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The Impact of Family Relationships and Communication on the Mental Health of Urban Immigrant Adolescents
No full textThis study examined whether family relationship quality and communication with parents during stressful situations were associated with mental health among urban immigrant adolescents. Guided by Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model of stress and coping, I used secondary data from the Stress and Learning Study, which surveyed 78 immigrant adolescents in Chicago Public Schools (ages 11 to 14) at two time points approximately 7-9 months apart. Family functioning was assessed with the Family Relationship Scale, parent focused communication during stress was assessed with binary items from the Response to Stress Questionnaire, and mental health was assessed with Youth Self Report Total Problems and Externalizing scores. Correlations and linear regressions were conducted to test whether stronger family relationships predicted more frequent communication during stress and whether communication predicted later externalizing problems when accounting for baseline symptoms. Family relationship quality showed a small, nonsignificant positive association with parent communication, and communication did not significantly predict Time 2 externalizing problems after controlling for Time 1 externalizing scores. In contrast, baseline externalizing symptoms were a strong predictor of later symptoms, highlighting substantial stability in behavior problems over time. Overall, findings suggest that within this relatively low risk sample, individual differences in family relationships and stress related communication were not sufficient to explain change in mental health across seven to nine months, although patterns were consistent with theory and point to important directions for future work with immigrant families
From the President
No full textDePaul University President Robert L. Manuel shares how the Mission: Forward campaign redefines the role of higher education in society
Making a Difference
No full textA new scholarship program furthers the legacy of the late Sue Ling Gin, a pioneering entrepreneur and former DePaul trustee who guided the establishment of two university science buildings
DePaul Digest
No full textMelissa Ockerman, a school counseling professor, publishes guidance on how institutions can address the youth mental health crisis through de-escalating conflicts and cultivating social-emotional well-being. Noé de la Sancha, associate professor of environmental science, studies urban rat populations to better understand the impact of human-driven habitat change and loss on mammals. Plus, news briefs on exciting developments at DePaul University’s 10 colleges and schools, from a new Department of Neuroscience to robotics engineering in a new CyberLabs facility, and DePaul Connect, a community connecting alumni and students for network and mentor opportunities
The Market Theology of the Early Church: Some Theological Contributions to the Dismal Science
No full textThis Article seeks to make three modest contributions. First, this Article serves to correct a failed historiography of the early church. While no patristic scholar argues that the early church professed a sort of proto-communism, other disciplines, namely, economics and business, perpetuate a misapprehension of how the early church thought about property and markets. Second, this Article offers an intellectual survey of both Ante-Nicaean and Nicaean/Post-Nicaean church fathers on property and markets. Through this survey, this Article seeks to demonstrate a general theme of the acceptance of private property, capital accumulation, market exchange, and arbitrage. Finally, this Article supports two theoretical contributions to business ethics from the fathers: property is a moral instrument where ownership confers normative obligations, rather than absolute entitlements; and moral formation and voluntary distribution are ethically preferable to coercive redistribution through regulation. This Article concludes with three practical contributions to business ethics from the fathers
Studies of Rhenium(I) Complexes with Protic Ligand Backbones: Base-Enabled Substitution and CO₂ Reduction
No full textCarbon dioxide is a major contributor to global climate change, and developing efficient electrocatalysts for its reduction to useful products remains an important challenge in renewable energy and sustainable chemistry. Rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes have been widely studied for selective CO₂-to-CO conversion, and recent efforts have focused on understanding how ligand structure and proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) processes govern catalytic activity. In this work, two families of rhenium complexes with protic backbones, fac-Re(PyBim)(CO)₃L and fac-Re(BidmimH)(CO)₃L (PyBimH = 2-(2′-pyridyl)benzimidazole; BidmimH₂ = 2,2′-bis(4,5-dimethylimidazole); L = neutral ligands), were synthesized and characterized to investigate the influence of axial ligand electronics on CO₂ reduction behavior. Infrared spectroelectrochemistry and cyclic voltammetry revealed systematic redshifts in the carbonyl stretching frequencies (Δν = 12–79 cm⁻¹) and cathodic shifts in reduction potentials as axial ligand σ-donor strength increased. Complexes bearing PPh₃ and NH₂(CH₂)₃Ph ligands exhibited the largest catalytic current enhancements under CO₂ in the presence of trifluoroethanol, indicating faster PCET and CO₂ reduction. Bulk electrolysis confirmed that both ligand scaffolds favor CO formation, with PyBim derivatives showing higher stability and CO selectivity. Complementary studies of cobalt(II) and nickel(II) analogues demonstrated similar ligand-dependent reactivity, with the Ni complex SE16 (a nickel(II) bipyridyl derivative studied in collaboration with Fairfield University) achieving the highest CO faradaic efficiency (51%). Together, these results establish clear structure–activity relationships between ligand donor strength, electron density at the metal center, and CO₂ reduction efficiency, providing new insights into how proton-responsive ligands and axial electronic effects can be leveraged to design more effective molecular electrocatalysts for CO₂ conversion
Fostering Resilience Among Urban Youth: Protective Settings and Processes
