PAULINE LUBENS | University of California, Irvine (original) (raw)
Papers by PAULINE LUBENS
American journal of health promotion : AJHP, 2018
We aim to contextualize the growing body of research on the sequelae of military service in the w... more We aim to contextualize the growing body of research on the sequelae of military service in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We employ a social-ecological (SE) framework for the taxonomy of military health research and classify risk as arising from the individual, family, community, and the institutional levels. We intend for this review to inform enhanced health promotion efforts in military communities. Articles reviewed were extracted from Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. Research focused on somatic and psychological sequelae of combat deployment published from 2001-the year the war in Afghanistan began-through the end of 2014. We excluded studies of non-US military personnel, other systematic reviews, meta-analyses, book chapters, and theoretical papers. We examined and summarized the aims, participants, methods, study design, SE framework tier, risk factors, and health outcomes. Studies were categorized according to SE tier, whether they focused on somatic, behavioral, or p...
Disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 2015
Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as ... more Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as both professions play an important role in informing the public's perceptions and the decisions of policy makers. Although critics in the United States have focused on US reporters and media outlets whose coverage has been sensationalist and alarmist, the discussion in this article is based on the ideal-gold standard-for US journalists. Journalists perform three primary functions during times of health crises: disseminating accurate information to the public, medical professionals, and policy makers; acting as the go-between for the public and decision makers and health and science experts; and monitoring the performance of institutions responsible for the public health response. A journalist's goal is to responsibly inform the public in order to optimize the public health goals of prevention while minimizing panic. The struggle to strike a balance between humanizing a story and ...
Administration and policy in mental health, Jan 9, 2015
Much literature documents elevated psychiatric symptoms among adults after the terrorist attacks ... more Much literature documents elevated psychiatric symptoms among adults after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11). We, however, know of no research in children that examines emergency mental health services following 9/11. We test whether children's emergency services for crisis mental health care rose above expected values in September 2001. We applied time-series methods to California Medicaid claims (1999-2003; N = 127,200 visits). Findings in California indicate an 8.7 % increase of children's emergency mental health visits statistically attributable to 9/11. Non-Hispanic white more than African American children account for this acute rise in emergency services.
American Journal of Public Health, 2019
What measures can we take to improve treatment access of individuals with opioid use disorder who... more What measures can we take to improve treatment access of individuals with opioid use disorder who are trying to access the most effective treatment of their condition? Each of us can examine our own practices and work to ensure inclusion of the most vulnerable. Professional medical organizations and medical societies could have clear policies against this type of practice. A universal expansion of medication treatment through the roughly 1400 federally funded US community health centers could effectively provide affordable access for many. State mental health agencies could move toward the funding and establishment of notfor-profit medication treatment programs. Loan repayment programs could be structured for physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and substance use counselors who are trained in addiction medicine and then receive loan repayment contingent on practicing in nonprofit settings. We urgently need good data on reimbursement policies among nationwide buprenorphine treatment practices to tailor policies that address the problem. More initiatives may come to light through the work of individuals dedicated to removing barriers and ensuring access for everyone to this much needed and effective treatment, which would help to save lives, improve social functioning, reduce criminal behavior, and decrease HIV and hepatitis C transmission.
Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as ... more Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as both professions play an important role in informing the public’s perceptions and the decisions of policy makers. Although critics in the United States have focused on US reporters and media outlets whose coverage has been sensationalist and alarmist, the discussion in this article is based on the ideal—gold standard—for US journalists. Journalists perform three primary functions during times of health crises: disseminating accurate information to the public, medical professionals, and policy makers; acting as the go-between for the public and decision makers and health and science experts; and monitoring the performance of institutions responsible for the public health response. A journalist’s goal is to responsibly inform the public in order to optimize the public health goals of prevention while minimizing panic. The struggle to strike a balance between humanizing a story and protecti...
Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as ... more Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as both professions play an important role in informing the public’s perceptions and the decisions of policy makers. Although critics in the United States have focused on US reporters and media outlets whose coverage has been sensationalist and alarmist, the discussion in this article is based on the ideal—gold standard—for US journalists. Journalists perform three primary functions during times of health crises: disseminating accurate information to the public, medical professionals, and policy makers; acting as the go-between for the public and decision makers and health and science experts; and monitoring the performance of institutions responsible for the public health response. A journalist’s goal is to responsibly inform the public in order to optimize the public health goals of prevention while minimizing panic. The struggle to strike a balance between humanizing a story and protecti...
Author(s): Lubens, Pauline B. | Advisor(s): Silver, Roxane C | Abstract: This mixed-methods study... more Author(s): Lubens, Pauline B. | Advisor(s): Silver, Roxane C | Abstract: This mixed-methods study examined how U.S. combat veterans experience the deaths of comrades who have died in combat or by suicide and explored factors that predict their level of grief over those deaths. Recruitment of participants for semi-structured interviews was done through purposive snowball sampling, which enables researchers to create a participant network by receiving referrals from existing participants. Recruitment of participants for completion of a web-based survey was also done through snowball sampling, as well as veterans’ social media sites and non-profit organizations serving veterans’ health needs. In addition, veteran services offices on college and university campuses in several states disseminated the survey link, as did key informants, individuals who are not necessarily part of the study population but who are familiar with the population professionally or personally. All participants w...
