College for Health, Community and Policy Faculty Research
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12588/259
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Item Overlap and Interrelations Between (Im)mobility Motivations(SAGE Publications, 2024-09-02) Riosmena, FernandoScholarship in Migration Studies and Forced Migration and Refugee Studies recognizes that migration and immobility can be the result of various, mixed motivations. Empirical work and conceptualizations of forced and “lifestyle” migration consider some of this complexity. Scholarship on immobility has also examined various, mixed motives. Finally, migration theory development has recently begun to incorporate various “non-economic” motivations, mainly into frameworks originally aimed at tackling economic/labor migrations, mainly integrating force and/or environmental factors. However, efforts to conceptualize and theorize on how and why motivations overlap or are interrelated (positively or negatively) are more scant, less explicit, and less systematic. In this paper, I provide a broad systematic taxonomy of migration and immobility motivation overlap and interrelation. First, I describe the six main (im)mobility motivations discussed in the literature—namely economic, labor-related, safety-related, environmental, family-related, and related to self-fulfillment—organizing them around the degree to which they are driven by extrinsic and/or intrinsic rewards and costs. Second, I provide a general typology of possible ways in (im)mobility motivations become “alternative” to and/or concurrent with each other, and how these instances operate at individual and/or population levels. Third, I examine how the different motivations fit within three important theories of micro-level decision-making in the literature, exploring different points of overlap and interrelation between mechanisms within and across analytical perspectives. I conclude discussing the potential implications of this motivation integration.Item Size Matters? Penis Dissatisfaction and Gun Ownership in America(SAGE Publications, 2024-05-31) Hill, Terrence D.; Zeng, Liwen; Burdette, Amy M.; Dowd-Arrow, Benjamin; Bartkowski, John P.; Ellison, Christopher G.In this study, we formally examine the association between penis size dissatisfaction and gun ownership in America. The primary hypothesis, derived from the psychosexual theory of gun ownership, asserts that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises will be more likely to personally own guns. To test this hypothesis, we used data collected from the 2023 Masculinity, Sexual Health, and Politics (MSHAP) survey, a national probability sample of 1,840 men, and regression analyses to model personal gun ownership as a function of penis size dissatisfaction, experiences with penis enlargement, social desirability, masculinity, body mass, mental health, and a range of sociodemographic characteristics. We find that men who are more dissatisfied with the size of their penises are less likely to personally own guns across outcomes, including any gun ownership, military-style rifle ownership, and total number of guns owned. The inverse association between penis size dissatisfaction and gun ownership is linear; however, the association is weakest among men ages 60 and older. With these findings in mind, we failed to observe any differences in personal gun ownership between men who have and have not attempted penis enlargement. To our knowledge, this is the first study to formally examine the association between penis size and personal gun ownership in America. Our findings fail to support the psychosexual theory of gun ownership. Alternative theories are posited for the apparent inverse association between penis size dissatisfaction and personal gun ownership, including higher levels of testosterone and constructionist explanations.Item Adaptive Complexity: Examining Texas Public Postsecondary Institutions' Provision of Student Basic Needs Programs(MDPI, 2024-04-16) Zottarelli, Lisa K.; Xu, Xiaohe; Hatcher, Jayla M.; Thiruppathiraj, Raji; Ellis, Natasha; Chowdhury, Shamatanni; Sunil, ThankamThis study reveals that the likelihood and diversity of postsecondary institutions providing basic needs programs are significantly influenced by institutional factors such as the institutions' organization and size. This study also indicates that Hispanic-Serving Institutions tend to provide emergency housing, which highlights a targeted response to specific community needs. In addition, the analysis indicates that the presence of students with financial needs is linked to the availability of food pantry services, suggesting a strategic approach to address student welfare. The findings from this study provide critical insights into how institutional characteristics influence the provision and variety of basic needs services. These conclusions not only underscore the pivotal role of such services in supporting the overall well-being and academic success of students but also indicate institutional factors that support the formal implementation of a variety of basic needs programs to meet diverse student needs.Item Utility of Single Items within the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R): A Bayesian Network Approach and Relative Importance Analysis(MDPI, 2024-05-14) Huen, Jenny Mei Yiu; Osman, Augustine; Lew, Bob; Yip, Paul Siu FaiThe Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R) comprises