Research highlights
At the School of Social Work, our research is well aligned with VCU’s strategic priorities and is focused on enriching the human experience, achieving a just and equitable society, and optimizing health. Our multidisciplinary research collaborations at VCU involve departments and schools throughout the university, and our research and scholarship engage local, state, national and international partners.
Our programs of research cover a broad spectrum that includes child well-being, intellectual and developmental disorders, resettled refugee families, mental health and substance use, neurobiology, health and behavioral health services and treatments, and international populations, among others. Whether we are creating new knowledge, evaluating practice, developing and testing new interventions, or examining the impact of policies, our faculty members ask critical questions to address the most important social justice issues of our time.
– Gary S. Cuddeback, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Research and Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
By the numbers
Research publications
Bentley, K.J., & Hughes, S. (2021). Truth-telling about psychiatric medication: An aspirational guide for mental health providers. Best Practices in Mental Health, 17(1), 28-43.
Bogenschutz, M., Dinora, P., Lineberry, S., Prohn, S., Broda, M., & West, A. (2022). Promising practices in the frontiers of quality outcomes measurement for intellectual and developmental disability services. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences: Disability, Rehabilitation, and Inclusion, e871178.
Prohn, S., Dinora, P., Broda, M., Bogenschutz, M., & Lineberry, S. (2022). Measuring four personal opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Inclusion, 10(1), 19-34.
Lineberry, S., & Bogenschutz, M. (in press). Disenfranchisement and voting opportunity among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Broda, M., Bogenschutz, M., Dinora, P., Prohn, S., Lineberry, S., & Ross, E. (2021). Using machine learning to predict patterns of employment and day program participation. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 126(6), 477-491.
Lane, S., Kagotho, N., McClendon, J., Flowers, T., Vandestine, T., & Bogenschutz, M. (in press). In their own words: Social work faculty discuss incivility. Social Work Education.
Bogenschutz, M., Broda, M., Lineberry, S., & Prohn, S. (2021). Testing a wellness indicators measure for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Developmental Disabilities Network Journal, 2(1), 85-103.
Johnson, K.R., Bogenschutz, M., & Peak, K. (2021). Propositions for race-based research in intellectual and developmental disabilities. Inclusion, 9(3), 156-169.
Denise Burnette, Ph.D.
Kim, K., Buckley, T.D., Burnette, D., Cho, S. & Kim, S. (2021). Measurement indicators of age-friendly communities: Findings from the AARP Age-friendly Community Survey. The Gerontologist.
Buckley, T.D., Kim, K. & Burnette, D. (2021). Psychometric testing of the Brief Sense of Community Scale with older adults in Puerto Rico. Journal of Community Psychology.
Kim, K., Burnette,D., Buckley, T., Kim, S. (in press) Does an Age-friendly community promote older adults’ health? Frontiers in Aging
Cage, J., Kobulsky, J. M., McKinney, S. J., Holmes, M. R., Berg, K. A., Bender, A. E., & Kemmerer, A* (2021). The effect of exposure to intimate partner violence on children’s academic functioning: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Family Violence, 1-16.
Bender, A. E., McKinney, S. J., Schmidt-Sane, M. M., Cage, J., Holmes, M. R., Berg, K. A., ... & Voith, L. A. (2022). Childhood exposure to intimate partner violence and effects on social-emotional competence: A systematic review. Journal of Family Violence, 1-19.
Coles, DC & Cage,J. Mothers and their children: An exploration of the relationship between maternal mental health and child well-being. Maternal and Child Health Journal
Hubbard, S.A*., Lakey, B., Jones, S.C.T., Cage, J. Supportive personal relationships evoke adaptive racial identity and mental health. The Journal of Black Psychology.
Simon, A., Cage, J., Akinkugbe, A.A (2021). Adverse childhood experiences and oral health outcomes in children and adolescents: A cross-sectional study of the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 8(23), 12313.
Karen G. Chartier, Ph.D.
