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The Relationship Between Smartphone Use, Social Support, and Mental Health in Collegiate Student-Athletes
No full textSmartphones have become increasingly prevalent in today's society. Additionally, there has been a rise in mental health problems, particularly among collegiate student-athletes, where 21-33% report depressive symptoms and 28-40% report anxiety symptoms (Cox et al., 2017; Davoren & Hwang, 2014; Glascock & Poliakova, n.d.; H. Li et al., 2017). Previous research has linked elevated smartphone use to the presence of these mental health issues (Barry et al., 2022; Dobrean & Pasarelu, 2016), yet little is known about potential mediators in this relationship. Perceived social support emerges as a potential mediator, as collegiate student-athletes often rely on informal support during mental health challenges (Habeeb et al., 2022). Moreover, athletes who report having more social support from informal sources (i.e., teammates and friends) also report fewer depression and anxiety symptoms (Hagiwara et al., 2021). However, smartphones may hinder the creation of social support networks (Przybylski & Weinstein, 2013), potentially exacerbating mental health problems among collegiate student-athletes. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the underlying factors of the mental health problems collegiate student-athletes experience by examining perceived social support as a mediator in the relationship between smartphone use and mental health problems. METHODS: A sample of 101 collegiate student-athletes (32 males and 69 females) completed a survey measuring demographic factors, smartphone use (i.e., total screen time, social media screen time, and social media use during daily activities), perceived social support (i.e., esteem, emotional, informational, and tangible), and mental health (i.e., depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and stress). RESULTS: Bivariate correlations revealed a significant association between total screen time and depressive symptoms (r = .24, p < .05), while perceived social support was inversely related to mental health problems (r = -.26, p < .01). However, there were no significant relationships observed between any variable of smartphone use and perceived social support, including its subscales (i.e., esteem, emotional, informational, and tangible support) and perceived social support did not mediate the relationship between smartphone use and mental health problems. CONCLUSION: In line with previous research, the present study suggests that collegiate student-athletes with greater smartphone use are more likely to experience depressive symptoms. Additionally, when they perceive higher levels of social support, they tend to experience fewer mental health problems, including depressive and anxiety symptoms. These findings provide valuable insights for collegiate student-athletes and their athletic support staff, highlighting the importance of educating them about the detrimental effects of smartphone use on mental health, specifically depressive symptoms, and the potential benefits of creating strong socials support circles to reduce mental health problems
Development of Engaging Whiteboard Videos to Support Head Start Teachers’ Understanding of Evidence-based Strategies for Teaching Preschool Children (3-5 years) Science in the Context of Healthy Eating
No full textLearning Objective: Identify Head Start teachers' and relevant professionals' perceptions of whiteboard videos designed to support understanding evidence-based strategies for teaching preschool children (3-5 years) science in the context of healthy eating. Background: Preschool children, especially those from low-income households, do not consume adequate amounts of vegetables. It is critical to address this low consumption of vegetables in childhood, as it is associated with an increased risk of disease later in life. There is evidence that incorporating food-based learning into STEAM activities in the classroom can improve both learning and vegetable consumption. This project used educational videos to engage and educate Head Start teachers on evidence-based strategies for integrating science and nutrition concepts in their classrooms through STEAM learning activities that incorporate food. Methods: A series of 5 3-7-minute-long videos were developed, each focused upon an evidence-based strategy for incorporating healthy eating into science education in Head Start classrooms. Participants included 5 Head Start teachers working in Eastern NC as well as 5 professionals in fields relevant to video topics, including a pediatric dietitian, food safety expert, child care health consultant, health department policy expert, and an occupational therapist trained in feeding. Participants were asked to fill out pre-interview reflection sheets describing their perceptions of each video and participated in approx. 30-minute cognitive interviews. Interview questions gauged participant perceptions of the videos' quality, relevance, and applicability. Transcribed interviews underwent thematic analysis by the research team using basic coding techniques. Results: Participants shared their perspectives on diversity and representation within the videos, relevant video audiences, their experiences and perspectives regarding representation in video content and general audiences, video strategy implementation, video content, suggestions for the addition, removal, or changing of video elements, and general video characteristics. Conclusion: Head Start teachers and professionals in relevant fields were able to provide a breadth of unique perspectives regarding a series of 5 professional development videos created in order to empower Head Start teachers to implement Food-Based Learning activities into their own STEAM curriculum. These perspectives will help to inform the future development of these videos as well as any other educational nutrition videos for early childhood educators in the future
THE EFFECT OF USING TARGETED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PLANS TO IMPLEMENT THE READING HORIZONS PHONICS PROGRAM ON 3RD GRADE READING ACHIEVEMENT AND TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY IN A TITLE I ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