four content-specific items widely used to assess the history of suicide-related thoughts, plans or attempts, frequency of suicidal ideation, communication of intent to die by suicide and self-reported likelihood of a suicide attempt. Each item focuses on a specific parameter of the suicide-related thoughts and behaviors construct. Past research has primarily focused on the total score. This study used Bayesian network modeling and relative importance analyses on SBQ-R data from 1160 U.S. and 1141 Chinese undergraduate students. The Bayesian network analysis results showed that Item 1 is suitable for identifying other parameters of the suicide-related thoughts and behaviors construct. The results of the relative importance analysis further highlighted the relevancy of each SBQ-R item score when examining evidence for suicide-related thoughts and behaviors. These findings provided empirical support for using the SBQ-R item scores to understand the performances of different suicide-related behavior parameters. Further, they demonstrated the potential value of examining individual item-level responses to offer clinically meaningful insights. To conclude, the SBQ-R allows for the evaluation of each critical suicide-related thought and behavior parameter and the overall suicide risk.Item Youth Suicide Prevention Programming among the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians: Effects of the Lifelines Student Curriculum(MDPI, 2024-04-18) Bartkowski, John P.; Klee, Katherine; Xu, XiaoheSuicide continues to be a leading cause of mortality for young people. Given persistent intersecting forms of disadvantage, Native American adolescents are especially vulnerable to mental health adversities and other suicide risk factors. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI) implemented the Choctaw Youth Resilience Initiative (CYRI), a five-year SAMHSA-funded project that began in 2019. This study uses Choctaw student pre-test/post-test survey data to examine the effectiveness of the Hazelden Lifelines Suicide Prevention Training curriculum for youth. A lagged post-test design was used, whereby post-surveys were administered at least one month after program completion. Several intriguing results were observed. First, the lagged post-test model was subject to some pre-to-post attrition, although such attrition was comparable to a standard pre/post design. Second, analyses of completed surveys using means indicated various beneficial effects associated with the Lifelines curriculum implementation. The greatest benefit of the program was a significant change in student perceptions concerning school readiness in response to a suicidal event. Some opportunities for program improvement were also observed. Our study sheds new light on suicide prevention training programs that can be adapted according to Native American youth culture. Program implementation and evaluation implications are discussed in light of these findings.Item Expanding the Question–Persuade–Refer (QPR) Evidence Base: Youth Suicide Prevention among the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians(MDPI, 2024-04-15) Bartkowski, John P.; Klee, Katherine; Xu, XiaoheYouth suicide risks have been on the rise or persistently elevated for decades, and Native American communities are especially vulnerable. This study provides a promising framework for suicide prevention among underserved populations in the U.S., especially Native American communities in states lacking strong suicide prevention supports. Our investigation reports the evaluation results of the Question–Persuade–Refer (QPR) gatekeeper training program, a key component of the SAMHSA-funded Choctaw Youth Resilience Initiative (CYRI) implemented by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (MBCI). QPR trains adult gatekeepers to identify youth at risk of suicide and refer them to certified mental health service providers. Standardized QPR pre-test and post-test training surveys were administered at in-person trainings delivered to youth-serving MBCI organization leaders and staff. Statistical analyses of all survey items indicate that QPR gatekeeper trainings significantly enhanced the knowledge of prevention practices and risk identification skills for the MBCI trainees. The robust evidence of positive changes revealed in this study suggests that QPR can be an effective suicide prevention program for underserved minority communities, especially Native American populations in rural states where suicide is a persistent and leading cause of mortality.Item The Curriculum in IDD Healthcare (CIDDH) eLearn Course: Evidence of Continued Effectiveness Using the Streamlined Evaluation and Analysis Method (SEAM)(MDPI, 2024-02-21) Bartkowski, John P.; Xu, Xiaohe; Klee, KatherineMedical professionals are rarely trained to treat the unique healthcare needs and health disparities of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The Curriculum in IDD Healthcare (CIDDH) eLearn course aims to redress gaps in the delivery of medical care to people with IDD. An initial comprehensive evaluation of CIDDH in-person training content had previously underscored its knowledge and skill transfer efficacy for Mississippi healthcare providers. Training content has recently become available to medical professionals nationwide through an online self-paced modality to address physicians' IDD education needs. This study introduces and applies a new evaluation framework called