As the U.S. population continues to age, increasing the prevalence of persons impacted by dementia in the community, faith communities are challenged to address the growing needs of their members. However, research has not looked specifically at the effects of religious social support on caregivers for persons living with dementia experiencing burden. This study aimed to address this gap by utilizing an exploratory, cross-sectional design to survey U.S. caregivers of persons living with dementia who expressed faith to be an important aspect of their life (n = 158). This study found that religious social support is a significant predictor of reducing burden among caregivers.

Simulation-based learning has emerged as a promising method for training preprofessional students in the field of social work. Simulation-based learning allows students to practice important skills, build confidence and self-efficacy, and receive competency-based assessment and instructor feedback. An objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is one of the most established tools for providing objective assessment and feedback for students in simulation-based learning. This study aimed to assess students' overall competency in using skills and practices consistent with the primary care behavioral health model. A secondary aim was to understand better the effect of the simulation experience on students' overall self-efficacy, confidence, and skill development. The findings of this study revealed significant improvement between the baseline scores on the Integrated Behavioral Health Practice Scale from students' first simulation to their final OSCE scores at course completion. According to the effect size (d = 1.95), the magnitude of this significant improvement was large. This outcome supports the notion that students greatly improved their understanding of their role as social workers on an integrated behavioral health team, as well as specific interviewing skills focused on in the certificate training.

Latinx immigrant communities experienced disproportionate economic and health consequences from COVID-19. Although social service organizations have been on the frontlines to meet the complex social service needs of this population, little is known about their experiences working with this vulnerable group in the first phase of the pandemic (during "shutdowns"). Using multiple case study methods, this case study integrates survey responses from Latinx-immigrant-serving social service providers (N = 14) in Houston, media sources, and official Houston government data to describe the context and experiences of organizations who worked with Latinx immigrant families and individuals during the first phase of the pandemic. Results highlight challenges faced by social service organizations in meeting the heightened service needs of this vulnerable population. Findings underscore the importance of advocacy to strengthen social service systems constrained during a public health crisis exacerbating health disparities.

Over the last few decades, social work research has highlighted that although many clients have positive attitudes toward integrating their religion and spirituality in mental health treatment, few clinical social workers have received training to integrate this area of clients' lives in practice. With the growing literature regarding religion/spirituality and health/mental health indicating such integration has the potential to improve treatment outcomes, and that clinical social workers currently provide the largest proportion of mental and behavioral health services in the United States, this area of client diversity is increasingly relevant for social work education and practice. This article provides a rationale for addressing religion/spirituality and promoting spiritual competencies in social work education, particularly considering the social work profession's mission and perspective, clinical fields of practice, and ethical principles and standards of care. It then identifies barriers and facilitators to educating students about religion/spirituality as well as educational strategies to promote spiritual competencies in social work for students, faculty, and clinical practitioners.

Community integration following the experience of chronic homelessness is a key principle of Housing First programming, yet it is scantily addressed or studied. Originally developed in New York, the Restorative Community Collaborative program shows promise in building meaningful community integration and improving outcomes among individuals who have experienced chronic homelessness. This convergent mixed-method study describes outcomes for this adapted program implemented in Houston, Texas by a social service agency in collaboration with local congregations. The program increased participant empowerment and beneficial community connection among all stakeholders (participants, volunteers and mentors). Lessons for future implementation of such programs is discussed.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with significant impacts to daily life and diverse experiences of loss among college and university students. The aim of the current study is to describe social work students’ experiences of loss and grief following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and explore the ways these experiences may have differed by program degree, modality, and background characteristics. Method: A cross-sectional survey (N=354) administered with social work students across degree programs during April–May 2020 provided both quantitative and qualitative open-ended responses. We used a convergent mixed-methods design to merge inductively analyzed qualitative data and quantitative demographic and background data. Results: Key findings highlight students’ varied and compounded experiences of loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, with differences in loss experienced by program modality (traditional, hybrid, or online) and age. Conclusion: Findings suggest the need for social work education programmatic responses for students’ overlapping experiences of loss and grief from the COVID-19 pandemic and future academic disruptions, with particular attention to students of younger age and differing program modality.

Justice-involved women have higher rates of co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (CODs) than those in the general population. Most research on the health consequences of justice involvement has focused on incarceration, neglecting other forms of contact. This study uses the Treatment Episode Data Set Admissions from 2015 to 2019 (N = 7,251,301) to examine the association between recent arrest histories and CODs among women while investigating potential racial differences. The random intercept logistic regression revealed that women with arrest histories had 1.130 times the odds of having CODs as women without arrest histories. Being arrested significantly increased the odds of having CODs among Indigenous and Latina women and decreased the odds of reporting CODs among Black/African American and Asian American women. These findings suggest that culturally-sensitive behavioral health service that considers arrest-related stressors and the needs of women from different racial backgrounds are essential in preventing and treating CODs.