No full textSince the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States and North Carolina have seen a downward trend in the number of elementary students that are considered proficient in reading. North Carolina lawmakers passed Senate Bill 387 "Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021" to increase the reading achievement of students. Senate Bill 387 mandated the implementation of the science of reading into pre-k to fifth grade ELA classrooms. This study took place in an elementary school in rural northeastern North Carolina. African American and Hispanic students make up 67% of the school's student population. The percentage of third graders that were proficient on their End of Grade assessment had declined since the pandemic. To increase the reading foundation of students that had experienced inconsistent reading instruction during the pandemic, the Reading Horizons explicit phonics program was implemented in every third-grade classroom. A conceptual framework was developed to increase the chances of success when implementing a new initiative by using a targeted professional learning plan. A targeted professional learning plan was employed to monitor and evaluate the implementation process. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a target professional learning plan on teacher self-efficacy, the ability to implement the program, and student achievement. Findings indicate that implementing a targeted professional learning plan led to a small increase in teacher self-efficacy and student reading achievement
Degrowth & Design
No full textThis document elucidates key concepts pertaining to the degrowth movement in conjunction with the exhibition Degrowth & Design. This work outlines ways to integrate degrowth values into design practices, offering foundational information on degrowth. Degrowth critiques adverse effects of capitalism on ecosystems and human lives globally, proposing alternative systems and actions. Personal practices are one such strategy, exemplified by a two-month data collection on degrowth practices conducted by the author. Data was collected and visualized by hand, reflecting the degrowth philosophy. The narrative contextualizes the relationship between graphic design and capitalism, emphasizing the potential in design for effecting positive change. Implementing degrowth through design is highlighted as a powerful strategy, with considerations spanning materials, labor rights, governance, and more. This work underscores the integration of degrowth principles into personal practices and design work, explored in both the accompanying exhibition and document
Cost-Effectiveness of a Rural North Carolina Hybrid Prescription Produce Diabetes Self-Management Program
No full textIn recent years diabetes has become a prominent issue in healthcare. With diabetes prevalence increasing over the past decades, research into programs that can effectively reduce the symptoms and comorbidities of diabetes has become more popular. Diabetes Management Programs are initiatives that directly work with diagnosed diabetics to improve education on the condition while reducing the impact of it on daily function. Such programs focused on physical activity, medication usage, nutritional education, and prescription all aim to use different methodologies to create this effect. Cost-effectiveness of these programs has been researched through existing literature. The Fresh Start Program is a hybrid 20-week Diabetes Self-Management project created due to the need for sustainable healthy food options in rural areas of Eastern North Carolina. The program aims to educate and provide resources to uninsured individuals in managing diabetes. This paper serves as quantitative evidence of both the cost and cost-effectiveness of participants of the Fresh Start Program. The hybrid Fresh Start Program utilizes approaches of other diabetes management programs and has a comparable cost to each analyzed program type, 2,220.52 per participant. Public health organizers and advocates can utilize the findings of this paper as evidence of the cost-effectiveness of programs similar to Fresh Start
Computational modeling of the peripheral membrane binding protein annexin A2
No full textComputational methods including molecular dynamics and molecular docking were utilized to investigate multiple facets of the peripheral membrane binding protein, Annexin A2 (A2). The combined works are presented here as five independent studies. All atomic molecular dynamics simulations were used to conduct the first two studies on the heterotetrameric A2/p11 complex. The first investigated the impact of Ca²⁺ on the organization of membrane and F-Actin binding sites found within the heterotetramer. It was shown that Ca²⁺ modulates the availability of key membrane-binding residues and the stability of F-Actin-binding C-terminal residues of A2. The second study investigated the organization of the heterotetramer on the surface of a membrane model. A model of the heterotetramer consistent with measurements from the literature was generated. Additionally, previously unreported interactions between p11 and the membrane were observed. A2 has been implicated in a variety of pathologies where its inhibition would be desirable. A study was undertaken to identify potential inhibitors of A2-membrane binding activity. The stability of A2-ligand binding and effects of ligand binding on A2-membrane interactions was assessed via molecular dynamics simulation. Multiple ligands were identified that disrupt A2-Ca²⁺ binding and A2-membrane binding. The final two studies involved modelling A2-induced PIP2 microdomain formation. A novel Python package, called MMAEVe, was developed that facilitates the creation of biological-scale membrane-protein models. For the final study, MMAEVe was used to generate a system of A2 surrounding a vesicle. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations were run for the system and the process of A2-induced PIP2 microdomain formation was observed. It was shown that the process occurs in three steps, A2-membrane association, localized PIP2 clustering, and A2 aggregation causing local PIP2 clusters to merge into microdomains. A novel method was developed to track microdomain formation which utilizes the Fréchet mean to define a system-appropriate variance measurement
Digging Deeper: Excavation and Analysis of Features West of Battery A at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site
