UPB Professor Presents Original Research

Tammy Haley, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, presented her research on the use of a screening to diagnose anxiety in rural adolescents.

Haley presented her research at the National Conference for Nurse Practitioners and at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing Ph.D. Program Second Annual Research Day.

Haley explained that she examined rural data for results of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related to Emotional Disorders (SCARED) to see if it was a valid and reliable tool in detecting anxiety in rural adolescent populations as it is in urban.

She said that the SCARED was developed at the Western Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh and had been tested primarily with urban populations.

“Any time you take something from one population to another, there may be differences,” Haley said. Haley said that she determined the screening is as valid for high school-age students in a rural area as it is in an urban area.

The SCARED evaluates different types of anxiety common among young people: panic, separation anxiety, school anxiety, general anxiety and social anxiety.

While the prevalence of anxiety disorders is not greater in a rural population, there is less access to mental health care than in urban areas, Haley said, adding that nearly three-fourths of federally designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas are in rural communities.

“When we don’t have great resources, it’s really important to screen well so that we can refer those who need it,” she said.

Haley is the coordinator of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Pitt-Bradford. She holds a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh and is working toward earning a Ph.D. in nursing from the Pitt School of Nursing and a Master of Public Health degree from the Pitt School of Public Health.