School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations
Explore our Open Access Publications to discover research freely available to the public.
You can also view All Research Publications by the department, including both open access and subscription-based work over the past 36 months.
Submissions from 2025
A Spanish-language Adaptation of the Brief Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives among Mexican and Mexican-American Adults Who Smoke, Yessenia Castro, Jose E. Velasquez, Zully C. Guerra, Tatiana Londoño, John R. Moore, and Nazanin M. Heydarian
Three Social Work Professors Walk into an Improv Class: How We Applied Performance Art in Social Work Education at a Hispanic Serving Institution, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Tamara Al Rawwad, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, Maria Alvarado, and Luis P. Reyes
Validating the Revised Attitudes Toward People With Disabilities Scale With Health Care Professionals, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Scott D. Frankowski, Moonju Lee, Kyeung Mi Oh, Kyungen An, Chanam Shin, Allyson S. Hughes, Rishika Kartik, and Kathleen R. Bogart
Diabetes Care Disparities in Deaf/Hard of Hearing and Blind/Low Vision Populations, Allyson S. Hughes, Karissa Mirus, Nazanin M. Heydarian, and Michelle L. Litchman
Interactive AI Technology for Dementia Caregivers: Needs and Implementation Evidence, Fei Sun, Lin Jiang, Xiayu Summer Chen, and Yali Feng
Testimonios of Antiracist School Social Workers: Advancing Professional Equity and Updating the School Social Work Model, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Christy McCoy, Laurel E. Thompson, and Stephanie Ochocki
"Our Blood Is Not Cheap": A Photovoice Project on Being Arab in a Racialized United States, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Suhad Tabahi, and Itedal Shalabi
PODER Familiar: A Culturally Tailored Health Intervention for Latino Families of Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Amy Pei-Lung Yu, Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, Vanessa L. Errisuriz, Deborah Parra-Medina, Mansha Mirza, Minyu Zhang, Pei-Chiang Lee, Weiwen Zeng, Jasmine P. Brown-Hollie, and Nazanin M. Heydarian
Submissions from 2024
Trans and Gender-Diverse Latinx Individuals in the Southern United States: Experiences With Violence and Service Utilization, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, Kristie L. Seelman, Alaina Joyner, and Roseangela Hartford
“It’s Not That We Care Less”: Insights into Health Care Utilization for Comorbid Diabetes and Depression among Latinos, Sharon Borja, Miriam G. Valdovinos, Kenia M. Rivera, Natalia Giraldo-Santiago, Robin Gearing, and Luis R. Torres-Hostos
Why Culture and Context Matters: Examining Differences in Mental Health Stigma and Social Distance Between Latino Individuals in the United States and Mexico, Kathryne Brewer, Ryan Gibson, Nikhil Tomar, Micki Washburn, Natalia Giraldo-Santiago, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, and Robin Gearing
Smoking Social Norms Among Spanish-Speaking Mexican-Origin Persons Who Smoke, Yessenia Castro, Zully C. Guerra, Josephine T. Hinds, Jose E. Velasquez, Tatiana Londoño, John R. Moore, Nazanin M. Heydarian, and Jessica K. Perrotte
Confronting moral injury across health systems: Enhancing medical social workers' resilience and well-being, Sophia Fantus, Rebecca Cole, Latisha Thomas, and Timothy J. Usset
Understanding and Addressing Morally Injurious Events of Healthcare Chaplains in Texas: Insights for Health and Well-Being, Sophia Fantus, Rebecca Cole, Timothy J. Usset, and Lataya Hawkins
Employing Expressive Art to Explore Mexican Americans’ Grief Experiences of Loss Due to COVID-19, Leyla Feize, Varesh Gorabi, Vanessa Garza, Christian Baggett, Cassandra Sarmiento, Margarita Tirado, Angela Maldonado, and Melissa Daniels
Crossing Clinical Borders: Anxiety and Depression in U.S. Citizen Children after Parental Deportation or Coercive Relocation, Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama, Guillermina Natera, Fransilvania Callejas, Georgina Miguel-Esponda, Miguel Pinedo, and Luis H. Zayas
Texas School Social Workers: Demographics, Work Characteristics, A. Gandaria, George Padilla, and Velma D. Menchaca