No full textBrick and ballast stone features located in an area to the west of Battery A at Fort Anderson within the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic site are believed to have been the location of barracks for troops during the American Civil War. Within the last twenty years, archaeological excavations have been performed at the site providing extensive data. However, the number of military artifacts recovered is somewhat limited when compared with archaeological assemblages at similar Civil War barracks sites. This has left the answer to the research question unconfirmed regarding the site's occupants. Additional research was conducted to more clearly determine the occupants of this area to the west of Battery A, presently interpreted as a barracks site. During the 2017 ECU Summer Field School additional excavations were performed west of Battery A at the location of an undisturbed brick and ballast stone feature. Analysis of the material recovered once again revealed little by way of military artifacts. However, certain artifacts are suggestive of an early to mid-nineteenth century occupation of the site sometime before the Civil War. Subsequent archaeological analysis and historical research relevant to the site suggest that the area west of Battery A was the location of a settlement for enslaved African Americans associated with Orton Plantation during the Antebellum Period in the decades prior to Fort Anderson's construction during the American Civil War
Emotional Laboring Through Birth: Insight from Doula Volunteers
No full textIn the US, only 6% of patients can afford to have a doula during their labor and delivery experience (Declercq et al., 2014). Doulas allow for birthing patients to have continuous physical, emotional, and informational support through non-medical interventions with an effort to better birth outcomes. Supplementing hospital staff and support people in the room, doulas provide support with a personal touch that focuses on empowering the birthing patient and protecting the birthing space. Building on Hochshild’s (1979, 1983) concept of emotional labor, I argue that the doula’s job is grounded in emotion work and emotional labor (Hochschild, 1979; Hochschild, 1983). Doulas help birthing patients navigate the stress, pain, and feelings associated with birth, and they assess their own effectiveness through a gendered lens of emotion (Gilliland, 2011). To better address this important work, which benefits both patients and doulas, I studied end-of-shift surveys completed by a cohort of hospital-based volunteer doulas who serve eastern North Carolina over the program’s first year of active service. This paper explores the doula’s perception of the relationship between birthing patients and themselves in their assessment of providing effective care and service based on the establishment of a strong emotional connection with the birth patient and their support. I found that most volunteers were able to help patients make more informed decisions and manage their pain more effectively. Based on the area of doula services provided in a healthcare and maternal care desert, there has been a greater need for doulas to provide birthing patients with direct support. Further studies are needed to find equitable long-term solutions to better address the gaps in maternal health equity, but hospital-based doula services could be a potential answer
The Relationship Between Stigma and Mood in College Students with Disabilities
No full textApproximately 20% of college students report having a disability, including physical (visible), cognitive, and psychiatric (non-visible) disability types. Decades of research have documented negative stereotyping and perceived discrimination against students with disabilities (e.g., DaDeppo, 2009; Lyman et al., 2016). To understand the negative effects stigma may have, it is important to consider how stigma might influence one’s feelings and intent to persist with college. It is also important to find factors that may mitigate negative effects, such as one’s ability to bounce back from stress (resilience). This study explored correlations between the perceived stigma of students with various types of disabilities, their resilience, affect, and intent to persist from one semester to the next. It was hypothesized that college students with disabilities with higher levels of stigma would have a higher negative effect and lower intent to persist, but their level of resilience would moderate this. Using established measures, college students with different disability types, including those who receive accommodations and those who don’t, were surveyed. The participants included students in the STEPP program and students who use Disability Support Services at ECU. Results found that, as perceived stigma increases, negative affect increases. Individuals with disabilities who experienced higher stigma reported lower resiliency. Although resiliency and stigma did have an impact on affect independently, resiliency did not act as a moderator, or buffer, between stigma and affect. Findings are consistent with previous qualitative studies suggesting that more mental health resources for college students with disabilities should be considered. Study limitations and directions for future research are presented
Nurse Retention in the Acute Care Setting
No full textNursing burnout and turnover intention are growing issues, largely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, yet ones that were prevalent before this worldwide health crisis and will persist in the coming years. Strategies to intervene are key in order to maintain a strong workforce in the acute care setting. Signs of burnout such as emotional and physical fatigue, decreased alertness at work, and desire to leave the profession increased following a season of working during the pandemic. Among a large sample of RNs that experienced this increased workload, over half reported feeling at the end of their rope, fatigued, or burned out at least a few times a week if not every day. With high levels of burnout, there is potential for an increase in turnover intention and subsequent further decline in nurses unless solutions are quickly enacted. This integrative review explores the current literature available on the causes and consequences of burnout as well as strategies to prevent and reduce the impacts of burnout and turnover intention on the nursing profession. Main causes of nursing burnout include high nurse to patient ratios and interpersonal strain such as lack of support from leaders and tumultuous staff relationships. The consequences of burnout and turnover intention include poor patient outcomes and declines in the mental and physical health of nurses. Strategies to improve nurse retention were categorized into main themes and their prevalence among the research articles was analyzed. These categories are leadership (41%), organizational culture (45%), interprofessional relationships (43%), and self-care activities (38%). Strategies to reduce burnout include policies on staffing ratios and allowing nurses to have organizational power. Like burnout, strategies to reduce turnover intention happen at both the organizational and personal levels