Ebonee T. Johnson

Demand-Side Factors Related to Employment of People with Disabilities: A Survey of Employers in the Midwest Region of the United States

Introduction Traditional vocational services ignore variables related to employer demands and the interaction of employer demand and the environment) as predictors of employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Recently, rehabilitation researchers have begun to advocate for the use of demand-side employment models to help people with disabilities obtain and retain employment. Aim To examine demand-side employment factors that may influence hiring and retention of people with physical disabilities. Method One hundred and thirty two human resources (HR) managers and line managers were surveyed and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression and correlation analysis. Results Managers rated people with disabilities’ productivity and reliability between the neutral and agree range. Managers were neutral about their own knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and job accommodation and were similarly neutral about their company’s effort to include disability in the company’s diversity efforts. Hiring efforts were associated with the company’s diversity climate and inclusion of disability in diversity efforts. A hierarchical regression was conducted with results indicating that the demand side factors accounted for a significant portion of the variance in commitment to hire; knowledge of ADA and job accommodation and inclusion of disability in diversity efforts were found to be significantly associated with commitment of the company to hire people with disabilities. Conclusions HR and hiring managers in the current study were not overly enthusiastic about people with disabilities as reliable and productive employees. ADA and job accommodations training might improve these managers’ attitudes toward people with disabilities. Intervention at the senior management level should focus on changing company policies to include disability as part of the company’s diversity efforts.

Social-Cognitive Predictors of STEM Career Interests and Goal Persistence in College Students with Disabilities from Racial and Ethnic Minority Backgrounds.

Objective: To examine the relations of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics’s (STEM) self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, and contextual supports and barriers to STEM educational goals in college students with disabilities from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds Design: Quantitative descriptive research design using hierarchical regression analysis (HRA) Participants: 115 underrepresented minority students with disabilities receiving services from the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Minority-Disability (MIND) Alliance in STEM project at Hunter College, City University of New York and Southern University at Baton Rouge for the years 2008−2011. Outcome Measures: The Social-Cognitive STEM measures Results: The HRA results indicated that gender, advanced placement (AP) classes, father’s educational level, academic milestone self-efficacy, and STEM interest were significant predictors of goal persistence in African American and Hispanic college students with disabilities. The final model accounted for 57% of the variance in STEM persistence, which is considered a large effect size. Conclusion: The research findings provide good support for the use of the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) framework to identify predictors of STEM persistence and to design academic retention services and career development interventions for college students who are underrepresented minorities with disabilities.

Socio-structural influences on the work participation of refugees: an exploratory systematic mixed studies review

This systematic mixed studies review aimed at synthesizing evidence from studies related to the influences on the work participation of people with refugee status (PWRS). The review focused on the role of proximal socio-structural barriers on work participation by PWRS while foregrounding related distal, intermediate, proximal, and meta-systemic influences. For the systematic search of the literature, we focused on databases that addressed work, well-being, and social policy in refugee populations, including, Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, and Sociological Abstracts. Of the studies reviewed, 16 of 39 met the inclusion criteria and were retained for the final analysis. We performed a narrative synthesis of the evidence on barriers to work participation by PWRS, interlinking clusters of barriers potent to their effects on work participation. Findings from the narrative synthesis suggest that proximal factors, those at point of entry to the labor market, influence work participation more directly than distal or intermediate factors. Distal and intermediate factors achieve their effects on work participation by PWRS primarily through meta-systemic interlinkages, including host–country documentation and refugee administration provisions.

Mindfulness as a protective factor against depressive symptoms in people with fibromyalgia

Abstract Background: Depressive symptoms complicate pain management for people with FM, with adverse consequences such as a greater need for pain medications and limited pain coping strategies. Determining risks and protective factors associated with depressive symptoms in persons with FM could inform the development and implementation of mental health interventions. Aims: To formulate and test a behavioral activation model of depression with mindfulness as a protective factor for people with FM. Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey with 117 adults with FM from community and clinic networks. Path analysis was used to assess the relationships of pain intensity, perceived stress, activity interference, pain catastrophizing and mindfulness with depressive symptoms. Results: Mindfulness has a negative direct association with depressive symptoms and a negative indirect association with depressive symptoms through perceived stress, activity interference and pain catastrophizing. Perceived stress, activity interference and pain catastrophizing had direct associations with depressive symptoms. Finally, perceived stress, activity interference and pain catastrophizing had indirect associations with depressive symptoms through pain intensity. Conclusions: Mindfulness seems to play an important role as a protective factor against the negative effects of stress and depression among people with FM and should be included in mental health interventions for chronic pain.

Evaluating the Measurement Structure of the Abbreviated HIV Stigma Scale in a Sample of African Americans Living with HIV/AIDS.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the 10-item version of the HIV Stigma Scale (HSS-10) in a sample of African Americans with HIV/AIDS. Method: One hundred and ten African Americans living with HIV/AIDS were recruited from 3 case management agencies in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Measurement structure of the HSS-10 was evaluated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: Factor analysis results support a 2-factor factorial structure for the HSS-10 (social stigma and self-stigma). The HSS-10 demonstrates good reliability and factorial validity, and it correlates moderately with related constructs in the expected directions. Conclusion: HSS-10 is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing HIV stigma and can be used as a clinical rehabilitation and research tool to assess the contribution of stigma as a major cause of health disparities and outcomes in African Americans living with HIV/AIDS.

Self-medication and Illicit Drug Use in the Workplace

Substance use has been observed throughout history and remains an urgent public health concern in many countries. In the United States alone, the cost of alcohol and other drug use is estimated to be greater than

The Relationship of Multidimensional Health Locus of Control and Attitude toward HIV/AIDS: College Students' Perspectives

240 billion per year (Martin, 2001). According to Janikowski, Cardoso, and Lee (2005), substance use is defined as experimental or casual consumption in which the individual exercises little control, whereas substance abuse is the maladaptive pattern of substance use, including excessive use, compulsions to use, and continued use despite negative consequences. Excessive and prolonged use of substances may result in addiction. Substance dependence is the compulsive use of a substance accompanied by increasing amounts needed to achieve the desired effect, despite negative consequences. Substance abuse and dependence are major national health crises with wide-ranging consequences (Benshoff & Janikowski, 2000; Janikowski et al., 2005). Substance abuse and addiction dominate the individual’s life, creating problems across the spectrum of physical, psychological, and social functioning (Janikowski et al., 2005). The prevalence rates for illicit drug use, marijuana use, and nonmedical use of a psychotherapeutic drug in the United States are reported to be 8.7, 6.6, and 2.8 % respectively (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2011).