Hicks, T. A.*, Chartier, K. G., Buckley, T. D.*, Reese, D.*, Spit for Science Working Group, Vassileva, J., Dick, D. M., Amstadter, A. B., Peterson, R. E., & Moreno, O. (2022). Divergent changes: Abstinence and higher-frequency substance use increase among racial/ethnic minority young adults during the COVID-19 global pandemic. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 48(1), 88-99.
Chartier, K. G., Guidry, J. P. D., Lee, C. A.*, & Buckley, T.* (2021). At home and online during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the relationship to alcohol consumption in a national sample of U.S. adults. PLOS ONE.
Williams, C. D., Hood, K. B., Moreno, O., Chartier, K. G., Johnson, K. F., Townsend, T., Kuo, S. I., The Spit for Science Working Group, Vassileva, J., Dick, D. M., & Amstadter, A. B. (2021 e-pub ahead of print). The impact of COVID-19 disruptions and discrimination on well-being and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms: Testing the moderating role of exercise among African American and Asian American emerging adults. Emerging Adulthood.
Shuval, K., Marroquin, E. M., Li, Q. Knell, G. Gabriel, K. P., Drope, J., Yaroch, A. L., Chartier, K., Fennis, B. M., & Qadan, M. (2021). Long-term weight loss success and the health behaviors in the United States: Findings from a nationally representative cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 11:e047743.
Shuval, K., Leonard, D., Chartier, K., Barlow, C. E., Fennis, B. M., Katz, D. L., Abel, K., Farrell, S. W., Pavlovic, A., & DeFina, L. F. (2022). Fit & Tipsy? The Interrelationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and alcohol consumption and dependence. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 54(1), 113-119.
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Chartier, K. G. & Karriker-Jaffe, K. J. (2022). Commentary on Nordeck et al. (2021): Disruption of social roles and daily routines in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic may explain changes in alcohol use frequency. Addiction,117(2), 341-342.
Kimberly Compton (Ph.D.'21/SW)
Wagaman, M. A., Compton, K.S., Williams, E., Lange, J. Haynes, T., & Caballero, R. (In press). Youth Participatory Action Research as an Approach to Developing Community-Level Responses to Youth Homelessness in the United States: A Model for Change. Handbook on Community Development and Participatory Action Research. Edward Elgar Publishing
Dinora, P., Prohn, S., Cramer, E. P., Dellinger-Wray, M., Mayton, C., & D’Aguilar, A. (2021).Testing the efficacy of Leadership for Empowerment and Abuse Prevention (LEAP): A healthy relationship training intervention for people with intellectual disability. Developmental Disabilities Network Journal, 2(1), 136-152. Article 10.
Mayton, C., Dinora, P., Cramer, E. P., Dellinger-Wray, M., & D’Aguilar, A. (2021). “You can change your mind about who you trust”: People with intellectual disability’s understanding about healthy and unhealthy relationships. DADD Online Journal: Research to Practice, 8(1), 10 – 26.
Gary Cuddeback, Ph.D.Cuddeback, G. S. & Wu, J. (2021). The psychometric properties of the Assertive Community Treatment Transition Readiness Scale (ATR). Community Mental Health Journal, 57(7), 1301-1309.
Longmate, C., Lowder, E., Givens, A., Van Deinse, T. B., Ghezzi, M., Burgin, S., & Cuddeback, G. S. (2021). Social support among people with mental illnesses on probation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 44(1), 70–76.
Givens, A., Murray Lichtman, A., Van Deinse, T., & Cuddeback, G. S. Physical health problems among people with severe mental illnesses: Race, gender and implications for practice. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (in press).
Van Deinse, T. B., Wilson, A. B., Edwards, D., & Cuddeback, G. S. (2021). Variation in criminogenic risks by mental health symptom severity: Implications for mental health services and research. Psychiatric Quarterly, 92, 73–84.
Agha, E., & Cuddeback, G. S. (2021). Notes from the field: conducting research with resettled refugee women, Journal of Refugee Studies, feaa071.
Givens, A., & Cuddeback, G. S. (2021). Traumatic experiences among individuals with severe mental illnesses on probation. Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, 1–11.
Van Deinse, T. B., … Cuddeback, G. S. A randomized trial of specialty mental health probation: Measuring implementation and effectiveness outcomes. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. (in press).
