Browsing by Author "Bedrick, Edward J."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Race and Gender-Based Perceptions of Older Adults: Will the Youth Lead the Way?
    (Springer Nature, 2021) Solola, Sade; Luy, Luis; Herrera-Theut, Kathryn; Zabala, Leanne; Torabzadeh, Elmira; Bedrick, Edward J.; Yee, Erika; Larsen, Ashley; Stone, Jeff; McEwen, Marylyn; Calhoun, Elizabeth; Crist, Janice D.; Hebdon, Megan; Pool, Natalie; Carnes, Molly; Sweitzer, Nancy; Breathett, Khadijah; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Older individuals encounter the greatest racial/gender biases. It is unknown whether younger generations, who often lead culture shifts, have racial and gender biases against older populations. Methods: Using Amazon's Mechanical Turk's crowdsourcing, we identified how an individual's race and gender are associated with perceptions of individuals aged mid-60s. Participants were asked to rate photograph appearances on Likert Scale (1-10). Interactions between participant and photograph race and gender were assessed with mixed effects models. Delta represents rating differences (positive value higher rating for Whites or women, negative value higher rating for African-Americans or men). Results: Among 1563 participants (mean 35 years ± 12), both non-Hispanic White (WP) and all Other race/ethnicity (OP) participants perceived African-American photos as more trustworthy [Delta WP -0.60(95%CI-0.83, - 0.37); Delta OP - 0.51(- 0.74,-0.28), interaction p = 0.06], more attractive [Delta non-Hispanic White participants - 0.63(- 0.97, - 0.29); Delta Other race/ethnicity participants - 0.40 (- 0.74, - 0.28), interaction p < 0.001], healthier [Delta WP -0.31(- 0.53, - 0.08); Delta OP -0.24(- 0.45, -0.03), interaction p = 1.00], and less threatening than White photos [Delta WP 0.79(0.36,1.22); Delta OP 0.60(0.17,1.03), interaction p < 0.001]. Compared with OP, WP perceived African-American photos more favorably for intelligence (interaction p < 0.001). Both genders perceived photos of women as more trustworthy [Delta Women Participants (WmP) 0.50(0.27,0.73); Delta Men Participants(MnP) 0.31(0.08,0.54); interaction p < 0.001] and men as more threatening [Delta WmP -0.84(-1.27, -0.41), Delta MnP - 0.77(- 1.20, - 0.34), interaction p = 0.93]. Compared with MnP, WmP perceived photos of women as happier and more attractive than men (interaction p < 0.001). Compared with WmP, MnP perceived men as healthier than women (interaction p < 0.001). Conclusions: Among a young generation, older African-Americans were perceived more favorably than Whites. Gender perceptions followed gender norms. This suggests a decline in implicit bias against older minorities, but gender biases persist. Future work should investigate whether similar patterns are observed in healthcare.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Service Dogs for Veterans and Military Members With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial
    (American Medical Association, 2024-06-03) Leighton, Sarah C.; Rodriguez, Kerri E.; Jensen, Clare L.; MacLean, Evan L.; Davis, Louanne W.; Ashbeck, Erin L.; Bedrick, Edward J.; O'Haire, Marguerite E.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Importance: Military members and veterans (hereafter, veterans) with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increasingly seek psychiatric service dogs as a complementary intervention, yet the effectiveness of service dogs is understudied. Objective: To estimate the associations between psychiatric service dog partnership and self-reported and clinician-rated PTSD symptom severity, depression, anxiety, and psychosocial functioning after 3 months of intervention among veterans. Design, setting, and participants: This nonrandomized controlled trial used standardized and validated assessment instruments completed by participants and administered by blinded clinicians. Recruitment, eligibility screening, and enrollment were conducted between August 2017 and December 2019. Veterans were recruited using the database of an accredited nonprofit service dog organization with constituents throughout the US. Participants were veterans with a PTSD diagnosis; they were allocated to either the intervention group (n = 81) or control group (n = 75). Outcome assessments were performed at baseline and at the 3-month follow-up. Data analyses were completed in October 2023. Interventions: Participants allocated to the intervention group received a psychiatric service dog for PTSD, whereas those allocated to the control group remained on the waiting list based on the date of application submitted to the service dog organization. Both groups had unrestricted access to usual care. Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcomes were PTSD symptom severity, depression, and anxiety after 3 months, and the secondary outcomes were psychosocial functioning, such as quality of life and social health. The self-reported PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) was used to measure symptom severity, and the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) was used to assess PTSD diagnosis (score range for both instruments: 0-80, with higher scores indicating greater PTSD symptoms). Results: The 156 participants included in the trial had a mean (SD) age of 37.6 (8.3) years and included 117 males (75%), 17 Black or African American individuals (11%), 30 Hispanic individuals (19%), and 117 White individuals (76%). Compared with the control group, the intervention group had significantly lower PTSD symptom severity based on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 mean (SD) score (41.9 [16.9] vs 51.7 [16.1]; difference in means, -11.5 [95% CI, -16.2 to -6.6]; P < .001) and the CAPS-5 mean (SD) score (30.2 [10.2] vs 36.9 [10.2]; difference in means, -7.0 [95% CI, -10.8 to -4.5]; P < .001) at 3 months. The intervention group also had significantly lower depression scores (odds ratio [OR], 0.45 [95% CI, 0.23-0.86]; difference in means, -3.3 [95% CI, -6.8 to -0.6]), anxiety (OR, 0.25 [95% CI, 0.13-0.50]; difference in means, -4.4 [95% CI, -6.9 to -2.1]), and most areas of psychosocial functioning (eg, social isolation: OR, 0.34 [95% CI, 0.18-0.64]). Conclusions and relevance: This nonrandomized controlled trial found that compared with usual care alone, partnership with a trained psychiatric service dog was associated with lower PTSD symptom severity and higher psychosocial functioning in veterans. Psychiatric service dogs may be an effective complementary intervention for military service-related PTSD.