Featured Scholar: Devon Hensel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in Sociology, IU Indianapolis School of Liberal Arts
Associate Research Professor of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine
Research Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrjo9aMrP_0
Understanding cravings and triggers in adolescents attending a recovery high school in a COVID-19 era
According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, in 2018 some 863,000 12 to 17-year olds were diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD). However, only .3% received the treatment necessary to begin the journey of recovery. As SUD symptoms of cravings and triggers in adolescents interfere with healthy adulthood milestone transition, it is increasingly important to investigate the real-life barriers in this unique pandemic time and beyond.
Dr. Devon Hensel has partnered with Hope Academy Recovery High School (HARHS) since 2017 to explore the integration of occupational therapy (OT) as part of the core high school recovery team. This most recent project aims to amplify the voice of members directly within the community - the adolescent students – by using real time data collection methods known as Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs). Dr. Hensel has vast experience in recruiting and retaining large cohorts of participants for clinical and behavioral research and is a leading researcher utilizing EMA as an approach to daily collection of health and behavioral health data.
Such an approach will allow the research team to better comprehend adolescents’ daily lived experience, improve client centered care, and allow for a greater fidelity in capturing the “real life” barriers in SUD. These data will assist in producing interventions that are theory driven and help to lay the necessary groundwork for larger studies to evaluate the effectiveness of function-based interventions in order to establish occupational therapy's distinct role in SUD recovery, ultimately leading to state and national policy change.
Dr. Hensel's translation of research into community-based interventions is another excellent example of how IU Indianapolis's faculty members are TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.
Selected Publications in IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks
With several research works contributed to IU Indianapolis's free, open access repository, Dr. Devon Hensel has made translational research knowledge available to professionals, researchers, students, and communities around the world.
Szymanski, K. M., Rink, R. C., Whittam, B., Hensel, D. J., & Life with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Study Group. (2021). Majority of females with a life-long experience of CAH and parents do not consider females with CAH to be intersex. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 17(2), 210.e1-210.e9. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/27714
Hensel, D. J., Rosenberg, M., Luetke, M., & Herbenick, D. (2021). 80. Disparities in Perceived Vulnerability to COVID-19 Consequences Among US Adolescents and Young Adults: Findings from a Nationally Representative Survey. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(2), S42-S43. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/25658
Hensel, D. J. (2020). Concurrently Advancing Sexual Rights and Next-Generation Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Through Innovative Analytical Methods. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 47(3), 177–178. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/27424
Rosenberg, M., Luetke, M., Hensel, D., Kianersi, S., Fu, T. C., & Herbenick, D. Depression and loneliness during April 2020 COVID-19 restrictions in the United States, and their associations with frequency of social and sexual connections. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 1-12. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/25613
Woods, J. L., & Hensel, D. J. (2019). Improving Male Genital Examinations in Adolescent Patients: Creation and Preliminary Validation of an Assessment Tool. Medical Science Educator, 29(4), 977–986. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/27809
Rowe, A. T., Zapolski, T., Hensel, D. J., Fisher, S., & Barnes-Najor, J. (2019). Peer Victimization, Mood Symptoms, and Alcohol Use: Examining Effects among Diverse High School Youth. Journal of youth and adolescence, 48(5), 924–934. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/23292
Katz, A. J., Hensel, D. J., Hunt, A. L., Zaban, L. S., Hensley, M. M., & Ott, M. A. (2019). Only Yes Means Yes: Sexual Coercion in Rural Adolescent Relationships. Journal of Adolescent Health. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/19708
Zapolski, T., Rowe, A. T., Fisher, S., Hensel, D. J., & Barnes-Najor, J. (2018). Peer victimization and substance use: Understanding the indirect effect of depressive symptomatology across gender. Addictive behaviors, 84, 160–166. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/21507
Woods, J. L., Hensel, D. J., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2018). More like him, me, or us: the impact of trait similarity on adolescent women’s sexual risk behaviors in relationships. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 30(4). https://hdl.handle.net/1805/18332
Edwards, L. L., Hunt, A., Cope-Barnes, D., Hensel, D. J., & Ott, M. A. (2018). Parent-Child Sexual Communication Among Middle School Youth. The Journal of Pediatrics, 199, 260–262. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/18012
McGregor, K. A., Hensel, D. J., Waltz, A. C., Molnar, E., & Ott, M. A. (2017). Adolescent Sexual Behavior Research: Perspectives of Investigators, IRB Members, and IRB Staff about Risk Categorization and IRB Approval. IRB, 39(4), 17–20. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/16417
Hensel, D. J., He, F., Harezlak, J., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2017). Daily diary study of adult men’s and women’s event-level sexual motivations and sexual behaviour. Sexual Health, 14(2), 147–154. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/14812
Zapolski, T.C.B., Fisher, S., Banks, D., Hensel, D., & Barnes-Najor, J. (2017). Examining the protective effect of ethnic identity on drug attitudes and use among a diverse youth population. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(8), 1702-1715. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/13968
Hensel, D. J., Selby, S., Tanner, A. E., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2016). A Daily Diary Analysis of Condom Breakage and Slippage during Vaginal Sex or Anal Sex among Adolescent Women. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 43(9), 531–536. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/15411
He, F., Hensel, D. J., Harezlak, J., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2016). Condom use as a function of number of coital events in new relationships. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 43(2), 67–70. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/13274
Taylor, J. L., Aalsma, M. C., Gilbert, A. L., Hensel, D. J., & Rickert, V. I. (2016). Perspectives of family medicine physicians on the importance of adolescent preventive care: a multivariate analysis. BMC Family Practice, 17, 4. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/9855
Hensel, D. J., Nance, J., & Fortenberry, J. D. (2016). The Association Between Sexual Health and Physical, Mental, and Social Health in Adolescent Women. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(4), 416–421. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/13016
Hensel, D. J., & Sorge, B. H. (2014). Adolescent Women’s Daily Academic Behaviors, Sexual Behaviors and Sexually-Related Emotions. The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 55(6), 845–847. https://hdl.handle.net/1805/11426