Background: The resettlement of Afghan refugees in Oklahoma City, OK, provides a critical context for examining the mental health challenges faced by this population due to post-migration stressors.
Methods: This study utilized online surveys to recently resettled Afghan refugees in Oklahoma City, with support provided by bilingual research assistants to accommodate low literacy rates. Surveys, initially in English, were professionally translated into Dari and Pashto and validated through back-translation.
Adults with cancer may perceive cannabis as beneficial for managing their cancer-related symptoms, but the evidence supporting its medical use is varied and inconclusive. This study characterized associations of cannabis use with cancer-related symptom trajectories. Participants were adults undergoing cancer treatment at the Stephenson Cancer Center (SCC; n = 218) in Oklahoma; they were 71% female, 10% minoritized race, and 45% had stage III or IV cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in Black/African American men (AA) and the second‑leading cause of cancer-related deaths. A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test is an early detection screening tool for prostate cancer, but uptake of PSA screening remains low among AA men. Greater PSA screening rates among AA men, coupled with earlier treatment, may reduce disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, including mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAsian J Psychiatr
November 2024
Background: Major psychiatric illnesses often cluster in families, and their impact on affected and unaffected members within families may reflect the consequence of both genetic and social liability.
Methods: Data was derived from 202 families with multiple affected individuals. Affected individuals (N = 259) had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder or substance use disorder.
Importance: Socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals (ie, those with low socioeconomic status [SES]) have difficulty quitting smoking and may benefit from incentive-based cessation interventions.
Objectives: To evaluate the impact of incentivizing smoking abstinence on smoking cessation among adults with low SES.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This study used a 2-group randomized clinical trial design.
Stomata play a pivotal role in regulating gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere controlling water and carbon cycles. Accordingly, we investigated the impact of ultraviolet-B radiation, a neglected environmental factor varying with ongoing global change, on stomatal morphology and function by a Comprehensive Meta-Analysis. The overall UV effect at the leaf level is to decrease stomatal conductance, stomatal aperture and stomatal size, although stomatal density was increased.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Sleep deprivation is a critical risk factor for physical and mental health problems. The current study examined whether sleep problems were related to housing status and physical and mental health among people experiencing homelessness.
Methods: Data were collected via an anonymous survey completed by adults accessing services at a day shelter in Oklahoma City, OK.
We conducted year-long measurements of the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) and solar-induced fluorescence in the OA oxygen band (SIFA) at a Norway spruce forest and a European beech forest to study relationships of these remote sensing variables to photosynthesis by trees in grown forest stands. Measured PRI and SIFA values were linked to changes in forest gross primary productivity (GPP) and light-use efficiency (LUE). Changes in the shadow fraction (α) within tree crowns influenced PRI and fluorescence signals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Little is known about the risks and benefits of cannabis use in the context of cancer care. This study characterized the prevalence, reasons for use, and perceived benefits of cannabis and compared symptoms and perceived risks between those who reported past 30-day cannabis use and those who did not.
Methods: Adults undergoing cancer treatment at a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center completed measures of sociodemographic characteristics, cannabis use, use modalities, reasons for use, perceived harms/benefits of use, physical and psychological symptoms, and other substance/medication use.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities
June 2024
Introduction: The influence of culture on body mass index (BMI) and obesity within the African American population is an underexplored area in the literature. Therefore, this study explored the extent to which cultural identity was associated with BMI and obesity among African Americans and whether the association of cultural identity with obesity differed between males and females.
Methods: Participants were African Americans (n = 304) who responded to an online survey.
Background And Objectives: Oklahoma has a fast-growing medical cannabis industry, showing a proliferation of industry marketing. While cannabis marketing exposure (CME) is a risk factor for cannabis use and positive attitudes about use, no studies have examined the impact of CME on attitudes and use behavior in a permissive cannabis policy environment, like Oklahoma.
Methods: N = 5428 Oklahoma adults ages 18 and older completed assessments of demographics, past 30-day cannabis use, and past 30-day exposure to each of four types of cannabis marketing: outdoor (billboards, signs), social media, print (magazines), and Internet.
Background: Smoking rates are exceptionally high among adults experiencing homelessness (AEH). Research is needed to inform treatment approaches in this population.
Methods: Participants (n=404) were adults who accessed an urban day shelter and reported current smoking.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities
February 2024
Introduction: Discrimination experiences may be a contributing factor to the elevated prevalence of mental health problems among adults experiencing homelessness.
Methods: Using survey data (N = 552) collected from adults seeking services at an urban day shelter, the relationships between everyday and major discrimination experiences, distress tolerance, and mental health problems (depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, poor mental health days) were characterized. Distress tolerance was examined as a moderator of the relationship between discrimination and mental health problems.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities
December 2023
Background: Digital smoking cessation interventions may reduce racial disparities in cessation because they are low cost, scalable, and can provide support at any place or time. Despite their promise, whether Black adults engage with and benefit from these tools is largely unknown. In a secondary analysis of a randomized trial, we explored the efficacy of an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)-based website (WebQuit) for smoking cessation compared to a US clinical practice guidelines-based website (Smokefree.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProg Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
December 2022
Environmental factors such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may affect neurocognition, an endophenotype for several mental illnesses. This study examines the effect of ACEs on neurocognitive performance in first-degree relatives (FDRs) of patients with severe mental illness to determine whether familial risk has a moderating effect on the relationship between ACEs and neurocognition. Unaffected FDRs from multiplex families with severe mental illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or alcohol use disorder) (n = 324) and healthy controls (with no familial risk) (n = 188) underwent neurocognitive tests for processing speed, new learning, working memory and Theory of Mind.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated the relationship between concussions and medication adherence among 247 adults experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who were prescribed medication for a psychiatric disorder. Participants were asked whether they had "ever experienced a blow to the head that caused a concussion," and medication adherence was measured by asking participants whether they had taken their psychiatric medication yesterday. The data were analyzed using univariate and multivariable logistic regressions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Racial Ethn Health Disparities
August 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected African Americans and has been a significant source of stress for this population due to increased economic hardship and social isolation. This study characterized the associations between COVID-19 vulnerability (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To examine if reduced financial strain and higher educational attainment would confer less advantage for successful cessation among African Americans than for White individuals.
Design: A secondary data analysis of the Quit2Live study, a smoking cessation intervention for individuals who smoke.
Setting: Recruited participants from a metropolitan city in the Midwest.
Background: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults are overrepresented in the population of individuals experiencing homelessness, and high rates of substance use are common in this group. Plausibly, poor mental health and discrimination may contribute to substance use among SGM adults experiencing homelessness. This study described participant characteristics, and the interrelations among sociodemographic variables, substance use, mental health, and discrimination experiences among 87 SGM adults seeking services at a day shelter in Oklahoma City, OK.
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