No full textResearch has shown that adolescence is a vulnerable period for mental health problems, especially for youth living in high-stress urban environments. Youth can also build resilience in the context of protective processes during this period. Thus, it is critical to recognize which environments and settings help build resilience in youth. Environments such as the youth’s home and school are the most well-established protective settings in the development of mental health problems (Luthar et al., 2000). However, less is known about what other settings can foster resilience in youth as well as the specific processes associated with positive outcomes across each setting. It is important to understand the factors and processes in the environment that lead to positive mental health in youth as it can help build upon the literature and inform intervention. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of protective settings and protective processes in protecting against negative mental health outcomes. This study examined the role of race and ethnicity as potential moderators of the relationship between protective processes and youth mental health problems. The sample consisted of 372 adolescents from Chicago Public Schools in grades six through twelve. Students were recruited from three urban middle schools. Participants completed the Places I Spend Time measure to assess protective processes and the Youth Self-Report measure, to assess mental health problems and competencies. Qualitative thematic analyses were conducted to characterize the types of protective settings reported by youth and frequency analyses were conducted to identify the settings and processes most frequently identified. Results indicated that protective processes vary by setting, with home protective processes most consistently associated with reduced internalizing and externalizing symptoms and increased social and activities competence. Results showed that race moderated some associations, with White youth and Bi-racial or Multi-racial youth benefiting more, while ethnicity had no significant effect
Advances in the Creation of a DNA Barcoding Reference Library for Freshwater Fishes of Western Ecuador with Emphasis on Metabarcoding Applications
No full textThis research provides a DNA reference library for the freshwater fish species of Western Ecuador, emphasizing endemic species of the Guayas River Basin and southwestern, lowland areas. Western Ecuador is currently grappling with severe overexploitation of its endemic freshwater fishes across many drainage basins, compounded by habitat destruction, pollution from commercial and agricultural activities, and the looming threat of climate change, notably in the form of coastal incursion events. Methods for rapid-surveying biodiversity at community levels is urgently needed. This reference library is particularly designed for metabarcoding applications, providing a non-invasive method for surveying aquatic biodiversity in vulnerable areas using environmental DNA (eDNA). The use of all three genetic loci commonly used for DNA barcoding fishes (12S, 16S, and COI) is an integral component of this research for minimizing species misidentification and maximizing detection rates. This genetic reference library provides a total of 78-12S sequences, 78-16S sequences, and 76-COI sequences representing 42 species across 21 taxonomic families of which, 50-COI sequences, 62-12S sequences, and 57-16S sequences are novel species contributions to Genbank. Prior to this study, coverage of Western Ecuador’s freshwater fishes were at 15.67%, 23.13%, and 20.90% for 12S, 16S, and COI, respectively. Coverage for the loci post-study is now at 45.52% (12S), 54.48% (16S), and 52.24% (COI)
Forward Momentum
No full textMission: Forward, the most ambitious philanthropic campaign in DePaul’s history, is fueling purpose-driven education to solve society’s biggest challenges. Learn and watch videos about DePaul programs and initiatives that exemplify the campaign through academic innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, service-oriented community partnership and activist scholarship
Early-Life Exposure to PFAS Affects Adolescent Neuroimmune Activity
No full textPer-/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent organic pollutants commonly used in non-stick, oil-resistant, and water-proof food packaging as well as textiles; they are detected in more than 99% of human serum. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), one of the most ubiquitous PFAS, is associated with altered lipid metabolism, immunotoxicity, and neurodevelopmental disorders. These outcomes all implicate microglia, resident macrophages in the brain critical for development and sensitive to lipid signaling, as key mediators of toxicity. However, developmental effects of PFOS on microglia are not well-characterized, nor is it clear how PFOS alters microglial inflammatory responses. We hypothesized that early-life PFOS exposure alters microglial responses to secondary inflammatory challenges later in life. To test this, pregnant Sprague Dawley dams were exposed to PFOS (0.5 ug/kg BW/day ) or vehicle daily via ‘Nilla wafers from gestation until offspring weaning. Offspring were weighed daily and development was monitored until euthanasia in adolescence. Two hours before euthanasia, adolescent offspring were given an inflammatory challenge (lipopolysaccharide, LPS, 0.5 mg/kg BW i.p.); sickness behaviors were monitored for two hours until euthanasia. Brains were collected and microglia were isolated from one cerebral hemisphere using CD11b+ magnetic beads. RNA was isolated from both the microglial and non-microglial pools. Animals exposed to PFOS exhibited reduced weight gain from P7 to P21 relative to their P1 weight. Conversely, PFOS-exposed animals had greater weight gain after weaning, from P28 to P42 relative to P21. Because ‘catch-up’ weight gain in early development is linked to metabolic dysfunction in humans, lipid and thyroid hormone analyses are planned. Targeted gene expression analysis of non-microglial cells did not detect PFOS effects on expression of genes related to thyroid (Dio2), dopamine (Drd1a), and calcium (CamkIIa) signaling or on synaptic regulation (Syt). While previously shown to be altered by PFOS exposure, the lack of PFOS-mediated alterations in expression of these genes in the current study may reflect region-specific responses undetectable in our whole brain samples. Unbiased analyses of the CD11b+ microglial transcriptome indicates widespread gene upregulation in response to LPS. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis show PFOS exposure enriches pathways related to inflammation and cell metabolism depending sex and LPS challenge. Knowledge generated in these studies highlights the need to design toxicology studies that test for effects of contaminants in a range of contexts. It also affirms microglia as a potential mechanism by which PFOS alters neurodevelopment, raising the possibility for exposures to interact with other environmental challenges known to engage the neuroimmune system