerable variability exists in individual-level adherence to these recommendations. Mindfulness has been associated with greater engagement in health promotive behavior (e.g., physical activity, healthy eating), and may serve as an individual difference factor that encourages adherence. However, no study to date has examined the extent to which mindfulness is associated with preventive health behaviors during a global pandemic. The purpose of the present study was to assess the relations between mindfulness and recommended preventive health behaviors for COVID-19. A national U.S. sample (N = 353; Mage = 41.47 years, range: 19–84; 50.2% female) completed an online survey via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk from April 3rd to 15th, 2020, including measures of mindfulness and frequency of avoiding touching one’s face, handwashing, disinfecting/cleaning frequently used surfaces, social distancing, and self-quarantining. Personality, health risk, and demographic factors were also assessed to test the unique association between mindfulness and preventive health behaviors. Mindfulness was significantly correlated with greater engagement in all of the COVID-19 preventive health behaviors. However, when accounting for demographics, health risk, and personality, mindfulness was only uniquely associated with engagement in social distancing. This research highlights mindfulness as an individual-level characteristic associated with engagement in COVID-19 preventive health behavior and may inform future prevention efforts aimed at improving adherence to recommendations for curbing the spread of infectious disease

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Examining the Intersection of Gender and Age in Victim Blaming

Victim blaming refers to an attributional tendency in which some level of responsibility for a negative outcome is placed on victims (Maes, 1994). Many victims of crimes face stigmatization in the form of blame from friends, acquaintances, the criminal justice system, media, strangers, and even perpetrators of the crimes themselves (e.g., Cross, Parker, & Sansom, 2019; Gordon & Riger, 1991). Victim characteristics, type of crime, and observer characteristics all influence victim blaming tendencies. However, no studies to date have tested whether these factors in combination elicit differential reactions to victims of crimes. The present research tested how the intersection of gender (man vs. woman) and age (younger vs. older) affect attributional evaluations of victims across a variety of crime vignettes in younger and older adult participants. Study 1 was conducted among a sample of young adult participants to test how manipulations of victim characteristics (man or woman; younger or older) influence attributions about the victims and perpetrators across four crimes (i.e., aggravated assault, sexual assault, pickpocketing, and credit card scam). Study 2 was conducted among a sample of older adults to not only replicate the first study, but also examine how patterns of victim blaming may differ based on participants’ age. Results across the two studies demonstrated that there are stereotypes regarding who is expected to be the mostly likely victim of aggravated assault (i.e., younger man), sexual assault (i.e., younger woman), and a credit card scam (i.e., older woman). Patterns of results revealed that participants did not attribute the most blame to victims who were considered to be the most likely victim of each crime. There was also a general pattern where men, compared to women participants, attributed more blame to victims of pickpocketing. Additionally, older men blamed victims of sexual assault more than older women. There was no support for the defensive attribution hypothesis, as sharing similar identities (i.e., gender and age) with victims did not reduce participants’ victim blaming tendencies. Lastly, victim blaming did not significantly differ based on participant’s age. Overall, both studies provided support for the significant and variable roles of victim characteristics, type of crime, and participant characteristics in contributing to victim blaming tendencies, even after controlling for multiple crime characteristics (e.g., severity of the crime) and individual differences about justice

Academic Motivation and Psychological Needs as Predictors of Suicidal Risk

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150561/1/jocc12123.pd

Self-quarantining, social distancing, and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi wave, longitudinal investigation.

Social isolation and disconnectedness increase the risk of worse mental health, which might suggest that preventive health measures (i.e., self-quarantining, social distancing) negatively affect mental health. This longitudinal study examined relations of self-quarantining and social distancing with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. A U.S. national sample (N = 1,011) completed eight weekly online surveys from March 20, 2020 to May 17, 2020. Surveys assessed self-quarantining, social distancing, anxiety, and depression. Fixed-effect autoregressive cross-lagged models provided a good fit to the data, allowing for disaggregation of between-person and within-person effects. Significant between-person effects suggested those who engaged in more self-quarantining and social distancing had higher anxiety and depression compared to those who engaged in less social distancing and quarantining. Significant within-person effects indicated those who engaged in greater social distancing for a given week experienced higher anxiety and depression that week. However, there was no support for self-quarantining or social distancing as prospective predictors of mental health, or vice versa. Findings suggest a relationship between mental health and both self-quarantining and social distancing, but further longitudinal research is required to understand the prospective nature of this relationship and identify third variables that may explain these associations

Who’s Listening? Predictors of Concern about COVID-19 and Preventative Health Behaviors

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly across the globe. Based on recommendations from health organizations, many individuals have made significant changes to their daily lives to prevent the spread of the disease. OBJECTIVE/METHOD: This study sought to identify demographic and psychosocial factors associated with concern about COVID-19 and engagement in preventative health behaviors suggested to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 (social distancing, handwashing, cleaning/disinfecting, avoiding touching face, and wearing facemasks). From March 20 to 23, 2020, a US national sample (N=1019) completed an online survey. RESULTS: Recent illness, religiosity, germ aversion, and pathogen disgust sensitivity were the most consistent predictors of COVID-19 concern and preventative health behaviors. CONCLUSION: Findings have implications for the development of interventions intended to increase preventative health behaviors

Positive Expectancies for the Future as Potential Protective Factors of Suicide Risk in Adults: Does Optimism and Hope Predict Suicidal Behaviors in Primary Care Patients?

The present study sought to examine optimism and hope as predictors of suicidal behaviors (viz., suicide ideation and suicide attempt) in a sample of 179 adult primary care patients. Furthermore, we aimed to determine if the combination of hope and optimism would account for additional variance in the prediction model for suicidal behaviors among this population. In this cross-sectional study, participants completed measures of hope (viz., agency and pathways), optimism, and suicidal behaviors, as well as a series of demographics questions. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test the aforementioned hypotheses. Results indicated that hope and optimism were both significant and unique predictors of suicidal behaviors among adult primary care patients. However, the hope-by-optimism interaction terms were not found to be significant. Some implications of the present findings are discussed