SEAM (Streamlined Evaluation and Analysis Method) that offers a promising avenue for rendering a follow-up appraisal after rigorous evidence of program effectiveness has been previously established. SEAM reduces the data-reporting burden on trainees and maximizes instructor–trainee contact time by relying on an abbreviated post-only questionnaire focused on subjective trainee appraisals. It further reduces methodological and analytical complexity to enhance programmatic self-assessment and facilitate sound data interpretation when an external evaluator is unavailable. Ratings from a small sample of early-cohort trainees provide an important test of effectiveness during CIDDH's transition to online learning for clinicians nationwide. Using SEAM, CIDDH achieved high ratings from this initial wave of trainees across various evaluative domains. The study concludes by highlighting several promising implications for CIDDH and SEAM.Item Navigating the Maze: Facilitators and Barriers to Substance Use Treatment for Pregnant and Parenting Women in Mississippi(MDPI, 2024-02-04) Klee, Katherine; Bartkowski, John P.; Newkirk, Caroline; Dawson, Jan; Hubanks, JonathanThere are significant hurdles to placing pregnant and parenting women (PPW) with a substance use disorder into treatment programs. This study uses qualitative analysis of case notes collected by a linkage to care expert (patient navigator) from over 50 Mississippi PPW client cases. The analysis identified facilitators and barriers in the referral to treatment process. We group the observed patterns into three general categories: (1) individual factors such as motivation to change and management of emotions; (2) interpersonal relationships such as romantic partner support or obstruction; and (3) institutional contexts that include child welfare, judicial, and mental health systems. These factors intersect with one another in complex ways. This study adds to prior research on gender-based health disparities that are often magnified for pregnant and parenting women.Item Examining Anti-Poverty Programs to Address Student's Unmet Basic Needs at Texas Hispanic-Serving Institutions over the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic(MDPI, 2024-01-03) Zottarelli, Lisa K.; Sunil, Thankam; Xu, Xiaohe; Chowdhury, ShamatanniMany post-secondary institutions have implemented anti-poverty programs to address students' basic needs insecurities. This study examined the provision of 17 types of basic needs programs at Texas Hispanic-serving institutions over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim to identify changes in the number and types of programs offered as well as factors that may influence the presence of specific types of basic needs programs on campus. While the average number of basic needs programs per institution varied little over time, the specific types of programs that were offered changed. Institution type as a 2-year or 4-year institution was associated with providing on-campus mental health services, on-campus physical health services, and after-school care for students' children at pre-pandemic and anticipated post-pandemic time points and employing students and free food or meal vouchers at the pre-pandemic time point. The percentage of students receiving Pell Grants was associated with basic needs programs to assist students applying for public services and referrals to off-campus health services pre-pandemic and anticipated post-pandemic. The presence of an on-campus free food pantry was associated with the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants at the anticipated post-pandemic time point only. Over the course of the pandemic, there were changes to the types of basic needs programs offered. Some types of basic needs programs were associated with institutional and/or student characteristics. Given the continued presence of basic needs programs through the course of the pandemic and into the post-pandemic period, the use of these kinds of programs and services to support students, while influenced by external factors such as the pandemic, appears institutionally established as a way to facilitate going to college for students in need.Item ¡Miranos! An 8-Month Comprehensive Preschool Obesity Prevention Program in Low-Income Latino Children: Effects on Children's Gross Motor Development(MDPI, 2023-10-25) Errisuriz, Vanessa L.; Parra-Medina, Deborah; Liang, Yuanyuan; Howard, Jeffrey T.; Li, Shiyu; Sosa, Erica; Ullevig, Sarah L.; Estrada-Coats, Vanessa M.; Yin, ZenongOrganized childcare is an ideal setting to promote gross motor development in young children from low-income minority families. A three-group clustered randomized controlled trial was conducted in Head Start centers serving low-income Latino children to evaluate the impact of an 8-month comprehensive obesity-prevention intervention on children’s percentile scores for locomotive skills (LS pctl) and ball skills (BS pctl), and general motor quotient (GMQ). Trained Head Start staff delivered the center-based intervention (CBI) to modify center physical activity and nutrition policies, staff practices, and child behaviors, while the home-based intervention (HBI) offered training and support to parents for obesity prevention at home. Participants were 3-year-old children (n = 310; 87% Latino; 58% female) enrolled in Head Start centers in South Texas. Twelve centers were randomized (1:1:1 ratio) to receive CBI, CBI and HBI (CBI + HBI), or