Wahiba Abu-Ras

Adelphi University | AU · School of Social Work

Citation: Abu-Ras, W.; Elzamzamy, K.; Burghul, M.M.; Al-Merri, N.H.; Alajrad, M.; Kharbanda, V.A.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges and stressors for social workers, often at the forefront of responding to crises. The pandemic has disrupted their professional practices, increased their workload, and exposed them to health risks. As a result, the well-being of social workers has become a growing concern, especially in co...

Aim The aim of this review is to examine outcomes of health-promoting interventions involving the use of mosques as the intervention venue, its role in promoting health behavior change, and the role of theory in each intervention. Methods A scoping review was conducted across 17 databases for relevant publications published up to and including Augu...

Background: The long history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has resulted in a public and mental health crisis. Despite the significant mental health burdens facing the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and refugee camps, this issue remains comprehensively unexplored. Aims: This scoping review identified menta...

In 2017, the Gulf crisis led to a blockade that severely restricted Qatar’s air, land, and sea access. This political crisis had far-reaching consequences, particularly affecting cross-national families and children. This qualitative analysis explores the effects of the blockade’s political instability on individuals and families, specifically for...

Many people feel vulnerable and uncertain about their future during a political crisis or political instability. Nonetheless, people may choose different coping strategies, making some more resilient and others more vulnerable to mental health issues. Added to the stress caused by these political factors is that social media has become the only sou...

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact varies between and within nations, causing new forms of inequality. Refugee and orphan children in conflicted areas are more likely to suffer due to poverty, vulnerability, and limited access to essential services including reduction in donor funding. This qualitative study is the first to assess the effects of the CO...

This study examined the association between the degree of religiosity, combined with cultural beliefs, social stigmas, and attitudes towards mental-health treatment in two groups, who, despite having similar cultural and religious affiliation, have experienced different socio-political contexts: Palestinian Muslim college students living in the Occ...

Many believe religion has no place in modern medical and professional fields. Nevertheless, recent studies show that religion remains integral to many people’s lives and professional practices, such as physicians. This study addresses the significance that American Muslim physicians (AMPs) attribute to their religious values in shaping their identi...

Research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social workers is limited, especially from low-income countries. Hence, this study examined the effect of this international health crisis on the mental health of 261 social workers in health care settings in Egypt. Generalized anxiety and stress generated by fear of COVID-19 directly influenced so...

This study explores the impact of gendered citizenship on the well-being of cross-national families following the political blockade imposed on Qatar in 2017. More specifically, it examines how these families, women, and children face challenges related to their lives, well-being, and rights. Twenty-three face-to-face interviews were conducted with...

This study examined the mental health outcomes of a diverse group of 549 individuals experiencing discrimination based on their multiple subordinate identities: ethnicity/race, religion, nativity, and sexual orientation. Applying an intersectionality framework, the findings provide an understanding of the impact of discrimination and racism on mino...

The goal of this paper is to examine the validity of the Traumatology perspective of the dynamics underlying the adverse mental health effects of gender discrimination (GD) on females’ across two different cultural samples. The study was conducted in two samples from Poland (N=277), and Egypt (N=319). To measure GD, we utilized measures of gender d...

Background: The STarT Back Tool (Subgrouping for Targeted Treatment; SBT) was developed and validated in the United Kingdom for adults with non-specific low back pain (LBP) to provide risk stratification groups. An Arabic version has not yet been developed. Consequently, our objectives were: First, to cross-culturally adapt the SBT for use in Arabi...

This study examined the perceived impact of religious discrimination and Islamophobia on Muslim Americans’ well-being during the 2016 United States presidential election campaign. Data were collected from a national sample of 1,130 Muslim Americans. Perceived religious discrimination (PRD) was measured using the Perceived Religious Discrimination S...

This article explores, describes, and compares how Palestinian parents of children with disabilities articulate their major challenges and coping strategies and ways in which they adapt to daily routines to care for, support, and address the needs of their children. We held six focus groups, three in the West Bank, Palestine, and three inside Israe...

This paper focuses on providing awareness of the role of social workers and the medical community in providing R/S counseling to Muslim patients in a major hospital located in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. Its main objectives are to (1) highlight how R/S helps patients cope with illness-related stress; (2) explore how social work and health care...

Most existing literature on religion/spirituality (R/S) and resiliency focuses on mainstream populations, where R/S appears to be a search for positive meaning, protective factors, and a predictor of successful adaptation in coping with adversity. The role of R/S in fostering resilience among Muslim Military Personnel (MMP) and other minority faith...

Waterpipe smoking is common among the young in Muslim-majority countries despite recent Islamic rulings on tobacco. US Muslim college students, especially immigrants, may be at high risk for smoking, but information is lacking. In this pilot study, respondent-driven sampling was used to sample 156 Muslim college students. Waterpipe smoking was comm...

Limited data exists on alcohol, illicit drug, tobacco, gambling, and non-marital sexual intercourse among Muslim college students; behaviors which are either prohibited or strongly discouraged in Islam. To provide preliminary baseline data, we assessed prevalence of these risk behaviors using a U.S. 2001 national college survey. Of the 10,401 stude...

