Scholars@Duke
Carri Polick

Carri Polick

Clinical Associate in the School of Nursing
School of Nursing

Selected Publications

Resilience, Mental Health, Sleep, and Smoking Mediate Pathways Between Lifetime Stressors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity.

Journal Article Sclerosis · December 2024 INTRODUCTION: Lifetime stressors (e.g., poverty, violence, discrimination) have been linked to features of multiple sclerosis (MS); yet mechanistic pathways and relationships with cumulative disease severity remain nebulous. Further, protective factors lik ... Full text Link to item Cite

Allostatic Load, Morbidity, and Mortality Among Older Adults: A Multi-Wave Analysis From the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Journal Article J Appl Gerontol · August 2024 Although allostatic load (AL) is a key concept to reflect physiologic wear and tear from stress, older adults are underrepresented in AL-related research, especially the oldest old (≥80). Further, attenuative factors are often unaccounted for. This longitu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Investigating disparities in smoking cessation treatment for veterans with multiple sclerosis: A national analysis.

Journal Article Brain Behav · May 2024 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Smoking is a risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS) development, symptom burden, decreased medication efficacy, and increased disease-related mortality. Veterans with MS (VwMS) smoke at critically high rates; however, treatment rates ... Full text Link to item Cite

Resilience, mental health, sleep, and smoking mediate pathways between lifetime stressors and Multiple Sclerosis severity.

Journal Article medRxiv · February 7, 2024 INTRO: Lifetime stressors (e.g., poverty, violence, discrimination) have been linked to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) features; yet mechanistic pathways and relationships with cumulative disease severity remain nebulous. Further, protective factors like resilien ... Full text Link to item Cite

Lifetime stressors relate to invisible symptoms of multiple sclerosis

Journal Article Exploration of Neuroprotective Therapy · January 1, 2024 Aim: Childhood stressors can increase adult stress perception and may accumulate over the lifespan to impact symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Growing evidence links childhood stressors (e.g., abuse, neglect) to fatigue, pain, and psychiatric morbidity ... Full text Cite

Associations among stressors across the lifespan, disability, and relapses in adults with multiple sclerosis.

Journal Article Brain and behavior · July 2023 IntroductionStress and adversity during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood could impact the present and future health and well-being of people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS); however, a lifespan approach and nuanced stressor data are scarce in ... Full text Cite

Service Workers' Experience and Perceptions of Workplace Protective Measures During the Onset of COVID-19.

Journal Article Workplace health & safety · March 2023 ObjectivesThe Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents a unique burden specifically for workers in service industries. However, limited research on service worker's experience during the onset of COVID-19 exists. We aimed to describe the expe ... Full text Cite

Fatigue, pain interference, and psychiatric morbidity in multiple sclerosis: The role of childhood stress.

Journal Article PloS one · January 2023 BackgroundMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive, autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that affects nearly one million Americans. Despite the existence of immunomodulatory therapies to slow physical and cognitive disability progressi ... Full text Cite

Relationships between childhood trauma and multiple sclerosis: A systematic review.

Journal Article Journal of psychosomatic research · September 2022 ObjectiveAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), such as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse trigger inflammatory changes and have been associated with many causes of morbidity and mortality, including autoimmune diseases. Although Multiple Sclero ... Full text Cite

Immigration-related stressors and health outcomes among low-wage immigrant hotel workers: A pilot study.

Journal Article Public health nursing (Boston, Mass.) · September 2022 BackgroundImmigrants comprise over 40% of the low-wage workforce. They are more likely to be employed in service industries, paid less, and experience more illness and injuries than their native counterparts.Design/objectiveThe aim of thi ... Full text Cite

The importance of assessing life stress exposure in multiple sclerosis: A case report.

Journal Article Multiple sclerosis and related disorders · September 2021 This case report describes associations between childhood adversity, adult stress exposure, and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) to highlight the intersection between mental health and neurological illness in persons with MS (PwMS). We focus on a high-adversity, hi ... Full text Cite

COVID-19 and mental health of food retail, food service, and hospitality workers.

Journal Article Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene · April 2021 The coronavirus pandemic has taken a detrimental toll on the lives of individuals globally. In addition to the direct effect (e.g., being infected with the virus), this pandemic has negatively ravaged many industries, particularly food retail, food service ... Full text Cite

The Impact of Pet Care Needs on Medical Decision-Making among Hospitalized Patients: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Patient Experience.

Journal Article Journal of patient experience · January 2021 Hospital-based protocols to support pet care needs for hospitalized patients may have potential to benefit patient health and wellbeing, but must be informed by experiences of hospitalized pet owners. The aim of this study was to determine the scope and ne ... Full text Cite