control treatment. Posttest data were collected from 79.1% of participants. All gross motor development measures improved significantly for children in CBI compared to the control, while children in CBI + HBI only showed improvement for GMQ (p = 0.09) and LS pctl (p < 0.001) compared to the control. A comprehensive and culturally competent intervention targeting childcare centers and children’s homes was effective at improving children’s gross motor development and reducing disparities in child development.Item Physical activity and local blue/green space access during the COVID-19 pandemic(SAGE Publications, 2024-04-05) Nicklett, Emily J.; Sharma, Bonita B.; Testa, AlexanderPurpose: To examine whether local blue and green space access was associated with weekly physical activity frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Population-based, nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (May and June 2021). Sample: Adults, ages 18-94 (N = 1,771). Measures: Self-reported data included the presence of blue spaces (e.g., lakes, outdoor swimming pools, riverside trails) and green spaces (e.g., parks, forests, or natural trails) in their neighborhoods, and days of physical activity per week (e.g., running, swimming, bicycling, lifting weights, playing sports, or doing yoga). Analysis: Multiple Poisson regression assessed relationships between blue and green spaces and physical activity, with coefficients transformed into incidence risk ratios (IRR). Results: Among participants, 67.2% reported living near a blue space and 86.1% reported living near a green space. Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in access to blue and green spaces were observed, with less access among non-Hispanic Black participants and those with lower income and educational attainment. Living near blue (IRR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.10, 1.39) or green space (IRR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.54) was significantly associated with more frequent weekly physical activity. Conclusion: Proximity to blue or green spaces is associated with more frequent physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health promotion efforts should include equitable strategies to improve accessibility to blue and green spaces.Item COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Nursing Homes Financial Performance(SAGE Publications, 2024-03-21) Orewa, Gregory N.; Weech-Maldonado, Robert; Lord, Justin; Davlyatov, Ganisher; Becker, David; Feldman, Sue S.Nursing homes expressed concern about potential severe adverse financial outcomes of COVID-19, with worries extending to the possibility of some facilities facing closure. Maintaining a strong financial well-being is crucial, and there were concerns that the pandemic might have significantly impacted both expenses and income. This longitudinal study aimed to analyze the financial performance of nursing homes during COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we examined the impact of the pandemic on nursing home operating margins, operating revenue per resident day, and operating cost per resident day. The study utilized secondary data from various sources, including CMS Medicare cost reports, Brown University’s Long Term Care Focus (LTCFocus), CMS Payroll-Based Journal, CMS Care Compare, Area Health Resource File, Provider Relief Fund distribution data, and CDC’s NH COVID-19 public file. The sample consisted of 45 833 nursing home-year observations from 2018 to 2021. Fixed-effects regression analysis was employed to assess the impact of the pandemic on financial performance while controlling for various organizational and market characteristics. The study found that nursing homes’ financial performance deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Operating margins decreased by approximately 4.3%, while operating costs per resident day increased by $26.51, outweighing the increase in operating revenue per resident day by about $17. Occupancy rates, payer mix, and staffing intensity were found to impact financial performance. The study highlights the significant financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing homes. While nursing homes faced substantial financial strains, the findings offered lessons for the future, underscoring the need for nursing homes to improve the accuracy of their cost reports and enhance financial transparency and accountability.Item COUPLE IDENTITY WORK: Collaborative Couplehood, Gender Inequalities, and Power in Naming(SAGE Publications, 2024-01-30) Sue, Christina A.; Vasquez-Tokos, Jessica; Núñez, Adriana C.The study of baby naming is valuable for understanding how gender inequality is reproduced in families. Often treated as an event, baby naming also represents an important social and cultural process that can reveal gendered dynamics in couple decision-making. Baby naming, which represents a highly visible and symbolic family milestone, is a strategic site in which to examine how couple identities are constructed—for self, partner, and others—through the naming process and through stories parents tell of how they named the baby. Drawing on 46 interviews with U.S. Mexican-origin heterosexual parents, we expose tensions that result when practices do not align with a desired (egalitarian) couple identity and detail the ensuing cognitive, emotion, and narrative labor that parents—primarily women—perform to reconcile inconsistencies. We introduce