This study investigates the impacts of alcohol-induced stress and social support on individual health and well-being of alcoholics. Specifically, this dissertation study aimed to test: (a) the direct effect of alcohol-induced stress on three outcome variables that are relevant to an individuals health and well-being, (b) the direct effect of social support on three outcome variables, and (c) the interaction effect between alcohol-induced stress and social support on three outcome variables. This study also attempted to explore the roles of separate sources of social support in relation to three outcome variables. The results showed that stress due to alcohol abuse had direct effects on three outcome variables, indicating that high levels of perceived stress due to alcohol abuse contributed to lower life satisfaction, higher depressive symptoms, and higher physical health problems in alcoholics. It was also found that social support had a direct effect on individuals health and well-being for two of the three outcomes studied. However, this study found no significant buffering effect of social support in the relationships between stress due to alcohol abuse and its negative outcomes.

This dissertation presents an historical overview of the travel restraints on African Americans, females, and low-income people in the US, as well as the transportation policies that fostered these restraints. Subsequently, the study examines modern day restraints on mobility, and its relationship to employment outcomes, defined as earnings and hours employed. Several within subject comparisons and two ANOVAs confirmed the studys hypothesis that after controlling for education, work experience, and a variety of demographic characteristics, the NLSY participants, in the labor force throughout the decade from 1990 to 2000, encountered significantly less favorable employment outcomes when reporting an increased number of years without auto access. The ANOVA found this impact on earnings to be strongest among African Americans and females. The ANOVA on hours employed found this impact to be strongest on African American males, and all females parenting 5 or more years. African American females with the lowest levels of vehicle access reported the highest number of work hours among all black and white females, but nearly the lowest earnings. Kains Spatial Mismatch Theory and Sherradens Theory of Welfare Based on Assets, along with the Work-Family-Fit model provide the theoretical framework for the respective macro and micro influences of transportation disadvantage on earnings and hours employed.

This study explored how health care provider communication was related to self-efficacy and caregiver burden in older spousal caregivers of oncology patients. A convenience sample of 66 older (over 60 years of age) spousal caregivers of patients with advanced disease, completed a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included measures of health care provider communication, social support, self- efficacy, and caregiver burden. The communication and self-efficacy measures were developed for this study. A factor analysis was done on both measures and both had good validity (á >.90). A multiple regression analysis was performed to test for predictors to caregiver burden. Neither communication, nor self-efficacy were significant predictors of caregiver burden. Nor was communication a predictor to self-efficacy. Gender and social support were the predictors of burden. Bivariate analyses had shown a correlation between a caregivers health status and increased burden. One major finding was that, although this was a group of caregivers caring for spouses with advanced or terminal disease, very few had seen a social worker and none had been referred to a hospice or palliative care program. No caregivers were using any community social services. Implications for social work include early assessments of older caregivers to help identify at-risk caregivers, and to provide appropriate referrals to alleviate burden. Other research implications include further testing of the communication and self-efficacy measures.

This study reports on barriers affecting women who are transitioning from welfare to work in a rural community. A cross-sectional survey was developed to collect data on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental barriers. Data were collected from 160 women who had completed the Lexington County, South Carolina program designed to assist welfare recipients with finding employment. The data were obtained from face-to-face interviews with these women. Few of the potential barrier tested impacted these womens transition from welfare to work; among those that did, mental health was perhaps the most noteworthy. Findings also indicated that despite various barriers, a majority of the rural women interviewed were employed. Univariate, bivariate, and logistic analyses were discussed. Differences and similarities between rural women and their urban counterparts are also discussed. Implications for social work research and practice are suggested

This mixed method study examined the relations between and among womens casino gambling, parenting in the home environment, parenting self-efficacy beliefs, social supports, and child behavior problems in a sample of 150 Native American mothers with a child between 6 and 15 years of age. Respondents were recruited from a tribal casino on a Great Lakes Indian Reservation. Hypotheses were: 1) higher scores on measures of gambling frequency among Native American mothers will be associated with more behavior problems in their children; 2) greater access to emotional and instrumental support, higher parenting self-efficacy, and more adequate parenting in the home environment among Native American mothers will be associated with fewer behavior problems in their children; and 3) greater access to social support, higher parenting self-efficacy, and more adequate parenting in the home environment among Native American mothers will moderate the relationship between maternal gambling and child behavior problems. As expected, correlational analyses indicated that pathological gambling was associated positively and significantly with child behavior problems, while greater access to instrumental support, higher parenting self-efficacy, and more adequate parenting in the home environment were each associated significantly with fewer child behavior problems. Multiple regression analyses revealed that greater maternal financial strain and less adequate parenting in the home environment together explained 9 percent of the variance in child behavior problems and that access to social support from family moderated the relationship between maternal gambling frequency and child behavior problems. Social support from family explained an additional 5 percent of the variance in child behavior problems. Boys were more negatively affected by their mothers frequent gambling than girls in this study. Qualitative themes were: Mothers concerns regarding spending money and time at the casino, and guilt and remorse over how these affect their children and families; mothers reports of the positive economic benefits of the jobs and educational opportunities now available to them; mothers concerns that while there are increased opportunities to socialize and reduce their stress while gambling, that there is no culturally appropriate gambling treatment program on the reservation.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the perceptions of and attitudes toward partner abuse, and various demographic characteristics on the incidence of partner abuse among first generation Korean-Americans. The study employed a correlational explanatory design using a cross-sectional survey technique utilizing a total of 223 Korean immigrant adults currently residing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A three-part instrument was used for data colleciton. Part I of the instrument measured the perceptions of and attitudes toward domestic violence among Korean-Americans. Part II measured the incedence and nature of domestic violence, and part III inquired demographic information about Korean-Americans. The use of domestic violence among Korean-Americans was highly prevalent. Demographic characteristics such as gender, age, religion, occupation and the length of residence in the United States were related to the occurrences of domestic violence. Korean men were more physically violent, whereas Korean women were more verbally abusive than their partners. Also, the younger the individuals were, the more abusive acts they employed. Generally, Confucians and Buddhists were more abusive than Protestants, and the unemployed and laborers were more abusive than professionals. The longer the individuals have resided in the United States, the less abusive they tended to be. There were significant relationships between various perceptions of domestic violence and the actual experiences with domestic violence.