Social science & medicine, 2019
RATIONALE Limited research has examined how combat veterans experience deaths of comrades to comb... more RATIONALE Limited research has examined how combat veterans experience deaths of comrades to combat or suicide. We sought to investigate the process and identify factors that predict the level of grief among post-9/11 U.S. veterans. METHODS Using a mixed-methods study design during 2016-2017, U.S. combat veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts who lost comrades to both combat and suicide (N = 28) participated in semi-structured interviews, and veterans who lost a comrade in combat or to suicide (N = 178) completed online surveys that assessed grief, combat exposure, unit cohesion, anger, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and past diagnoses of PTSD and depression. RESULTS Text analyses of interview transcripts revealed seven themes: 1) Suicide death is unexpected and can make acceptance of loss harder; 2) Combat death is expected and can ease acceptance of loss; 3) Combat death is heroic and can make acceptance of loss easier; 4) Brotherhood forged in combat intensifies th...
Clinical Psychological Science
Media exposure to collective trauma is associated with acute stress (AS) and posttraumatic stress... more Media exposure to collective trauma is associated with acute stress (AS) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Qualities of media exposure (e.g., amount, graphic features) contributing to this distress are poorly understood. A representative national sample (with New York and Boston oversamples; N = 4,675) completed anonymous, online surveys 2 to 4 weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings (BMB; Wave 1, or W1) and again 6 months later (Wave 2, or W2; N = 3,598). W1 assessed BMB-related AS and media exposure (i.e., hours of media consumption, graphic image content) 1 week post-BMB; W2 assessed PTSS, fear of future terrorism, and functional impairment. Greater exposure to graphic (bloody) images was associated with higher W1 AS and increased PTSS, fear of future terrorism, and functional impairment at W2. W1 AS, W2 PTSS, and fear of future terrorism mediated the association between media and functional impairment. Graphic image exposure is associated with mental-health symptoms lin...
American Journal of Public Health, 2014
The immediate and long-term health effects of war have been explicated elsewhere, 24-28 to an ext... more The immediate and long-term health effects of war have been explicated elsewhere, 24-28 to an extent beyond the scope of this article. Descriptions of military programs that address the physical and psychological effects of military service, 29-34 albeit with insufficient resources, 31,35 are also beyond the scope of this article. Only selected physical and psychosocial effects are noted herein to introduce the
American journal of health promotion : AJHP, 2018
We aim to contextualize the growing body of research on the sequelae of military service in the w... more We aim to contextualize the growing body of research on the sequelae of military service in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We employ a social-ecological (SE) framework for the taxonomy of military health research and classify risk as arising from the individual, family, community, and the institutional levels. We intend for this review to inform enhanced health promotion efforts in military communities. Articles reviewed were extracted from Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. Research focused on somatic and psychological sequelae of combat deployment published from 2001-the year the war in Afghanistan began-through the end of 2014. We excluded studies of non-US military personnel, other systematic reviews, meta-analyses, book chapters, and theoretical papers. We examined and summarized the aims, participants, methods, study design, SE framework tier, risk factors, and health outcomes. Studies were categorized according to SE tier, whether they focused on somatic, behavioral, or p...
Disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 2015
Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as ... more Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as both professions play an important role in informing the public's perceptions and the decisions of policy makers. Although critics in the United States have focused on US reporters and media outlets whose coverage has been sensationalist and alarmist, the discussion in this article is based on the ideal-gold standard-for US journalists. Journalists perform three primary functions during times of health crises: disseminating accurate information to the public, medical professionals, and policy makers; acting as the go-between for the public and decision makers and health and science experts; and monitoring the performance of institutions responsible for the public health response. A journalist's goal is to responsibly inform the public in order to optimize the public health goals of prevention while minimizing panic. The struggle to strike a balance between humanizing a story and ...
Administration and policy in mental health, Jan 9, 2015
Much literature documents elevated psychiatric symptoms among adults after the terrorist attacks ... more Much literature documents elevated psychiatric symptoms among adults after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11). We, however, know of no research in children that examines emergency mental health services following 9/11. We test whether children's emergency services for crisis mental health care rose above expected values in September 2001. We applied time-series methods to California Medicaid claims (1999-2003; N = 127,200 visits). Findings in California indicate an 8.7 % increase of children's emergency mental health visits statistically attributable to 9/11. Non-Hispanic white more than African American children account for this acute rise in emergency services.