the concept of couple identity work, or the work involved in creating and projecting a desired impression of a relationship for multiple audiences, to provide a theoretical framework for these gendered dynamics. We show how couple identity work is enacted—and power expressed—through men’s and women’s strategies of action/inaction and storytelling, and how this work reproduces and obscures gendered power and inequality in the intimate context of baby naming.Item Diversity and Dynamics in Care Networks of Older Americans(SAGE Publications, 2024-01-25) Lin, ZhiyongDespite growing interest in exploring caregiving alternatives beyond traditional models, limited research has focused on the diverse care networks that provide assistance to older adults. The aim of this study is to illuminate the complexity of older adults’ care networks by developing a typology that considers care from various sources. Using latent class analysis on longitudinal data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, the authors identify five distinct care network types: spousal care, care exclusively from children, care from both children and other sources, self-care with assistive technology, and care exclusively from nonfamily sources. Further analysis, including multinomial logistic regression and latent transition analysis, reveals that when a spouse is available, older adults, particularly older men, are more likely to rely on spousal care. However, in cases in which spouses and/or children are unavailable, older adults are inclined to turn to diverse care networks involving nontraditional caregivers or resort to self-care using assistive technologies. Additionally, declining health conditions are associated with a higher likelihood of receiving care from more varied care networks. This underscores the evolving nature of care arrangements in response to changing family structures and health needs.Item Black Disadvantage or Advantage? Misalignment between State and Popular Understandings of Blackness in Mexico(SAGE Publications, 2024-01-25) Sue, Christina A.; Riosmena, Fernando; Telles, EdwardGrowing numbers of countries are including ethnoracial questions on their national censuses, spawning new scholarship on the politics of state classification and ethnoracial stratification. However, these literatures have generally not focused on how alignment or misalignment between state and popular conceptualizations of ethnoracial categories affects official measurements, including population size and ethnoracial inequality. The authors leverage a quasi-natural experiment on state-popular alignment in Mexico by drawing on three recent government surveys, which, for the first time in the nation’s history, sought to measure black identification yet defined blackness in divergent ways. The authors find that questions that define blackness in cultural terms (which misalign with popular conceptions of blackness) produce substantially smaller population estimates and considerably less black disadvantage than a noncultural (racial origins) question. This article bridges the literatures on the politics of ethnoracial classification and stratification and produces new empirical and theoretical insights into the study of ethnoracial measurement and inequality.Item The Eyes Have It: Visual Feedback Methods to Make Walking in Immersive Virtual Reality More Accessible for People With Mobility Impairments While Utilizing Head-Mounted Displays(Association for Computing Machinery, 2023-10-22) Mahmud, M. Rasel; Cordova, Alberto; Quarles, JohnThe use of Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) in Virtual Reality (VR) can cause gait disturbance problems for users because they are unable to see the real world while in VR. This is particularly challenging for individuals with mobility impairments who rely heavily on visual cues to maintain balance. The limited research that has been conducted on this issue has not focused on ways to solve it. IN this study, we investigated how different visual feedback methods affect walking patterns (i.e., gait) in VR. The study involved 50 participants, including 25 individuals with mobility impairments due to multiple sclerosis and 25 without mobility impairments. The participants completed timed walking tasks in both the real world and in VR environments that included various types of visual feedback, such as spatial, static, and rhythmic. The results showed that static and rhythmic visual feedback significantly improved gait performance in VR for people with mobility impairments compared to no visual feedback in VR. The results will help to make more accessible virtual environments for people with mobility impairments.Item Beyond Being Insured: Insurance Coverage Denial as a Major Barrier to Accessing Care During Pregnancy and Postpartum(SAGE Publications, 2023-06-02) Lee, Jusung; Howard, Krista J.; Leong, Caleb; Grigsby, Timothy J.; Howard, Jeffrey T.This study investigates the association between insurance coverage denial and delays in care during pregnancy and postpartum. An online survey was administered in March and April 2022 to women who were either pregnant or within 1 year postpartum (n = 1,113). The outcome was delayed care, measured at four time points: during pregnancy and 1 week, 2 to 6 weeks, and after 7 weeks postpartum. The key covariate was insurance coverage denial by providers during pregnancy. Delayed care due to having an unaccepted insurance and being “out-of-network” was more pronounced at 1 week postpartum with 3.37 times and 3.47 times greater odds and in 2 to 6 weeks postpartum with 5.74 times and 2.97 times greater odds, respectively. The association between insurance denial and delays in care encapsulated transportation, rural residency, time issues, and financial constraints. The findings suggest that coverage denial is associated with significant delays in care, providing practical implications for effective perinatal care.Item Navigating Identity Uncertainty: Identity Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic(SAGE Publications, 2023-09-30) Meca, Alan; Allison, Kelsie K.; Passini, Julia; Veniegas, Taryn; Cruz, Bethany; Castillo, Linda G.; Schwartz, Seth J.; Zamboanga, Byron L.; Michikyan, Minas; Bessaha, Melissa; Regan, Pamela C.; Subrahmanyam, Kaveri; Bartholomew, John; Piña-Watson, Brandy; Cano, Miguel Ángel; Martinez, Charles R. Jr.The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have only recently begun to be explored. Among college students, who were faced with sudden and unprecedented changes and challenges, it is likely that COVID-19 detrimentally impacted the establishment of a sense of self, a key developmental task of the college years. However, no research has examined the relationships among COVID-19 related worries, identity distress, and psychological and academic adjustment. To address these gaps in the current study, we examined the prevalence of identity distress, the relationship between COVID-19 related worries and identity distress, and the direct and indirect associations between COVID-19 related worries and psychological and academic adjustment among a sample of 1627 college students (Mage = 20.51, SD = 2.21). Findings indicated that over a third of the sample reported high levels of identity distress and that COVID-19 related worries were negatively associated, both directly and indirectly through identity distress, with psychological and academic adjustment.Item A Scoping Review on Gender/Sex Differences in COVID-19 Vaccine Intentions and Uptake in the United States(SAGE Publications, 2023-10-17) Sileo, Katelyn M.; Hirani, Inara M.; Luttinen, Rebecca L.; Hayward, Matt; Fleming, Paul J.Objective: To explore the empirical literature on gender/sex differences in vaccine acceptance among U.S.-based adults and adolescents in approximately the first 2 years of the pandemic. Data source: Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, EBSCO, CINAHL, Web of Science Study inclusion and exclusion criteria: Peer-reviewed studies conducted in the U.S. with those aged 12 and older, published in English before January 12, 2022, examining the relationship between gender/sex on COVID-19 vaccine intentions and/or uptake. Data extraction: Three authors screened studies and extracted data. Data Synthesis: Univariate and multivariate results are summarized. Results: A total of 53 studies met inclusion criteria (48 intentions, 7 uptake), using mostly cross-sectional designs (92.5%) and non-random sampling (83.0%). The majority of studies supported men’s greater intentions to vaccinate compared to women, and men’s greater vaccine uptake in univariate analyses, but most multivariate analyses supported no gender differences in uptake. Few studies examined gender beyond binary categories (women/men), highlighting a gap in the studies inclusive of transgender or gender-diverse populations in analyses. Conclusion: Women may have been more hesitant to get the vaccine than men early in the pandemic, but these differences may not translate to actual behavior. Future research should include non-binary/transgender populations, explore the gender-specific reasons for hesitancy and differences by sub-populations, utilize more rigorous designs, and test gender-sensitive public health campaigns to mitigate vaccine concerns.Item Exploring Trust in the Police in South Korea During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Fear of the COVID-19 Matter?(SAGE Publications, 2023-08-10) Nam, Yongjae; Maskály, Jon; Ivković, Sanja Kutnjak; Neyroud, PeterIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments restricted community members’ activities and, in turn, patterns of human behavior, both legal and illegal, changed. In many countries, the police have been entrusted to enforce these new COVID-19 related restrictions and were often perceived as the main enforcers of these sometimes unpopular measures. In this paper, we study four types of factors that may affect the public's trust in the police during the COVID-19 pandemic: traditional factors, such as interactions with the police during the pandemic, assessments of the police effectiveness in dealing with the pandemic, COVID-19 related factors, such as instrumental concerns for their personal health, and the adherence to the conspiracy theories. Specifically, using data from a sample of 527 respondents from the Seoul metropolitan area in South Korea, collected in the fall of 2021, we estimate the effects of the factors listed above. The results indicate that trust in the Korean National Police was strengthened when the police were perceived to have effectively dealt with the challenges of the pandemic and addressed the instrumental concerns of the community in the protection of public health. No demographic variables were significantly independently associated with trust in the police during the pandemic. The theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.