LGBTQ individuals make relocation decisions with their sexual orientation and gender identity in mind (Gorman-Murray, 2007). The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between non-violent discrimination faced by LGBTQ individuals and whether or not those individuals have future plans to relocate. A literature review of LGBTQ discrimination and LGBTQ relocation is discussed, and a secondary data analysis was conducted on a sample of LGBTQ individuals who participated in a quality-of-life survey. All hypotheses were supported except the hypothesis that analyzed anti-LGBTQ discrimination and its association with time until relocation. Results indicated that experiencing anti-LGBTQ nonviolent discrimination was significantly associated with reporting plans to relocate. A logistic regression also reported that experiencing anti-LGBTQ nonviolent discrimination predicted plans to relocate. Lastly, low age was significantly associated with reporting plans to relocate.

Social work can be an extremely gratifying profession. However, social workers who are exposed to graphic realities related to vulnerable and traumatized individuals and families may experience challenging workload demands and increased levels of burnout. To best understand and support these key human service workers, it is important to investigate variables influencing levels of burnout. In this study, the author examined whether specific individual worker characteristics contribute to burnout among child welfare workers in Louisiana. Characteristics were compared to individual variables such as job tenure, agency department, supervisor/front line worker, and educational background. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was completed by 434 Louisiana Child Welfare workers. Overall, the OLBI did find that LADCFS child welfare workers were burned out, however results were examined to determine which workers were burned out. Tenure, Education or Assigned unit had no significance on the level of burnout workers experience. Researcher also found that Supervisors reported a higher level of burnout than front line workers.

In many professional practice settings, it is very likely that social workers will work with female clients who identify as lesbian or bisexual. These sexual minority females are more likely to be overweight or obese, have a history of childhood sexual abuse, and have more positive attitudes toward overweight and obesity than heterosexual women. In this study, the author sought to identify the relationship between childhood sexual abuse, obesity, (specifically, body mass index [BMI]), and attitudes toward obesity among lesbian and bisexual women. Eighty-five sexual minority females completed a survey. Childhood sexual abuse was found to be positively correlated with BMI. However, lesbians attitudes toward obesity were not associated with childhood sexual abuse nor were they found to be associated with BMI. Additionally, lesbians did not report significantly different attitudes toward BMI based on their own BMI and history of childhood sexual abuse. These findings are further discussed in the context of previous research, limitations, and implications for direct practice.

May 14, 2013 marked the 10 year anniversary of the creation of the Louisiana Recovery School District (RSD), the turnaround intervention for low performing public schools. Since 2003, the RSD has grown to include over 80 schools across the state. The purpose of this multilevel longitudinal study was to examine the relationship of the Louisiana Recovery School District to student and school outcomes including risk of dropout and standardized test scores. The dissertation measured these influences over time (2007-2010). The data collected were derived from Louisianas Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) and quantitative data on dropout status from the Louisiana Department of Education Student Information System (SIS) database. To explore the RSDs relationship to risk of dropout and student achievement scores over time, two analyses were conducted. First, to examine the relationship between student and school level predictors and the risk of dropout, a multilevel discrete-time survival analysis was conducted. The level 1 analysis included time and student level covariates, while level two included school level covariates. The results of the this analysis indicate that when controlling for student level covariates, RSD students are at a 3.25 times greater risk of dropout than traditional public school students. Next, in the study of the RSDs relationship to student achievement, a three-level hierarchical linear model was run to account for repeated measures and nested data. The level one analysis examined the influence of time on LEAP/iLEAP scores. The level two analysis examined the influence of student characteristics including race, gender, and free and reduced lunch status on student scores. The third level examined the influence of aggregated school level predictors including school type (RSD versus traditional public school) on student scores. Results indicate that student characteristics of disadvantage including minority status and low socioeconomic status are linked to lower test performance over time. For Sample A, the school level covariate, school type, was significant in each model, suggesting that even when controlling for student and other school level factors, school type accounted for variation in student scores over time. RSD students performed significantly lower than TPS students in both ELA and math over the 4 year period of the study. The school level covariate, school type, was also significant for Sample B indicating that students in RSD schools perform lower on ELA and Math portions of the LEAP/iLEAP/GEE than their TPS counterparts. When controlling for other school level covariates in Sample B, the effect for school type was no longer significant. No other school level covariates were significant in the models suggesting that variation in outcomes was accounted for by student level characteristics and time rather than by school level characteristics