Medical College of Georgia

Diversity Research

Below is a sampling of diversity-related articles written by faculty in the last five years.

Age ( Children/Older Adults)

  • Bustamante EE, Davis CL, Frazier SL, Rusch D, Fogg L, Atkins MS, Marquez DX. Randomized Controlled Trial of Exercise for ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2016 Jul;48(7):1397-407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000891. Published online ahead of print 2016 Jan 30. PMC4911251.
  • Bustamante EE, Williams CF, Davis CL*. Physical activity interventions for neurocognitive & academic performance in overweight & obese youth: a systematic review. Pediatric Clinics of North America, June 2016; 63(3): 459-480. In special issue of on T1 Translation of Novel Interventions for Childhood Obesity, June 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pcl.2016.02.004
  • Davis CL*, Pollock NK, Waller JL, Allison JD, Dennis BA, Bassali R, Melendez A, Boyle CA, Gower BA. Exercise dose and diabetes risk in overweight and obese children: A randomized, controlled trial. JAMA. 2012 Sep 19;308(11):1103-12. PMC3487697.
  • Davis CL*, Cooper S. (2011). Fitness, fatness, cognition, behavior, and academic achievement among overweight children: Do cross-sectional associations correspond to exercise trial outcomes? Preventive Medicine, 2011, 52:S65-S69. PMC3164323
  • Davis CL*, Tomporowski PD, McDowell JE, Austin BP, Miller PH, Yanasak NE, Allison JD, Naglieri JA. (2011). Exercise improves executive function and achievement and alters brain activation in overweight children: A randomized controlled trial. Health Psychology, 2011 Jan;30(1):91-8, PMC3057917.
  • Krafft CE, Pierce JE, Schwarz NF, Chi L, Weinberger AL, Schaeffer DJ, Rodrigue AL, Camchong J, Allison JD, Yanasak NE, Liu T, Davis CL*, McDowell JE.* An eight month exercise intervention alters resting state synchrony in overweight children. Accepted, Neuroscience, Aug. 2013
  • Krafft CE, Schwarz NF, Chi L, Weinberger AL, Schaeffer DJ, Pierce JE, Rodrigue AL, Yanasak NE, Miller PH, Tomporowski PD, Davis CL,* McDowell JE*. An 8-month exercise intervention alters brain activation in overweight children. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Jun 21. doi: 10.1002/oby.20518. [Epub ahead of print]
  • Mabe, P.A. (2009). War and Children Coping with Parental Deployment. In S. M. Freeman, B. Moore and A. Freeman (Eds). Living and Surviving in Harm’s Way: A Psychological Treatment Handbook for Pre- and Post-Deployment of Military Personnel. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 349-370.
  • Petty K.H., Davis C.L., Tkacz J., Young-Hyman D., Waller, J. (2009). Exercise effects on depressive symptoms and self-worth in overweight children: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. pp. 1-11 [Epub ahead of print]. (Examined differences in African American and Caucasian overweight children).
  • Stojek MK, Montoya A, Drescher CF, Newberry A, Sultan Z, Williams CF, Pollock NK, Davis CL*. Fitness, sleep-disordered breathing, symptoms of depression and cognition in inactive overweight children: Mediation models. Public Health Reports, 2017; 132 (Suppl. 2), 65S-73S. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0033354917731308 PMC5692181
  • Vitacco, M.J., & Salekin, R.T. (2013). Adolescent psychopathy and the law. In K. Kiehl & W. Sinott Armstrong (Eds.), Handbook of Psychopathy and the Law (pp. 206-224). New York, NY: Oxford University Press
  • Wittberg R, Northrup K, Cottrell L, Davis CL. Aerobic fitness thresholds associated with fifth grade academic achievement. American Journal of Health Education, Sept.-Oct. 2010, 41(5): 284-291.
  • Young-Hyman DL, Davis CL. (March 2010). Disordered eating behavior in individuals with diabetes: Importance of context, evaluation, and classification. Diabetes Care, 33, 683-689.

