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Sheila

Barnhart

Associate Professor
653 Patterson Office Tower
859-323-7282

sheila.barnhart@uky.edu

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Scholars@UK Profile

Areas of Expertise

  • Maternal, Child, and Family Health and Well-being
  • Individual and Community Resilience
  • Social Environment and Health
  • Social Work in Health Care Settings
  • Needs and Social Conditions of Single Mothers

Highlighted Publications

  • Adekunle, A. D., Harp, K. L., Al-Abdali, Z. G., Critchfield, A. S., Barnhart, S., & Winter, K. T. (2022). Reported Barriers to Hepatitis C Treatment among Pregnant and Early-Parenting Mothers Undergoing Substance Use Disorder Treatment in One US State. Infectious Disease Reports, 14(1), 1-11.
  • Gearhart, M. C., Bender, A., Barnhart, S., & Berg, K. (2021). Exploring Police-Initiated Post-Traumatic Stress Symptomatology, Depression, and Anxiety Using Factor Analysis. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 1-14.
  • Garcia, A., Kim, M., & Barnhart, S. (2021). Do Mental Health Services Influence Child Welfare Involvement among Juvenile Justice System Involved Youth. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 1-14.
  • Miller, J. J., Barnhart, S., Robinson, T. D., Pryor, M. D., & Arnett, K. D. (2021). Assuaging COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Among Mental Health Clinicians: The Potential of Self-Care. Clinical Social Work Journal, 49(4), 505-514.
  • Kim, M., Barnhart, S., Garcia, A. R., Jung, N., & Wu, C. (2021). Changes in Mental Health Service Use over a Decade: Evidence from Two Cohorts of Youth Involved in the Child Welfare System. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 1-15.
  • Feld, H., Barnhart, S., Wiggins, A. T., & Ashford, K. (2021). Social support reduces the risk of unintended pregnancy in a low‐income population. Public Health Nursing. (In press). Public Health Nursing.
  • Maguire-Jack, K., Font, S., Dillard, R., Dvalishvili, D., & Barnhart, S. (2021). Neighborhood Poverty and Adverse Childhood Experiences over the First 15 Years of Life. International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice, 4(1), 93-114.
  • Gearhart, M., Bender, A., Barnhart, S., Berg, K., & Jones, C. (2021). Youth Profiles of Police-Initiated Post-Traumatic Stress Symptomatology. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal.
  • Giger, J. T., Barnhart, S., Feltner, F., Slone, M., Lawler, M. J., Windsor, L., & Windsor, A. (2021). Validating the eHealth Literacy Scale in Rural Adolescents. The Journal of Rural Health, 37(3), 504-516.
  • Barnhart, S., Kilty, K. M., & Loeffler, D. (2021). Family Structure as a Social Determinant of Child Health. Journal of Poverty, 25(2), 138-154.
  • Kim, M., Garcia, A. R., Jung, N., & Barnhart, S. (2020). Rates and Predictors of Mental Health Service Use among Dual System Youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 105024.

Current Projects

  • Socioeconomic Circumstances, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Family Environmental influence of Adolescent Health and Well-being
  • The Family Stress Model and Health and Well-being among Hispanic/Latinx Families
  • Child, Adolescent, and Family Mechanisms of Resilience in Health and Well-being

Alma Mater

  • The Ohio State University – PhD in Social Work

Get to Know Dr. Barnhart

Dr. Barnhart’s research centers on identifying sources of resilience to promote maternal, child, and family well-being and assuage health inequities. As a driven Latina scholar, her work is greatly inspired by personalismo and familismo; values that prize collectivism and mutual support. Dr. Barnhart believes these may serve as salient protective factors against adverse health and well-being outcomes, especially among marginalized groups. Her prior professional clinical social work practice experience of more than 10 years also informs my strengths-based lens to identify resilience factors that avert or attenuate risk factors for adverse health and wellbeing. She is a 2021- 2023 UK Disparities Researchers Equalizing Access for Minorities (DREAM) Scholar and a member of the nationally renowned Child Well-Being Research Network. Dr. Barnhart has extensive experience in using advanced quantitative methods including multiple regression, confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance testing, and structural equation modeling. She values interdisciplinary collaborations and team science, and is a member of the UK Perinatal Research and Wellness Center. She is passionate about the advancement of Social Work education. Dr. Barnhart has developed an online master’s level course and teaches practice courses in the MSW program. She also mentors several doctoral students and serves/has served on several doctoral student committees.