Exploring perspectives of stigma and discrimination among people with lived experience of mental health conditions: a co-produced qualitative study, Petra C. Gronholm, Sarah Kline, Muskan Lamba, Heidi Lempp, Akerke Mahkmud, Guadalupe Morales Cano, Kriti Vashisht, Norha Vera San Juan, and Charlene Sunkel
Comorbid Dementia and Cancer Therapy Decision-Making: A Scoping Review, Sean N. Halpin, Gabriel Alain, Aaron Seaman, Erin E. Stevens, Hui Zhao, Mackenzie E. Fowler, Qiuyang Zhang, Tamara Cadet, Minzhi Ye, and Jessica L. Krok-Schoen
Co-creating experiences through the use of arts in social work education, Keiron Hatton, Tracey Maegusuku-Hewett, and Jo Redcliffe
Comparison of Diabetes Education Content Experienced by Blind and Nonblind People With Diabetes, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Qusay Hussein, Zully Guerra, Bhumi Patel, Allyson S. Hughes, Julia E. Blanchette, and Yessenia Castro
Identifying and Addressing the Spiritual Needs of Older Adults in Care Facilities: Administrators of Chinese Nursing Homes Relate Their Perspectives, David R. Hodge, Lin Jiang, Fei Sun, and Robin P. Bonifas
Development and Validation of a Measure for Seeking Health Information in the Diabetes Online Community: Mixed Methods Study, Allyson S. Hughes, Sarah Beach, Spruhaa Vasistha, Nazanin M. Heydarian, and Osvaldo F. Morera
Late Life Cognitive Function Trajectory Among the Chinese Oldest-Old Population-A Machine Learning Approach, Jierong Hu, Minzhi Ye, and Juan Xi
Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on U.S. Young Adults: A Thematic Analysis of Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD Experiences, Carol Meza, Viridiana Ortiz, and Pedro Hernandez
Interventions for Health Promotion and Obesity Prevention for Children and Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities: a Systematic Review, Mansha Mirza, Jasmine P. Brown-Hollie, Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, Deborah Parra-Medina, Sarah Camillone, Weiwen Zeng, Estefania Garcia-Gomez, Nazanin M. Heydarian, and Sandy Magaña
A community-engaged interprofessional project led by medical students, school of social work students, and resident physicians: lessons learned and recommendations for success, Sabrina Orta, Daniela Santos Cantu, Giuiseppe Allan Fonseca, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, and Chelsea Chang
A Socio-Ecological Approach to A Community-Based Health Promotion Intervention on the U.S.-Mexico Border: Insights and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Yok-Fong Paat, Elizabeth Camacho, Sarah L. Ruiz, Diego Garcia Tovar, Guillermina Gina Núñez-Mchiri, Maria O. Duarte-Gardea, Guadalupe Corral, Sandra Oviedo Ramirez, Christine Markham, and Luis R. Torres-Hostos
Invarianza de la Escala de Evaluación de las Relaciones Intrafamiliares en padres con y sin migración de retorno y salud mental [Invariance of the Intrafamily Relations Evaluation Scale in parents with and without return migration and mental health], María Elena Rivera Heredia, Patricia Andrade Palos, Jaime Fuentes Balderrama, and Luis H. Zayas
Immigration Enforcement Effects and the Role of School Social Workers Supporting Immigrant Students, Sophia Rodriguez, J. Jacob Kirksey, Benjamin J. Roth, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Lisa Lopez-Escobar, and Paula Kim-Christian
Different ways to broker: school social workers, resource distribution, and equity for immigrant students, Benjamin J. Roth, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Tasha Childs, and Sophia Rodriguez
Stigma toward cocaine use in Mexico City: does gender matter?, Micki Washburn, Robin Gearing, Miao Yu, Kathryne Brewer, Pedro de La Cruz, and Luis R. Torres-Hostos
Silent Suffering: The Plight of Foreign Doctors in the Workplace, Minzhi Ye and Mamta K. Singh
Well-being and contexts of development of U.S. citizen children in Mexico following parental deportation or voluntary relocation, Luis H. Zayas, Alejandra Garcia Isaza, Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama, and María Elena Rivera-Heredia
Emotional Wellbeing of Asylum-Seeking Children After Release From Immigration Detention, Luis H. Zayas, Alice P. Villatoro, Tatiana Londoño, and Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama
Submissions from 2023
Evaluating the feasibility of implementing a prescription drug misuse prevention intervention in the community: a mixed methods study, Tamara Al Rawwad, Vaishnavi Tata, Matthew A. Wanat, Danielle Campbell, and Douglas Thornton
Trends in Suicide among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Hispanic Individuals: National Violent Death Reporting System Data from 2012-2016, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez and Orion Mowbray
The reality of a journey: what school social workers need to know about the experiences of Latinx undocumented youth, Berta Chavez, Robert Lucio, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, and Elizabeth Vaquera
Process and structure: Service satisfaction and recommendation in a community-based elderly meal service in Shanghai, Lin Chen, Minzhi Ye, and Eva Kahana
Designing and evaluating a smartphone app to increase underserved communities’ data representation in transportation policy and planning, Courtney Cronley, Anna O'Dell, Noelle Fields, Stephen P. Mattingly, Nicole Iroz-Elardo, M. Christine Highfill, Rebecca Cole, and Mary Kris Stringfellow
How Do We Teach Social Justice? A Cross-Disciplinary Synthesis of Social Justice Andragogy, Bagmi Das, Isabel Farrell, Kriti Vashisht, Alexandra Gantt, Elisabeth Simpson, and Adrianne Johnson
Editorial: Human rights and inequity in health access of Central American Migrants, Héctor Luis Díaz, Maria Elena Ramos-Tovar, Francisco Gonzalez-Salazar, and Luis R. Torres-Hostos
Crisis Migration Adverse Childhood Events: A New Category of Youth Adversity for Crisis Migrant Children and Adolescents, Beyhan Ertanir, Cory L. Cobb, Jennifer B. Unger, Teresa Celada-Dalton, Amy E. West, Ingrid Zeledon, Patrizia A. Perazzo, Miguel Ángel Cano, Sabrina E. Des Rosiers, and Luis H. Zayas
‘Have They Talked About Us At All?’ The Moral Distress of Healthcare Social Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Investigation in the State of Texas, Sophia Fantus, Rebecca Cole, Lataya Hawkins, and Priyanjali Chakraborty
Exploring Latinx social work graduate students’ self-awareness by integrating Johari window, Photovoice and Mandala, Leyla Feize
Latinx Social Work Students’ Well-Being Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Leyla Feize
The Underrepresentation of Latinx Students in the Professional Dissemination of Psychology Research, Scott D. Frankowski, Megann Hawley, Shakira Hernandez, and Nazanin M. Heydarian
Public Stigma Toward Schizophrenia Within Latino Communities in the United States, Robin Gearing, Kathryne Brewer, Micki Washburn, L. Christian Carr, Sean Burr, Katy Manning, and Luis R. Torres-Hostos
Associations between parenting strategies and BMI percentile among Latino children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Sandy Magaña, Vanessa L. Errisuriz, Amy Pei-Lung Yu, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Weiwen Zeng, Mansha Mirza, Sandra Vanegas, Stephany Brown, Deborah Parra-Medina, and Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar
Texas School Social Workers: Who and Where are They?, George Padilla, Velma D. Menchaca, and Astrid Gandaria
Ethical Considerations in Global Mental Health Research: Lessons Learned From Binational U.S.–Mexico Collaborations, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, Robin Gearing, Pedro Isnardo de La Cruz Lugardo, Berenice Perez Ramirez, Kathryne Brewer, Maria del Rosario Silva Arciniega, and Leticia Aparicio Soriano
Human Rights and Latina Feminisms: Implications for Clinical Practice with the Latine Diaspora in Anti-immigrant Times, Leticia Villarreal Sosa and Miriam Castillo Martinez
Decolonizing Faculty Governance at Hispanic Serving Institutions, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Gina A. Garcia, and Jacob Bucher
School Social Work 238 Exam Preparation: Resources and Handouts, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, Tiffany Nelson, Brenda Coble-Lindsey, Annette Johnson, and Giesela Grumbach
Beyond the Treatment: the Role of Race, Sex, and Education in Health Trajectories Between Cancer Survivors and Noncancer Older Adults, Minzhi Ye, Eva Kahana, Gary Deimling, Adam Perzynski, and Kurt Stange