Disability

  • Penwell-Waines, L. P., Lewis, K., Valvano, A., Rahn, R., Smith, S., & Stepleman, L. M. (2017). Testing the Health Promotion Model for Treatment Adherence and Quality of Life in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis. Psychology, Health & Medicine. 22 (2), 205-211. doi:10.1080/13548506.2016.1226506
  • Rollock, M. J. D., Valvano, A. K., Hudson, W. H., Rutter Goodworth, M. C., & Stepleman, L. M. (2018). Sexual Communication, Sexual Satisfaction, and Relationship Quality in People with Multiple Sclerosis. Rehabilitation Psychology. 63(2), 267-275. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rep0000203
  • Stepleman, L., Floyd, R. M., Valvano, A., Penwell-Waines, L., Wonn, S., Crethers, D., Rahn, R., & Smith, S. (2017) Developing a measure to assess identity reconstruction in patients with multiple sclerosis. Rehabilitation Psychology. doi:10.1037/rep0000126
  • Eldridge-Smith, E.D., Loew, M., & Stepleman, L.M. (2019). Validation of the Reece Stigma Scale in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis. Disability and Rehabilitation.

Gender

  • Gillies, R. A., Thomas, A., & House, A. (2009). Who talks in class?  Impact of sex and race on medical student participation.  Annals of Behavioral Science and Medical Education, 15(1), 12-15.
  • Rose*, R. C., House, A. S., & Stepleman, L. M. (2010).  Intimate partner violence and its effects on the health of African American HIV-positive women. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 2, 311-317.
  • Vitacco, M.J., Erickson, S.K., Kurus, S., Apple, B., Lamberti, J.S., & Gasser, D. (2011). Evaluating conditional release in female insanity acquittees: A risk management perspective. Psychological Services, 8, 332-342.
  • Drescher, C. F., Griffin*, J. A., Casanova, T., Kassing*, F., Wood*, E., Brands*, S., & Stepleman, L. M. (in press). Associations of physical and sexual violence victimization, homelessness, and perceptions of safety with suicidality in a community sample of transgender individuals. Psychology & Sexuality.

Race/Ethnicity

  • Drescher, C. F., Johnson, L. R., Kurz, A. S., Scales, P. C., & Kiliho, R. (2017). Positive youth development in Tanzania: Do Kiswahili measures capture adolescent strengths and supports? Child & Youth Care Forum. doi:10.1007/s10566-017-9415-0
  • Dong Y., Petty K., Zhu H., Guo D., Li K., Chao L., Chao J. (2009). Plasma kallistatin levels are associated with waist circumference and lipid profiles in African American youths [Abstract]. Obesity Society, Washington, DC.
  • Dong Y., Pollock N., Stallmann-Jorgensen I., Lan L., Chen T., Keeton D., Petty K., Zhu H., Holick M., Gutin B., Harshfield G. (2009). Plasma vitamin D status and cardiometabolic outcomes among black and white adolescents residing in the southeastern United States[Abstract]. Obesity Society, Washington, DC.
  • La Roche, M., Cristopher, M, & West, L. M. (2017). Culturally competent interventions. In J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, C. M. Alexander, and M.A. Jackson (Eds)., Handbook of Multicultural Counseling, 4e (pp. 177-187). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
  • Pollock N., Zhu H., Petty K., Gutin B., Hamrick M., Chen T., Holick M., Dong Y. (2009). 25-hydroxyvitamin D and its relationships with adipose-derived inflammatory factors in 559 black and white adolescents [Abstract]. Obesity Society, Washington, DC.
  • Petty K.H., Li K., Dong Y., Fortenberry J., Stallmann-Jorgensen I., Guo D., Zhu H. (2010). Gender differences in inflammatory markers related to adiposity in normotensive African American adolescents. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity.
  • Stepleman, L. Decker*, M, Rollock*, M., Casillas*, R., Brands*, T. (2013). Depression Screening in Black Americans with Multiple Sclerosis. Psychology, Health, & Medicine