American Journal of Public Health, 2019
What measures can we take to improve treatment access of individuals with opioid use disorder who... more What measures can we take to improve treatment access of individuals with opioid use disorder who are trying to access the most effective treatment of their condition? Each of us can examine our own practices and work to ensure inclusion of the most vulnerable. Professional medical organizations and medical societies could have clear policies against this type of practice. A universal expansion of medication treatment through the roughly 1400 federally funded US community health centers could effectively provide affordable access for many. State mental health agencies could move toward the funding and establishment of notfor-profit medication treatment programs. Loan repayment programs could be structured for physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and substance use counselors who are trained in addiction medicine and then receive loan repayment contingent on practicing in nonprofit settings. We urgently need good data on reimbursement policies among nationwide buprenorphine treatment practices to tailor policies that address the problem. More initiatives may come to light through the work of individuals dedicated to removing barriers and ensuring access for everyone to this much needed and effective treatment, which would help to save lives, improve social functioning, reduce criminal behavior, and decrease HIV and hepatitis C transmission.
Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as ... more Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as both professions play an important role in informing the public’s perceptions and the decisions of policy makers. Although critics in the United States have focused on US reporters and media outlets whose coverage has been sensationalist and alarmist, the discussion in this article is based on the ideal—gold standard—for US journalists. Journalists perform three primary functions during times of health crises: disseminating accurate information to the public, medical professionals, and policy makers; acting as the go-between for the public and decision makers and health and science experts; and monitoring the performance of institutions responsible for the public health response. A journalist’s goal is to responsibly inform the public in order to optimize the public health goals of prevention while minimizing panic. The struggle to strike a balance between humanizing a story and protecti...
Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as ... more Journalists and health professionals share a symbiotic relationship during a disease outbreak as both professions play an important role in informing the public’s perceptions and the decisions of policy makers. Although critics in the United States have focused on US reporters and media outlets whose coverage has been sensationalist and alarmist, the discussion in this article is based on the ideal—gold standard—for US journalists. Journalists perform three primary functions during times of health crises: disseminating accurate information to the public, medical professionals, and policy makers; acting as the go-between for the public and decision makers and health and science experts; and monitoring the performance of institutions responsible for the public health response. A journalist’s goal is to responsibly inform the public in order to optimize the public health goals of prevention while minimizing panic. The struggle to strike a balance between humanizing a story and protecti...
Author(s): Lubens, Pauline B. | Advisor(s): Silver, Roxane C | Abstract: This mixed-methods study... more Author(s): Lubens, Pauline B. | Advisor(s): Silver, Roxane C | Abstract: This mixed-methods study examined how U.S. combat veterans experience the deaths of comrades who have died in combat or by suicide and explored factors that predict their level of grief over those deaths. Recruitment of participants for semi-structured interviews was done through purposive snowball sampling, which enables researchers to create a participant network by receiving referrals from existing participants. Recruitment of participants for completion of a web-based survey was also done through snowball sampling, as well as veterans’ social media sites and non-profit organizations serving veterans’ health needs. In addition, veteran services offices on college and university campuses in several states disseminated the survey link, as did key informants, individuals who are not necessarily part of the study population but who are familiar with the population professionally or personally. All participants w...
Social science & medicine, 2019
RATIONALE Limited research has examined how combat veterans experience deaths of comrades to comb... more RATIONALE Limited research has examined how combat veterans experience deaths of comrades to combat or suicide. We sought to investigate the process and identify factors that predict the level of grief among post-9/11 U.S. veterans. METHODS Using a mixed-methods study design during 2016-2017, U.S. combat veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts who lost comrades to both combat and suicide (N = 28) participated in semi-structured interviews, and veterans who lost a comrade in combat or to suicide (N = 178) completed online surveys that assessed grief, combat exposure, unit cohesion, anger, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and past diagnoses of PTSD and depression. RESULTS Text analyses of interview transcripts revealed seven themes: 1) Suicide death is unexpected and can make acceptance of loss harder; 2) Combat death is expected and can ease acceptance of loss; 3) Combat death is heroic and can make acceptance of loss easier; 4) Brotherhood forged in combat intensifies th...
Clinical Psychological Science
Media exposure to collective trauma is associated with acute stress (AS) and posttraumatic stress... more Media exposure to collective trauma is associated with acute stress (AS) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Qualities of media exposure (e.g., amount, graphic features) contributing to this distress are poorly understood. A representative national sample (with New York and Boston oversamples; N = 4,675) completed anonymous, online surveys 2 to 4 weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings (BMB; Wave 1, or W1) and again 6 months later (Wave 2, or W2; N = 3,598). W1 assessed BMB-related AS and media exposure (i.e., hours of media consumption, graphic image content) 1 week post-BMB; W2 assessed PTSS, fear of future terrorism, and functional impairment. Greater exposure to graphic (bloody) images was associated with higher W1 AS and increased PTSS, fear of future terrorism, and functional impairment at W2. W1 AS, W2 PTSS, and fear of future terrorism mediated the association between media and functional impairment. Graphic image exposure is associated with mental-health symptoms lin...
American Journal of Public Health, 2014
The immediate and long-term health effects of war have been explicated elsewhere, 24-28 to an ext... more The immediate and long-term health effects of war have been explicated elsewhere, 24-28 to an extent beyond the scope of this article. Descriptions of military programs that address the physical and psychological effects of military service, 29-34 albeit with insufficient resources, 31,35 are also beyond the scope of this article. Only selected physical and psychosocial effects are noted herein to introduce the