Marilyn Lewis

Norfolk State University | NSU · "Ethelyn R. Strong" School of Social Work

Utilization of antiretroviral therapies (ART) prolongs life and heightens ability to engage in productive activities among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This study implemented a 6-week long Social Care Intervention (SCI) Program in Ghana and identified protective fact...

Whether being stopped by the police is a stronger predictor of PTSD compared to being victimized by community violence was explored in a sample of 301 African American university students attending a historically Black university (HBCU). During a six-week window, a convenience sample was recruited from the spring semester roster of enrolled student...

The trajectory of successfully completing an undergraduate educational program, attaining postgraduate employment, and beginning advanced degree programs was examined using the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B: 2008/2012), a large U.S. nationally representative longitudinal sample survey of college graduates who completed the requir...

Forty-five veterans were recruited from an historically Black university (HBCU) using purposive, non-probability sampling to study their transition to college. Schlossberg’s 4Ss transition model evaluated their Situation (operationalized as combat exposure, dangerous duty), Self (current depressive symptoms), Supports/Deficits (marital status/disab...

Despite wide application of research skills in higher education, undergraduate students reported research and computer anxiety, and low association between research and their professional goals. This study aims to assess whether peer-assisted mentoring programs would promote positive changes in undergraduates’ attitudes toward research. Using a qua...

Substance-abusing women experience burdens making attending high-risk prenatal care critical for a healthy pregnancy. Many face barriers that compromise their health by reducing access to care, delaying their first prenatal appointment. One hundred forty-one women attending a high-risk prenatal clinic were compared to a matched group from the hospi...

African American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students attending an Historically Black College or University (HBCU) may experience bullying. Using snowball sampling, the authors recruited six LGBTQ students for a focus group to learn how they perceived their HBCU campus atmosphere toward LGBTQ students. Thirty faculty memb...

HIV/AIDS, a chronic burden in Ghana, poses social and health outcome concerns to those infected. Examining the Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS) instrument among 300 Ghanaians from a cross-sectional design, Principal Component Analysis yielded four factors (positive interaction, trust building, information giving, and essential...

Some women continue to use cocaine during pregnancy, placing their fetus at risk for developmental problems. While gross problems are not evident after controlling for experimental flaws, subtle effects continue to be found. Social interactions of cocaine-exposed and nonexposed toddlers and their caregivers were assessed during a Free Play test to...

Objectives: This study introduces a conceptual model to investigate factors that influence healthcare utilization. The model included three components: Need for Care, Facilitators and Barriers of Access, and Health Care Utilization. Methods: A nationally representative sample of 13,244 male veterans aged 18 and older was extracted from the 2011 Nat...

Research on Alcoholics Anonymous and other self-help programs has shown mixed results regarding lifetime participation at the individual level. No one has systematically studied whether lifetime membership contributes to the success of the program as a whole. This project analyzes the relationship of lifetime membership and program growth using a s...

Even though women are more likely to develop alcohol problems when drinking equivalent amounts as men, transition from regular drinking to intoxication within a shorter period of time, and develop serious problems faster, men are more likely to utilize alcohol treatment. Furthermore, little is known about factors contributing to treatment utilizati...

Using the Addiction Severity Index and Brief Symptom Inventory, drug use and psychosocial problems are compared between 93 custodial and 125 non-custodial mothers and fathers initiating outpatient treatment for cocaine dependence. Compared to non-custodial parents, custodial parents experienced more severe current cocaine and alcohol problems, incl...

Contingency management (CM) treatments are usually applied individually for drug abstinence, but CM can also be targeted toward health behaviors and implemented in groups. This study evaluated effects of a group-based CM intervention that focused on reinforcing health behaviors. HIV-positive patients with cocaine or opioid use disorders (n = 170) w...

Prenatal alcohol and drug use is regarded as a critical public health problem. Most pregnant women report that they try to limit alcohol and drug use because of concern for the fetus. This concern indicates that bonding, the foundation of maternal caregiving, has begun to develop. This paper introduces the Interactional Model of Prenatal Maternal-F...

Many drug abuse treatment programs encourage participation in religious activities, yet there is scant research regarding their effectiveness. Contingency management (CM) interventions sometimes reinforce the completion of non-drug related activities, and church attendance is a popular activity. Cocaine abusers (n = 184) randomized to CM interventi...

Contingency management prize reinforcement (CM-PR) is a highly successful intervention for drug or alcohol dependence that shows improved outcomes over standard methadone maintenance and counseling, and 12-step disease model outpatient counseling. CM-PR treatment for individuals with substance abuse problems is examined by applying criteria for cho...

Prenatal cocaine exposure and the role of gender were evaluated using risk factor analyses to determine whether 6-month-old cocaine-exposed male infants demonstrated greater disruptions in infant-caregiver socioemotional interactions during a Still-Face test. Overall, non-cocaine-exposed infants spent more time looking at toys, compared with cocain...

Prior history of trauma may sensitize individuals to subsequent trauma, including terrorist attacks. Using a convenience sample of secondary, cross-sectional data, pregnant women were grouped based on lifetime interpersonal violence history. Cumulative risk theory was used to evaluate the association of lifetime interpersonal violence history and s...

Maternal–fetal bonding is the emotional investment a woman has for her fetus and is the foundation for nurturance and protection. Effects of prior custody loss on bonding during a subsequent pregnancy have received scant attention but may resemble other reproductive losses. This study compares the strength of the maternal–fetal bond among women gro...

Contingency management (CM) techniques that reinforce completion of nondrug related activities may be efficacious in treating substance dependence. No studies to date have evaluated whether involvement in particular types of activities reduces problems in those domains. One hundred fifty-nine cocaine-abusing adults who had been randomized to a CM i...

Second generation studies of prenatal cocaine exposure failed to find gross deficits after controlling for confounders. Concern remained that exposure could cause subtle deficits. This prospective, cohort study evaluated effects of cocaine on development at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months. From 1991-1993, 361 mother-infant pairs were recruited from the C...

Lewis, Marylyn, Ph.D., Columbia University, New York - "Maternal-Fetal Bonding Among Pregnant Women Attending Prenatal Care: An Ecological Model"