Heather Sheafer’s scientific contributions

Background. Aromatherapy refers to the medicinal or therapeutic use of essential oils absorbed through the skin or olfactory system. Recent literature has examined the effectiveness of aromatherapy in treating pain. Methods. 12 studies examining the use of aromatherapy for pain management were identified through an electronic database search. A meta-analysis was performed to determine the effects of aromatherapy on pain. Results. There is a significant positive effect of aromatherapy (compared to placebo or treatments as usual controls) in reducing pain reported on a visual analog scale (SMD = −1.18, 95% CI: −1.33, −1.03; p<0.0001 ). Secondary analyses found that aromatherapy is more consistent for treating nociceptive (SMD = −1.57, 95% CI: −1.76, −1.39, p<0.0001 ) and acute pain (SMD = −1.58, 95% CI: −1.75, −1.40, p<0.0001 ) than inflammatory (SMD = −0.53, 95% CI: −0.77, −0.29, p<0.0001 ) and chronic pain (SMD = −0.22, 95% CI: −0.49, 0.05, p=0.001 ), respectively. Based on the available research, aromatherapy is most effective in treating postoperative pain (SMD = −1.79, 95% CI: −2.08, −1.51, p<0.0001 ) and obstetrical and gynecological pain (SMD = −1.14, 95% CI: −2.10, −0.19, p<0.0001 ). Conclusion. The findings of this study indicate that aromatherapy can successfully treat pain when combined with conventional treatments.

Abstract This correlational study analyzed the effects of parental acculturation on child neglect. Previous research explored the relationship between acculturation and child abuse, while neglect has been largely ignored, despite potential serious and long-lasting effects, such as health problems, or poor social skills. We hypothesized that acculturative stressors in parents residing in the U.S. would influence how they attend to their children’s needs. Stressors were defined as language obstacles, sadness about immigration, and employment related problems. These issues frequently trigger depression, which could subsequently lead to neglect. Neglect variables, constructed in accordance with behavior characterizing a persistent failure to meet physical and psychological needs (APA, 2015), were extracted from self-reports of the archival database ‘The New Immigrant Study’ formerly conducted by Princeton University (2006). Findings indicated immigrants to appear more resilient than anticipated. Depression was directly related to migration, r = .051, and in 46 out of 2929 cases to seeking psychiatric care. TV watching interfered with young children’s family time, bordering on neglect. Subjects self-report and limited age range produced study limitations. Future studies should include psychometrics geared towards assessing healthy mother child interactions, and a greater age range, as well as very young parents (< 25 years), since research showed them to be at higher risk. There is a need to further study immigrant mental health as it relates to potential threats migration poses to children's healthy development, and the resulting impact on society. A streamlined definition of neglect is needed to research, and serve clients more efficiently. Keywords: Parental Acculturative Stressors, Depression, Child Neglect