Grove, L., Berkowitz, S., Stearns, S., Pink, G., Cuddeback, G. S., & Domino, M. E. Permanent Supportive Housing Tenure among a Heterogeneous Population of Adults with Disabilities. Population Health Management (in press).
Maurice N. Gattis, Ph.D.
Wagaman, M., Gattis, M.N., Watts, K., & Yabar, M., Haynes, T., Williams, E., & Blair, D. (2022). The Role of Schools in Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness: Perceptions of School Staff. Children and Schools.
J Middleton, E Edwards, D Roe-Sepowitz, E Inman, LM Frey, MN Gattis. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Homelessness: A Critical Examination of the Association between Specific ACEs and Sex Trafficking among Homeless Youth in Kentuckiana. Journal of Human Trafficking 1-14.
Rebecca Gomez, Ph.D.
Galan-Cisneros*, P.A., Hilderbrandt, E.*, Vasquez, J.A.*, Gomez, R.J. (In press). The new normal that never happened. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping.
Gomez, R.J., & Hildebrandt, E. (2021) Social Work Today, Vol 21, No. 2, P. 10: Addictions Advisor: How the Pandemic is Affecting Those With Substance Use Disorders
Hyojin Im, Ph.D.
Im, H., *George, N., & *Swan, L.E.T. (In Press). Born in displacement: Psychosocial and mental health impacts of country of birth among urban Somali refugee youth. Global Public Health.
Im, H. & *Swan, L.E.T. (2022). Factors influencing improvement of trauma-related symptoms among urban refugee youth: A naturalistic evaluation of community-grounded psychosocial intervention. Community Mental Health Journal. Online First Publication.
Im, H. & *George, N. (2022). Impacts of COVID-19 on refugee service provision and community support: A rapid assessment during the pandemic. Social Work in Public Health, 37(1), 84-103.
Im, H., *Swan, L.E.T., †Warsame, A.H., & †Isse, M.M. (2022). Risk and Protective Factors for Comorbidity of PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety among Somali Refugees in Kenya. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 68(1), 134-146, (Issue published: February 1, 2022)
Im, H. & *Swan, L.E.T. (2021). “We learn and teach each other”: Interactive training for cross-cultural trauma-informed care in the refugee community. Community Mental Health Journal. First Published October 7, 2021
*Swan, L.E.T. & Im, H. (2021). Predicting mental health outcomes in a sample of Somali refugee youth: The role of child trauma. Traumatology. Advance online publication.
Im, H. & *Swan, L.E.T. (2021). Trauma exposure, social functioning, and common mental health disorders in Somali refugee male and female youth: An SEM analysis. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. First Published August 7, 2021
Im, H. & *Swan, L.E.T. (2021). Working towards culturally responsive trauma-informed care in the refugee resettlement process: Qualitative inquiry with refugee-serving professionals in the United States. Behavioral Sciences (Special Issue on Culturally Responsive Trauma-Informed Care), 11, 155.
Kim, K., Buckley, T., Burnette, D., Kim, S., & Cho, S. (2022). Measurement indicators of age-friendly communities: Findings from the AARP Age-Friendly Community Survey. The Gerontologist, 62(1), e17-e27.
Buckley, T., Kim, K., & Burnette, D. (in press). Psychometric testing of the Brief Sense of Community Scale with older adults in Puerto Rico. Journal of Community Psychology.
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Kim, Y., Lee, H, & Park, A. (2022). Patterns of adverse childhood experiences and depressive symptoms: Self-esteem as a mediating mechanism. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 57(2).
Birkenmaier, J., Kim, Y., & Maynard, B. Financial Outcomes of Interventions to Improve Financial Capability through Children’s Development Accounts: A Systematic Review. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Birkenmaier, J. M., Maynard, B., & Kim, Y. (Accepted). Interventions designed to improve financial capability: A systematic review. Research on Social Work Practice.
Hollee McGinnis, Ph.D.
McGinnis, H.A. (2021). Expanding the concept of birthparent loss to orphans: Exploratory findings from adolescents in institutional care in South Korea. New Ideas in Psychology, 63, 100892.
