Harvesting Happiness: a Closer Look into Rural Farmers' Mental Health

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dc.contributorAvery, Daniel
dc.contributorGuin, Susan
dc.contributorFord, Cassandra
dc.contributor.advisorCrowther, Martha
dc.contributor.authorGilliland, Cayla Dianne
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-05T20:07:13Z
dc.date.available2022-07-05T20:07:13Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractThe current state of rural Alabama farmers’ and agricultural workers’ mental health was examined. To create an objective assessment, farmers and agricultural workers completed a series of established questionnaires, including: the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Survey, the Lubben Social Network Scale, the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religion and Spirituality, and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9. The participants also answered open-ended questions about any changes in their life due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020. Therefore, any impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were taken into consideration. Qualitative interviews were also conducted with rural physicians to determine the main stressors and mental health struggles that they frequently observe in their farming patients. Results suggested that age was negatively correlated with PHQ-9 scores and positively correlated with religious alignment. Education level was positively correlated with various reported stressors. The physician interviews additionally suggested that farmers commonly present with anxiety, depression, and occasionally alcoholism. The medical professionals also hypothesized that unconventional methods of intervention like after-hours clinics, farmer spouse interviews, and peer support groups may be beneficial for the mental health of this population. Additional similar research with a larger sample size would be particularly useful in better understanding the relationship between age and depression and the relationship between education level and stress in this population.en_US
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otherhttp://purl.lib.ua.edu/184256
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0004305
dc.identifier.otherGilliland_alatus_0004M_14778
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/8523
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectAnxiety
dc.subjectDepression
dc.subjectfarm stress
dc.subjectMental health
dc.subjectrural farmers
dc.subjectStress
dc.titleHarvesting Happiness: a Closer Look into Rural Farmers' Mental Healthen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Health Science
etdms.degree.disciplinePublic health
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.levelmaster's
etdms.degree.nameM.S.

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