Two pathways to Mexico: Forced deportation or voluntary return of parents and US citizen children, Luis H. Zayas, Guillermina Natera, Fransilvania Callejas, Georgina Miguel Esponda, Miguel Pinedo, and Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama
Submissions from 2022
Leveraging Public-Private Partnerships During COVID-19: Providing Virtual Field Opportunities for Student Learners and Addressing Social Isolation in Older Adults, Omolola E. Adepoju, Sheara Jennings, Patti Schrader, Kathleen Reeve, Tracy McManaman-Bridges, Lauren Gilbert, Ben King, Jessica Dobbins, Andy Rollins, and Luis R. Torres-Hostos
COVID-19 Pandemic and Intimate Partner Violence: an Analysis of Help-Seeking Messages in the Spanish-Speaking Media, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, Iris Cardenas, and Allison Bloom
How perception relates to student utilization of college campus counseling services, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, Elisa M. Childs, Mariam Fatehi, and Hyesu Yeo
Contact based intervention reduces stigma among pharmacy students, Christine R. Bakos-Block, Tamara Al Rawwad, Marylou Cardenas-Turanzas, and Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer
Remedios: Coping with Mental Distress among Mexican Americans in the Rio Grande Valley, Romeo Escobar, Irán Barrera, Denise Longoria, John Gonzalez, and Isaias Melgoza
“The hierarchy is your constraint:” a qualitative investigation of social workers’ moral distress across a U.S. health system, Sophia Fantus, Rebecca Cole, and Lataya Hawkins
System Dynamics of Cognitive Vulnerabilities and Family Support Among Latina Children and Adolescents, Peter S. Hovmand, Esther J. Calzada, Lauren E. Gulbas, Su Yeong Kim, Saras Chung, Jill Kuhlberg, Carolina Hausmann-Stabile, and Luis H. Zayas
“It’s embarrassing. I get angry. I get frustrated.”: Understanding severe hypoglycemia and glucagon usage from the perspectives of people with type 1 diabetes, Allyson S. Hughes, Katherine Chapman, Jeoffrey Bispham, Jeannett Dimsits, Stuart Weinzimer, Wendy Wolf, and Nazanin M. Heydarian
Leadership challenges and strategies to dementia care in Chinese faith-based nursing homes: A qualitative study, Lin Jiang, Fei Sun, Robin P. Bonifas, and David R. Hodge
The role of community factors in predicting depressive symptoms among Chinese workforce: a longitudinal study in rural and urban settings, Wanlian Li, Guanghan Gao, Fei Sun, and Lin Jiang
Community-clinic linkages for promoting HIV prevention: organizational networks for PrEP client referrals and collaborations, Rebecca L. Mauldin, Tamara Al Rawwad, Muhammad Amith, Lisa M. Kuhns, John A. Schneider, and Kayo Fujimoto
Associations of positive and negative affect on health risk behaviors among Latinos., John R. Moore, Zully C. Guerra, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Tatiana Londoño, and Yessenia Castro
An Exploratory Study on the Role of Burnout and Devaluation among Staff in Psychiatric Correctional Facilities, Lindamarie Olson, Robin Gearing, Berenice Perez Ramirez, and Luis R. Torres-Hostos
Channa Reddy In Telangana Statehood Movement: Initiation, Intervention And Contribution, Jakkula Koteswar Rao and Ram Shepherd Bheenaveni
“Immigration Enforcement Is a Daily Part of Our Students’ Lives”: School Social Workers’ Perceptions of Racialized Nested Contexts of Reception for Immigrant Students, Sophia Rodriguez, Benjamin J. Roth, and Leticia Villarreal Sosa
The Texas Community-Engagement Research Alliance Against COVID-19 in Disproportionately Affected Communities (TX CEAL) Consortium, Rebecca A. Seguin-Fowler, Chris Amos, Bettina M. Beech, Robert L. Ferrer, Lorna McNeill, Jasmine J. Opusunju, Emily Spence, Erika L. Thompson, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, and Jamboor K. Vishwanatha
Suicide among South Asian Americans: A Systematic Review of Causal and Risk Factors, Susheelabai R. Srinivasa, Sudershan Pasupuleti, and Rani Dronamraju
Implementation of the Texas Community-Engaged Statewide Consortium for the Prevention of COVID-19, Erika L. Thompson, Bettina M. Beech, Robert L. Ferrer, Lorna McNeill, Jasmine J. Opusunju, Rebecca A. Seguin-Fowler, Emily Spence, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, Christopher I. Amos, Palak Desai, and Jamboor K. Vishwanatha
