McNair Scholar 2021 Muna Bishar
Muna Bishar is a senior at the University of Minnesota studying Health Service Management with a minor in Public Health. Muna is interested in women’s health and exploring how she can improve patient care services for maternal and child health in underserved communities. Other research interest is to learn more about trauma and its mental health outcomes.
My dream is to earn my Ph.D. I want to use my degree to succeed in my goal in starting my own non-profit organization in maternal and child health in underserved communities.
Research project
Perceptions of Childhood Emotional Abuse Among Psychologists, Students, and the General Public
Abstract: The purpose of the study is to bring attention to the under-recognized impact of childhood abuse. The identified groups for the study were psychologists, college students, and the general public. The study used a cross-sectional survey design that included eight case stories of adverse childhood experiences. Participants assessed eight case stories, in which five did not meet the definition of childhood abuse. Informed consent, case stories, and surveys were completed via Qualtrics. The study assessed the similarities and differences of rated severity of abuse among the three groups by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVAs). Findings suggested that the general public’s mean ratings of abuse were higher than psychologists and students. Participants also self-reported their childhood trauma experiences, in which experiences of emotional abuse were equal among all groups, although the general public experienced significantly more of all other forms of abuse. Future studies should examine if compounding forms of abuse might have related to how individuals perceive abuse, especially among psychologists in training whose clients might benefit from their understanding of abuse severity. This study hopes to address the misconceptions around emotional abuse and to bring unseen or unacknowledged forms of abuse to light.
Faculty mentor
Viann Nguyen-Feng is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She serves as core faculty in the counseling/clinical masters program and directs the Mind-Body Trauma Care Lab. Viann grew up in Alexandria, Virginia and moved to Minnesota for her counseling psychology PhD at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.