Techniques for the analysis of event timings and strengths

Event response data that record the timings of randomly occurred events and the strengths of these events are becoming increasingly important in psychology. Although previous researchers such as Kass et al. and Rathbun et al. have developed techniques to model event timings, and that there are social science literature for modeling event times, few researchers have developed techniques to model the event times as well as the strengths of the events. Thus, the present thesis describes a new model that incorporates the use of functional data analysis to estimate a joint occurrence of event intensity, or the instantaneous rate of occurrence, as well as the strengths of the events. The compound log-likelihood model, which is derived by the sum of the event and the response log-likelihood functions, estimates the intensity function and the smoothed function for the response variable simultaneously. In this thesis, we will discuss the incorporation of covariates into the model, and we will also discuss in detail the positive bounded model, which imposes a constraint to the upper bound of the intensity function, as well as the positive model, where no such constraint is imposed.The model is applied to a set of lupus data that involve the medical histories of 300 lupus sufferers over 20 years to examine the flare intensity and severity of lupus symptoms of each patient. Results of patients 15 and 148 are discussed in this thesis, which reveal that there might be some linear relationship between the patients' intensity rate and the severity of their flares. Finally, the extent to which the maximum likelihood estimation for the model is accurate is tested using simulated data. Results from the simulation show that the model requires a large sample size for a precise estimate

Emergency Room Visits with a Non-Traumatic Dental-Related Diagnosis in Hawaii, 2016–2020

The purpose of this study was to characterize the frequencies and patterns of emergency room (ER) visits with a non-traumatic dental-related diagnosis among adults (≥21 years old) in Hawaii, United States. This descriptive cross-sectional study used state-level inpatient and outpatient data recorded in Hawaii from 2016 to 2020. We identified dental-related ER visits using the diagnosis codes for non-traumatic dental-related conditions and summarized the frequency, rates, and cumulative total charges of the ER visits. The results show that approximately 30 thousand ER visits between 2016 and 2020 had a dental-related diagnosis. Sixty-seven percent of them had it as a principal diagnosis, amounting to USD 38.7 million total charges over the five years. A high proportion of these visits was found among those aged 21–44 years old (62%), Medicaid beneficiaries (49%), and Native Hawaiians/Part Native Hawaiians (26%). Compared to the proportions of ER visits with a secondary diagnosis, these groups had a higher proportion of ER visits with a principal diagnosis (ps < 0.001). A higher visit rate was found for those aged 21–44 years old and from less-populated counties. These results suggest that oral health disparities in age, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity exist in Hawaii. Our findings could provide insight in developing a framework to reduce oral health disparities, particularly among Medicaid beneficiaries and Native Hawaiians. Dental coverage with effective education in multiple dimensions is necessary to reduce non-traumatic dental-related ER visits

Culturally grounded strategies for suicide and alcohol risk prevention delivered by rural Alaska Native communities: A dynamic wait‐listed design evaluation of the Qungasvik intervention

We examined the effectiveness of the Qungasvik (Tools for Life) intervention in enhancing protective factors as a universal suicide and alcohol prevention strategy for young people ages 12−18 living in highly affected rural Alaska Native communities. Four communities were assigned to immediate intervention or to a dynamic wait list. Outcomes were analyzed for 239 young people at four time points over two years of community intervention. Outcomes assessed two ultimate variable protective factors buffering suicide and alcohol risk, and three intermediate variable protective factors at the individual, family, and community level. Dose dependent intervention effects were associated with growth in ultimate but not intermediate variables. This evaluation of the Qungasvik intervention provides support for the effectiveness of its Indigenous strategies for suicide and alcohol misuse prevention in this rural Alaska Native setting. Though findings did not provide support for a theory of change where growth in ultimate variables is occasioned through effects on intermediate variables, research designs focused on young people who enter intervention at lower levels of preexisting protection hold promise for better understanding of intervention change processes. The Qungasvik intervention is responsive to an acute public health need for effective rural Alaska Native suicide and alcohol risk prevention strategies.This study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01AA023754, R21AA016098, U19MH113138, R24MD001626, P20RR061430, R01AA023754).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/175002/1/American J of Comm Psychol - 2022 - Allen - Culturally grounded strategies for suicide and alcohol risk prevention.pdfDescription of American J of Comm Psychol - 2022 - Allen - Culturally grounded strategies for suicide and alcohol risk prevention.pdf : main articleSEL

Patterns of Protective Factors in an Intervention for the Prevention of Suicide and Alcohol Abuse with Yup’ik Alaska Native Youth

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) with American Indian and Alaska Native communities creates distinct interventions, complicating cross-setting comparisons. In this study, coding CBPR intervention activities from three communities for protective factors and latent class analysis identified five patterns of exposure to protective factors: Internal, External, Limits on alcohol, Community and family, and Low probabilities of all protective factors. Patterns differed significantly by community and youth age. Standardizing protective factors by the functions an intervention serves instead of its form or components can assist in refining CBPR interventions and evaluating effects in culturally distinct settings