The preponderance of evidence from large-scale studies shows a detrimental association between greater acculturation (to mainstream U.S. values and beliefs) and mental health. Prior research also suggests that greater acculturation may be associated with a breakdown of adaptive behaviors and values (e.g., religiosity/spirituality) thereby negatively impacting mental health. In addition, literature generally suggests that enculturation (retention of culture of origin customs and values) is associated with better mental health. However, few studies have examined potential mediators between acculturation/enculturation and mental health; and research on this topic with patients with schizophrenia is particularly scarce. Using a sample of 44 Hispanic and African-American patients with schizophrenia, this study evaluated whether higher acculturation and lower enculturation would be associated with more symptoms of schizophrenia. Religiosity/spirituality, family cohesion, and religious coping were evaluated as potential mediators of these relationships. As hypothesized, greater family cohesion (measured by the Family Environment Scale) was associated with fewer schizophrenia symptoms (measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale). However a meditational model was not supported. Contrary to hypotheses, when examining the total sample, neither acculturation nor enculturation (measured by the Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale) were associated with schizophrenia symptoms. Ethnic subgroup analyses were conducted and will be discussed along with study implications, limitations, and directions for future research.

The Healthy Start Summer Program (HSSP) is a seven-week summer program that strives to provide health and wellness education in a manner that is applicable to everyday living. The primary goal of the HSSP is to improve physical fitness levels and the psychosocial variables associated with exercise in a minority adolescent population, while providing the tools necessary for students to maintain these changes for four months after the program. Participants and control subjects were evaluated at the beginning and end of their respective summer programs, then followed up four months post-program to evaluate the maintenance of these changes. The students who participated in both the HSSP and the control summer programs were primarily of Hispanic, African-American, or Haitian descent and were recruited from high schools that serve low socioeconomic areas. Participation in the HSSP was associated with improved physical fitness levels that remained elevated at the follow-up evaluation; however, physical fitness improvement during the program was negatively associated with maintenance after the program. In general, the expected associations between physical fitness and psychosocial variables were not found in our population, nor did psychosocial variables change significantly during or following the program. Findings indicate that the expected associations between physical and psychosocial variables are either not present or that the tools used to measure them were not sufficiently sensitive in this minority population. However, the fact that cardiovascular fitness remained elevated above baseline four months after the program represents an improvement from interventions previously reported in the literature. Future research should be conducted to more fully understand the factors related to the maintenance of physical fitness.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-171)

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2004. / Rod Watts, committee chair; Gabriel Kuperminc, Roger Bakema, committee members. 119 p. [numbered vi, 113]. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 28, 2007; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-109).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-104). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Despite Canada’s official policy of multiculturalism, until recently, the perspectives of the country’s lesser-known, marginalized writers have not been usually taken into consideration in mainstream discussions on the nature of Canadian identity and its socio cultural mosaic. Specifically, minority life writing narratives had generally received little critical attention in Canada. This paper aims to fill this slowly-decreasing gap through the exploration of two texts whose female writers negotiate their distinct ethnic and national selves within the cultural dominant of Canada. The essay compares Apolonja Kojder’s Polish-Canadian memoir, Marynia, Don’t Cry, to Rita Joe’s Mi’kmaq-Canadian autobiography, Song of Rita Joe. The analysis of these texts sets the Polish and Aboriginal communities into conversation, and yields a discussion on the nature of cultural, national, linguistic and female identity. It argues that identity is political, relational and always in process. Since much of the personal narrative writers’ identity struggle in an alien land and language often unravels as a translation of the self into another world, the two personal narratives add nuance to our understanding of the contradictions found in institutional policies. The study creates awareness of the literary and discursive strategies by which writers of disadvantaged communities challenge and subvert cultural oppression, identity misconstructions, and the exclusion of ethnic and women’s histories from within mainstream society. However, through the textual hybridization of cultures, languages, histories and life experiences, Kojder’s and Joe’s intention is to facilitate understanding across groups, create respect for diversity, propel social participation and induce socio political transformation. This paper means to shed light on the Canadian experience in its unique variations, and to add to life writing studies on ethnic and national individuals’ personal encounters with and within the Canadian socio- cultural and political milieu.

Obesity is associated with higher death rates from breast and gynecological cancers. African American women(AAW) are more likely to be diagnosed with these cancers at later stages and have lower survival rates than Caucasian women. African American women are also disproportionately affected by obesity. Studies suggest that the healthcare experiences of obese women (primarily stigmatization), may contribute to their decisions to utilize healthcare services. However, these studies have largely comprised Caucasian women; there remains a paucity of studies addressing this issue in AAW. The purpose of this study was to explore the healthcare experiences of obese AAW and their utilization of preventive healthcare services. Interpretive phenomenology, based on the work of Maxx van Manen, was used to describe and interpret the healthcare experiences of 15 obese AAW living in communities in Georgia. The women ranged in age from 23 to 62, with body mass index ranging from 35-55. The majority of the sample (83%) had adequate health insurance. This was a well educated sample with 87% having college degrees or some college education. Individual, audio-taped interviews were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological methods, with analysis and collection occurring concurrently. Data were analyzed as a whole then line by line to identify themes across transcripts. Two patterns and five themes were identified. Patterns were: They're not listening and Good or bad, it's my decision. Themes were: Attributing all problems to weight; They say lose weight but give us no tools; Stigmatization; Cancel my appointment please: I won't be back, and Empowerment. The women recalled a pleothra of negative encounters with providers that they termed "demeaning" and "nastiness for no reason." Many women reacted by delaying or avoiding healthcare, some not returning for preventive health screens for many years. The significant association between obesity and mortality from cervical and breast cancers necessitates timely preventive screens by obese women. The results of this study can help to inform practice, education, and research. Recommendations for all three areas were deleneated in the study.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-129). Also available on the Internet.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on January 20, 2010). Thesis advisor: Dr. Earnest L. Perry. Includes bibliographical references.