Sexual Minorities

  • Bidell, M., & Stepleman, L. M. (2017). An interdisciplinary approach to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clinical competence, professional training, and ethical care: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Homosexuality, 64(10). doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1321360
  • Drescher, C. F., Lopez, E. J., Griffin, J., A., Toomey, T., Eldridge, E. D., & Stepleman, L. M. (2018). Mental health correlates of cigarette use in LGBT individuals in the Southeastern United States. Substance Use & Misuse
  • Griffin, J.A., Drescher, C.F., Eldridge, E.D., Rossi, A., Loew, M.M., & Stepleman, L.M. (in press). The Influence of Minority Stress and Identity on Anxiety in Sexual Minorities of a Small Southern Region. Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
  • House, A. S.,Van Horn, E*., Coppeans, C.*, &  Stepleman, L. (2011).  Interpersonal trauma and discriminatory events as predictors of suicidal and nonsuicidal self-injury in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons. Traumatology. 17(2), 75-85.
  • Stepleman, L. M. (2007). Working with gay men. In M. Flood, J.K. Gardiner, B. Pease, & K. Pringle (Eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities. London: Routledge.
  • Stepleman, L. M. (2005). Review of Transgender Emergence: Therapeutic Guidelines for Working with Gender-Variant People and their Families. Journal of Sex & Martial Therapy, 31, 169-171.
  • Stepleman, L.M., Lopez, E.J., Rawlins, W., & Heboyan, V. (2017). Smoking out health disparities in sexual and gender minorities: Lessons from the National Adult Tobacco Survey. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 1-13. doi:10.4236/jss.2017.58001
  • Stepleman, L.M., Yohannan, J., Scott, S.M., Titus, L., Walker, J., Lopez, E. L., Wooten-Smith,  L., Rossi, A., Toomey, T., Eldridge, E.D. (2018). Health Needs and Experiences of a LGBT Population in Georgia and South Carolina. Journal of Homosexuality.
  • West, L. M., Stepleman, L. M., Wilson*, C. K., Campbell, J*., Villarosa, M., Bodie, B., &  Decker. M*. (2012). It’s supposed to be personal: Personal and educational factors associated with sexual health attitudes, knowledge, comfort and skill in health professions students. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 7 (4), 329-354.

Socioeconomic Status/Poverty

  • Lopez, E., Toomey, T., Lewis, K., Khazvand, S., Floyd, R. M., Arnold, K. R, & Stepleman, L. M. (2017).  The changing face of treatment: Mental health concerns and integrated care in an HIV clinic. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 28(1), 430-445.
  • Stepleman, L. M., Wright, D. & Bottonari, K. (2009). Chapter 13--Socioeconimic Status: Risks and Resilience. In S. Loue & M. Sajatovic (Eds). Determinants of Minority Mental Health and Wellness. New York: Springer, 273-302.

Spirituality/Religion

  • Mabe, P.A. (2008). Religion and Spirituality in Clinical Practice.  “Child and Adolescent Psychopathology: Spiritual and Religious Perspectives.” Presented to 55th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Chicago, IL.
  • Mabe, P.A., Dell, M.L., & Josephson, A.M. (2011) Spiritual and religious perspectives on child and adolescent psychopathology. In JR Peteet, FG Lu, & WE Narrow (eds) Religious and Spiritual Issues in Psychiatric Diagnosis. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association, pp. 123-142.
  • Shelton, S. F., & Stepleman, L. M. (2008). Chapter 2--Spiritual Coping Strategies of Individuals Dually Diagnosed with HIV and Mental Illness. In Joan C. Upton (Ed) Religion and Psychology Research Progress, Hauppauge NY: Nova