McGinnis, H.A. (2021). Mental health and well-being of Korean adoptees over the life course. In Anderson Yoon, Sung Seek Mon, & Haein Son (Eds.) Understanding Korean Americans’ Mental Health: A Guide to Culturally Competent Practices, Program Developments, and Policies. Lexington Books The Roman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
McGinnis, H.A. & Wright, A.* (2022-03) Adoption, Families & Child Health. In Bonnie L. Halpern-Felsher (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health, online format. Elsevier, Inc.
Ryu, S. & Price, S.K. (2021) Embodied storytelling and meaning-making at the end of life: VoicingHan avatar life-review for palliative care in cancer patients, Arts & Health.
Shih, S., Yeh, T., Buxton, M. & Price, S.K. (2021) Factors associated with clustering of health-related behaviors amongst emerging adults in Taiwan, International Journal of Health Promotion and Education.
Price, S. K. (2021). Book Review: Inferno: A memoir of motherhood and madness. Affilia.
Jiskrova, G. K. & Shin, S. H. (in press). Childhood maltreatment, depressive implicit associations and depression symptoms in young adulthood. Social Work in Mental Health.
Shin, S. H. (2021). Preventing E-cigarette use among high-risk adolescents: A trauma-informed prevention approach. Addictive Behaviors, 115, 106795.
Shin, S. H., Bouchard, L. M., & Montemayor, B. (2021). An exploration of practitioners’ perceptions and beliefs about trauma-informed youth drug prevention programs: A qualitative study. Prevention Science, 1-12.
Kobulsky, J. M., Yoon, S. H., Wildfeuer, R., Simonsson, P., & Shin, S. H. (2021). The effects of father-perpetration of maltreatment on adolescent health risk. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Yoon, S., Kobulsky, J.M., Shin, S.H., & Coxea, K. (2021). The roles of child maltreatment and fathers in the development of substance use in an at-risk sample of youth: A longitudinal study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 118, 105130.
Snell, M., Harless, D., Shin, S. H., Cunningham, P., & Barnes, A. (2021). A longitudinal assessment of nicotine dependence, mental health, and attempts to quit smoking: Evidence from waves 1-4 of the population assessment of tobacco and health (PATH) study. Addictive Behaviors, 115, 106787.
Wagaman, M. A., Gattis, M. N., Watts, K. J., Yabar, M. P., Blair, D., Haynes, T. S., & Williams, E. G. (2022). The role of schools in supporting students experiencing homelessness: Perceptions of school staff. Children & Schools.
Wike, T., Tomlinson, C., Wagaman, M. A., Matijczak, A., Murphy, J., Watts, K. J., O'Connor, K., & McDonald, S. E. (2021). The role of thwarted belongingness on the relationship between microaggressions and mental health for LGBTQ+ emerging adults. Journal of Youth Studies.
McDonald, S.E., Murphy, J., Tomlinson, C., Maticijak, A., Applebaum, J., Wike, T.L., & Kattari, S. (2021). Relations between sexual and gender minority stress, personal hardiness, and psychological stress in emerging adulthood: Examining indirect effects via human-animal interaction. Youth and Society.
McDonald, S. E., O’Connor, K., Maticijak, A., Murphy, J., Applebaum, J., Tomlinson, C., Wike, T. L., & Kattari, S. (2021). Victimization and psychological wellbeing among LGBTQ+ emerging adults: Testing the moderating role of emotional comfort from companion animals. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Wike, T. L., Bouchard, L., Yabar, M., & Kemmerer, A. (2021). Bullying, Victimization, and Resilience: Experiences of rural LGBTQ+ youth across multiple contexts. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Wike, T. L., Tomlinson, C., Wagaman, M.A, Maticijak, A., Murphy, J., Watts, K., O’Connor, K., & McDonald, S.E., (2021). The role of thwarted belongingness on the relationship between microaggressions and mental health among LGBTQ+ emerging adults. Journal of Youth Studies.
Ogbonnaya I.J., Wike, T. L., Bouchard, L., & Carter, A. (in press). Looks matter: Are U.S. schools of social work representing diversity and inclusion on their websites? Social Work Research.