Health Through a Human Right Lens at the US-Mexico Border: Increasing Access to Healthcare for Central American Immigrants, Carolina Venturi, Diana Guízar-Sánchez, María Elena Ramos-Tovar, Melissa Torres, Flor D. Avellaneda, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, and Omar Matuk-Villazon
School Social Work: Challenges and Opportunities, Leticia Villarreal Sosa
Latinos’ Conceptualization of Depression, Diabetes, and Mental Health–Related Stigma, Micki Washburn, Kathryne Brewer, Robin Gearing, Roberta Leal, Miao Yu, and Luis R. Torres
Social Work Advocacy in Federal Immigration Courts: A Consultant’s Reflection on Successful Cases, Luis H. Zayas
Submissions from 2021
Do nursing and pharmacy students practice what they preach on safe drug storage and disposal? A cross-sectional study, Tamara Al Rawwad, Patrici K. Schrader, Andrea Brooks, Lillian Duong, and Douglas Thornton
Teaching Note—Teaching Intersectionality Across the Social Work Curriculum Using the Intersectionality Analysis Cluster, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez
“No queremos quedar mal”: A qualitative analysis of a boundary setting training among Latina community health workers., Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, J. Maria Bermudez, Pamela Orpinas, Rebecca Matthew, Alejandra Calva, and Carolina Darbis
Challenges Faced by Mexican Americans when Accessing Mental Health Care Service Utilization along the South Texas – Mexico border, Romeo Escobar, John M. Gonzalez, Denise A. Longoria, and Nelda Rodriguez
Employing Mexican American Folklore as an Educational Tool to Teach Cultural Competence, Leyla Feize, Denise A. Longoria, and Alfredo Fernandez
Perspectives of Interactions with Healthcare Providers Among Patients Who Are Blind, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Allyson S. Hughes, Osvaldo F. Morera, Ashley S. Bangert, and Angela H. Frederick
Human Rights, Collaborative Advocacy, and a Global Approach to Practice: Lessons from a Field Experience in Indonesia, Raylinn Nuckolls and Leticia Villarreal Sosa
Promotoras Voice Their Challenges in Fulfilling Their Role as Community Health Workers, Pamela Orpinas, Rebecca A. Matthew, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, Alejandra Calva, and J. Maria Bermúdez
Predictors of healthcare mistreatment among transgender and gender diverse individuals: Are there different patterns by patient race and ethnicity?, Kristie L. Seelman, Andre Vasi, Shanna K. Kattari, and Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez
Suicide among South Asians in the United States: Perspectives, Causes, and Implications for Prevention and Treatment, Susheelabai R. Srinivasa, Sudershan Pasupuleti, Rani Dronamraju, and Denise Longoria
De-colonizing study abroad: social workers confronting racism, sexism and poverty in Guatemala, Leticia Villarreal Sosa and Jacob Lesniewski
Submissions from 2020
HIV Knowledge of Middle Eastern and North Africans 18-35 Residing in the U.S.: A Cross Sectional Study, Tamara Al Rawwad, Micki Washburn, Luis R. Torres-Hostos, and McClain Sampson
“Borikén Libre”: Spaces of Resistance in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez
Community Eldercare Ecology in China, Lin Chen and Minzhi Ye
Shaping Identity: Older Adults’ Perceived Community Volunteering Experiences in Shanghai, Lin Chen and Minzhi Ye
A Self-Reliant Umbrella: Defining Successful Aging Among the Old-Old (80+) in Shanghai, Lin Chen, Minzhi Ye, and Eva Kahana
My Dissertation: A Journey Towards Self-Awareness and Beyond, Leyla Feize
Developing a measure of blind patients' interactions with their healthcare providers, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Osvaldo F. Morera, and Scott D. Frankowski
Latina Daughters and Their Caregiving Roles, Denise A. Longoria, Nelda M. Rodriguez, John M. Gonzalez, and Romeo Escobar
A multistakeholder evaluation of Lazos Hispanos: An application of a community-based participatory research conceptual model, Pamela Orpinas, Rebecca A. Matthew, J. Maria Bermúdez, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, and Alejandra Calva
