Several doctoral students from the Behavioral and Community Sciences doctoral program in College of Behavioral and Community Sciences shared their research at the 2025 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting & Expo, held Nov. 2鈥�5 in Washington, D.C.
The annual event brought together public health professionals from across the nation to exchange ideas, discuss emerging issues, and highlight innovative research aimed at improving community health and well-being.
Ciara Spivey, doctoral student, presented two projects:
- "Public Stigma Toward Adult Survivors of Childhood Maltreatment: A Scoping Review"
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This review synthesized current evidence on how public stigma manifests toward adults with histories of childhood maltreatment, identifying recurring stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes that influence help-seeking and recovery outcomes. - "Stories Ending Stigma: Reducing Addiction Stigma Through Real-Life Narratives" 鈥�
This project evaluated the impact of the 鈥淪tories Ending Stigma鈥� campaign, a social
media-based initiative designed to humanize substance use recovery experiences and
reduce addiction stigma in the Tampa Bay community.
Jocelyn Jarvis (left) and Sierra Tentis with their poster presentation.
Jocelyn Jarvis, doctoral candidate, presented "Exploring Food Insecurity Among Spanish- and English-Speaking Hispanic Caregivers." The study examined how language preference relates to food insecurity among Hispanic caregivers of pediatric cancer survivors, revealing that Spanish-speaking participants were more likely to experience food insecurity 鈥� emphasizing the importance of language-inclusive interventions.
Sierra Tentis, doctoral candidate, presented "Telehealth for Behavioral Health: Insight from a Mixed-Methods COVID-19 Study." This research explored how patients and providers experienced telehealth during the pandemic, identifying both benefits, such as increased accessibility, and challenges, including technology barriers and privacy concerns.
Jarvis and Tentis also co-presented "Secondary Traumatic Stress and Compassion Satisfaction as Predictors of Burnout Among Healthcare Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic." The study found that higher compassion satisfaction was linked to lower burnout, while higher secondary traumatic stress predicted increased burnout among health care providers.