Studies show that religion and spirituality protect military personnel from stress, trauma, and suicidality; support coping; and build resilience. Additionally, the Army has identified spirituality as a salient component of its strategic planning and training. As most relevant literature on resiliency focuses on mainstream populations’ definitions...

This paper explores how a predominantly immigrant interview sample of 62 Muslim physicians articulate their cultural citizenship and sense of “belonging” in the USA. Many Muslim physicians who have come as international medical graduates (IMGs) share the challenges, obstacles, and assets of their IMG peers. Yet within the context of rising Islamoph...

This study assesses American Muslim physicians’ public role and levels of civic, community, and political involvement; examines the relationship between religiosity and civic/community involvement; and identifies community empowerment and social change. The results show that civic/community action is associated primarily with one’s level of religio...

Abstract The September 11, 2001 attacks, a defining moment for many Americans, have had a traumatic effect on their collective wellbeing. The attacks fit Alexander’s definition of “cultural trauma.” Using his conceptual framework, we explore how 9/11 and the ensuing discourse and events have affected one particular segment of the American public: A...

Purpose: Discrimination and hate crimes toward the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) population are still prevalent despite recently improved societal attitudes and behaviors. Thus, many of these individuals are left with a pervasive sense of vulnerability. Several studies have been conducted on discrimination and mental health...

Abstract The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) sponsored this study to better understand core aspects of American Muslim Physicians (AMPs): their demographic profile, identity and values, civic and political engagement, and challenges with discrimination. This group, like American Muslims in general, is extremely diverse in terms...

Purpose: Prevention of alcohol abuse requires information about all demographic groups. However, little is known about drinking among people affiliated with proscriptive religions due to omission of religious affiliation in many surveys and challenges sampling them. Our objective was to pilot a sampling technique frequently used in the HIV literat...

As more hospitals acknowledge the importance of spiritual care, there is an in-creasing demand for chaplains who can meet patients' spiritual needs. While most empirical studies thus far have focused on changes in chaplaincy services, and on the role of non-Muslim chaplains, very few have addressed the religious diversity among hospital chaplains a...

Religion and spirituality are the first, and sometimes the only available sources of comfort for many hospital patients facing difficult and stressful times. Since chaplaincy is typically practiced along Judeo-Christian lines, other spiritual perspectives receive less attention. This study assesses the existing chaplaincy care services available fo...

Drinking behavior among Muslim college students in the United States is unknown. To obtain estimates and examine risk factors, the authors conducted secondary data analysis of the public access database from the 2001 Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study. Two variables were associated with drinking-religious activities, which were p...

TH E TRAGIC SH OOTI NGS at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas raised the public’s attention toward Muslims serving in the United States Armed Forces.There was much public conjecture about the motives and mental state of Major Nidal Hasan. While mental health services in the military exist and are utilized by many soldiers, one question that emerged a...

Chaplaincy is typically practiced within the contexts of the Jewish and Christian traditions, and little attention has been paid to the influence of the Islamic perspective of nursing and caring. Therefore, many Muslim patients might not receive appropriate care for their religious and spiritual needs, especially as they relate to daily religious p...

Problem: Because Islam is a religion, Muslims may vary both in terms of race and ethnicity. This means that Muslims may be subject to discrimination due to their religion, race, or country of origin. Research suggests that there is an association between race-based stress and mental health outcomes. While this has been established among African-Ame...

Study Purpose: The transition to college is a vulnerable period in the developmental trajectory between childhood and adulthood. In general, this period represents an entrance to a new environment with potentially new norms of behavior, such as the widespread acceptance of drinking and at-risk drinking (Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykens, & Cas...

This study examines the association between individual, demo-graphic, and sociocultural variables as predictor factors for depres-sion and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among 350 Arab and Muslim Americans in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A multiple regression statistical analysis was utilized to examine the factors...

This study examined the relationship between race-based stress (racial harassment and discrimination) and PTSD in a sample of 102 New York Muslim men and women post-9/11 while controlling for gender. Bivariate, univariate, and stepwise regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results of the study show that “feeling less safe” after the ev...

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, New York's Muslim communities turned to their mosques for help, but were noticeably hesitant to avail themselves of services offered by the broader community. Research has shown that few mental health professionals are familiar with the Arabic language and Islamic values. Moreover, little is kn...

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This study examines the relationship between cultural beliefs and the utilization of services among Arab immigrant women. All participants (N = 67) reported at least one act of partner abuse resulting in a consultation with various formal services. Significant correlations were found between the holding of traditional attitudes toward gender in gen...

This paper describes the goals and implementation of a brief group model of integrative psychoeducation designed to ameliorate the impact of community trauma. This manual-based four-session crisis oriented intervention is present focused and strengths based, and builds on resiliency and collaboration across cultural groups. The model was developed...

This paper describes the goals and implementation of a brief group model of integrative psychoeducation designed to ameliorate the impact of community trauma. This manual-based four-session crisis oriented intervention is present focused and strengths based, and builds on resiliency and collaboration across cultural groups. The model was developed...

Gossip, while a mean-spirited act of verbal aggression, has recently been considered eufunctional because it affirms traditional morality, social cohesion, and cultural stability. In a similar vein, in the name of cultural diversity, human rights anthropologists affirm the value of tradition, cohesion and stability. Extending Nader's theoretical fr...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 2000. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-170). Department: School of Social Work. Microfilm.