OBJECTIVE:Further test mechanisms of the CHOICES intervention by replicating analyses of the experiential and behavioral processes of change (POC) for alcohol and for contraception as mediators of the intervention for reducing risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP) using data from a more recent trial, CHOICES Plus (CP).METHOD:As in the prior study, replication models examined indirect paths from intervention to experiential POC for alcohol at 3 months, to behavioral POC at 9 months, to risky drinking and risk of AEP at 9 months and experiential POC for contraception at 3 months, to behavioral POC at 9 months, and to ineffective contraception and risk of AEP at 9 months. To test the temporal relationship, additional models examined the indirect path from behavioral POC for alcohol and POC for contraception at 3 months, to the experiential POC at 9 months, and to risk of AEP at 9 months. A final model tested the mediation of experiential and behavioral POC assessed at 3 months.RESULTS:There was an indirect effect of the intervention on risky drinking (total indirect effect = -.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-.32, -.02]) but not AEP via the alcohol POC. There was an indirect effect of the intervention on ineffective contraception (total indirect effect = -.27, 95% CI [-.55, -.07]) and AEP (total indirect effect = -.22, 95% CI [-.46, -.06]) via the contraception POC.CONCLUSIONS:This study completely replicated the prior indirect effects of the CHOICES intervention on the targeted risk behaviors through the experiential and behavioral POC for each behavior. Findings support the utility of the POC for informing health behavior change interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Research suggests that adolescents with maternal incarceration experiences are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors and have sexual health problems than those without maternal incarceration experiences. However, the sexual health risks of adolescent girls and the role of maternal incarceration on their risks remain unknown. This study used the FFCW dataset (N = 1,587) to examine the interrelated risks of substance-exposed pregnancy (SEP), STIs, and HIV among adolescent girls with maternal incarceration histories and determine the association between exposure to maternal incarceration and these sexual health risks. Bivariate analyses sug-gested that compared to their counterparts without maternal incarceration experiences, a significantly higher proportion of adolescent girls with such experiences were at risk of SEP (12.24 % vs 2.79 %, chi 2 = 13.77, p <.001), STIs (10.45 % vs 3.43 %, chi 2 = 8.82, p = .003), and HIV (10.45 % vs 4.23 %, chi 2 = 5.78 %, p = .016). Regression analyses revealed that maternal incarceration was associated with significantly higher odds of SEP risk among adolescent girls (OR = 3.94, 95 % CI = 1.37-11.34, p = .011). This study suggests the need for sexual health intervention targeting adolescent girls with maternal incarceration histories. Future research on explan-atory mechanisms linking maternal incarceration and sexual health risks is necessary to inform services for adolescent girls from extremely fragile families.

Maternal incarceration has become an increasingly common life event among adolescents in the U.S., especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Evidence suggests that maternal incarceration is a risk factor for adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems. However, its collateral consequences on adolescents’ sleep patterns, dietary behaviors and physical activity involvement remain unclear. This study uses the Fragile Family and Child Wellbeing Study dataset (N = 3262) to examine the prevalence of risk behaviors related to sleep, diet, and physical exercise among adolescents with maternal incarceration histories and assess the relationship between maternal incarceration and these behavioral health risks. Findings suggested that a significantly lower proportion of adolescents with maternal incarceration experiences consumed breakfast for at least four days a week than those without maternal incarceration experiences (41.78% vs. 52.76%, p = 0.009), a higher proportion of them consumed fast food for at least two days a week (57.35% vs. 48.61%, p = 0.035), had at least two sweetened drinks per day (71.92% vs. 62.21%, p = 0.018), and reported more days having problems staying asleep per week (1.70 vs. 1.26, p = 0.008). Regression analyses suggested that adolescents with maternal incarceration experiences were more likely to have problems staying asleep (B = 0.44, p = 0.012) than those without maternal incarceration experiences.

Collegiate and professional athletes are at higher risk of developing anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and substance abuse disorders. These competitive athletes often struggle with unique stressors such as balancing social life with sport and mental health stigma due to expectation of mental toughness. Research suggests these vulnerabilities amongst competitive athletes may make them hesitant to seek mental health resources. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach that promotes skill development that reduces symptoms of anxiety, depression, substance use and other mental health struggles. CBT strategies may also enhance athletic performance. Combined, CBT skills for athletes may have promise as a primary prevention strategy for mental health symptoms, a secondary prevention strategy by offering referral for more serious symptoms and may earn buy in from coaches and athletes due to the potential for enhancing athletic performance. This paper provides empirical and theoretical rationale and framework for such an approach.

Happy New Year! As I reflect on the past year, there many possibilities that have emerged ripe for discourse, scholarship, and research on social work education in 2023. As editor of the Journal of Social Work Education (JSWE), I am hopeful that the discourse and changes from 2022 will lead to thoughtful 2023 submissions proposing new social work education innovations, approaches, and perspectives that increase our responsivity to a quickly changing world. In this editorial, I highlight some of these emerging areas of discussion, challenge, and inquiry for social work education.

This study utilizes the risk and resilience framework to understand the risk and protective correlates of moderate to high levels of juvenile justice involvement among post-adjudicated young women (N = 365). This exploratory model-building method utilized cross-sectional administrative data collected through the Positive Achievement Change Tool. The analysis yielded the best model using five social history factors, including the age at the time of probation, involvement in structured activities, running away from home, mental health history, and antisocial attitudes and behaviors. Results revealed that those with a history of mental health problems or running away from home had higher odds of having a high level of juvenile justice involvement compared with a lower level of involvement. Moreover, younger women were more likely to have moderate or high levels of juvenile justice involvement than a low level of involvement. Interventions should focus on holistically addressing individual, family, and community factors.

Purpose : There has been a sustained effort to integrate the evidence-based practice (EBP) process within social work over the past few decades, yet it is unclear whether these efforts have increased the adoption of this process in social work practice. This study describes predictors of master’s level social work practitioners’ engagement in the EBP process.Method : A cross-sectional survey with NASW-Texas members (N = 258) was conducted to assess social workers’ understanding, attitudes, and implementation (and perceived difficulty) of the EBP process.Results : Most respondents endorsed the multistep process definition of EBP, were favorable to EBP and viewed its application as easy or very easy. However, only 27% of the respondents reported engaging in all the steps of the EBP process often or very often. Greater years as a licensed practitioner, more positive attitudes about and less perceived difficulty with EBP predicted increased engagement.Discussion : While it appears progress may have been made compared to prior Texas NASW samples regarding views of and engagement in EBP, the discrepancy between higher engagement in specific EBP steps and engagement in the entire process is recommended for future research.