Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Adolescent co-occurring disorders treatment: clinicians' attitudes, values, and knowledge
- Authors:
- DENBY Ramona W., BRINSON Jesse A., AYALA Jessica
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Youth Services, 32(1), January 2011, pp.56-74.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
In the United States, over 1 million young people are in contact with the youth justice system. Eighty per cent of these are estimated to have some form of mental health disorder. To effectively intervene, youth justice workers must be able to detect such disorders, along with substance misuse. This study investigated 294 community-based clinicians’ attitudes, experiences, values, and knowledge relating to issues of co-occurring disorders, within the youth justice system. Findings indicated that clinicians self-rate their clinical values and attitudes at or above the expected level of competency, but they acknowledged that their skill and knowledge levels were not adequate. Comparison measures reveal that employment setting conditions, geographic region, hours worked per week, and strongly held convictions about the importance of integrated mental health and substance use disorders service delivery distinguish clinicians’ co-occurring disorders knowledge levels. Implications for practice are discussed.
Development of the illness perception questionnaire mental health
- Authors:
- WITTEMAN Cilia, BOLKS Lisabeth, HUTSCHEMAEKERS Giel
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 20(2), 2011, pp.115-125.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
It has been shown that influencing patients’ negative perceptions of their illnesses is conductive to recovery and effective coping with the illness. This article considers the effect of clients’ problem perceptions in mental health care, and describes the development of a brief instrument to chart the experience of clients with psychological problems. The aim of the study was to develop a concise general version of the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R), a questionnaire originally developed for somatic illness, to assess how clients experience their mental health problems. The IPQ-R was adapted to psychological complaints; in particular adaptations were required to the scales that assess clients' perceptions of what their problem actually is, and what its causes are. The adapted instrument, the IPQ-Mental Health (IPQ-MH), consists of 3 parts: the identity scale; the structure scale; and the cause scale. The IPQ-MH was administered to 274 mental health clients, and psychometric analyses subsequently performed over the scores. The results showed that the identity scale of the IPQ-MH differentiates different clients, and the cause scale reliably measures clients' attributions of causes to their mental problems. The structure scale of the IPQ-MH replicates that of the original IPQ-R. The article concludes that the IPQ-MH can reliably assess clients' mental health problem perceptions.
Mental health literacy among university students
- Authors:
- FURNHAM Adrian, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Public Mental Health, 10(4), 2011, pp.198-210.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This paper investigated the mental health literacy of 400 university students from the UK. Participants indicated their knowledge of over 90 psychiatric illnesses, and rated disorders on six questions concerning whether they had heard of the disorder knew, anybody with it, could define or describe it, knew what causes it, whether those with it can be cured, and whether it is common. Findings revealed that, overall, participants had heard of just over one-third of the various illnesses. Those who rated the conditions as more common deemed them to have more known causes and to be more curable. Emotionally intelligent, open-to-experience females who had studied relevant academic subjects claimed to be better informed. The participant's age and personality, as well as whether they had studied clinical psychology, were related to their awareness of psychiatric illnesses.
The influence of professional identity and the private practice environment: attitudes of clinical social workers toward addressing the social support needs of clients
- Authors:
- GROVES Laura C., KERSON Toba Schwaber
- Journal article citation:
- Smith College Studies in Social Work, 81(2-3), 2011, pp.218-233.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Social support affects the course of depression and other mental illnesses. Social work is associated with social support, being informed by the ecological perspective, and it would therefore be expected that social support would be a primary focus in clinical social work. The aim of this study was to explore how clinical social workers in private practice settings address the social support needs of their clients. Data were gathered through 6 focus groups comprising 30 clinical social workers. Follow-up interviews were then conducted with 11 of these participants. Themes included understanding the meaning of social support, social support’s relationship to mental health, assessing social support, interventions and specific techniques to enhance social support, therapist’s attitudes towards addressing various types of social support needs, and the relationship between professional identity and attitudes and behaviours regarding addressing social support. The findings indicate that the social workers understand the importance of addressing these needs. However, because of concerns about status, identity and reimbursement, they tend to avoid case-management-like tasks despite their intrinsic understanding of the social support value of these services. Recommendations for practice are provided.
Public perceptions, knowledge and stigma towards people with schizophrenia
- Authors:
- SMITH Valerie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Public Mental Health, 10(1), 2011, pp.45-56.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Schizophrenia is a complex mental illness, and a significant portion of the general public holds stigmatising attitudes towards people with schizophrenia. Using questionnaires to gather information from undergraduates attending a school in the southwest United States, this study aimed to examine the perceptions and attitudes of young non-professionals towards people with schizophrenia. The article presents analysis of the results of the survey, undertaken with 330 undergraduates (approximate average age 23 years) during the 2007 academic year. The findings were that those with higher knowledge about schizophrenia and family members with schizophrenia reported higher levels of tolerance. However, participants with a family member diagnosed with mental illness reported less social distance comfort to persons with schizophrenia as opposed to those without mental illness in the family. Gender differences indicated that women held more tolerant attitudes toward schizophrenia than men.
Attitudes to health promotion interventions among patients in mental health services – differences in relation to socio-demographic, clinical and health-related variables
- Author:
- SVEDBERG Petra
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 20(2), 2011, pp.126-135.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
The global burden of mental illness is high, with mental illness affecting 1 in 4 people at some stage during their lives. The high social and economic costs of poor mental health have contributed to a growing recognition of the need for health promotion interventions in mental health services. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in patients' attitudes to health promotion interventions with regard to socio-demographic, clinical and health-related variables. The participants were 141 outpatients in contact with 8 community mental health service units in the county of Halland, Sweden. The participants rated their attitudes to the concept of health promotion interventions in accordance to the Health Promotion Intervention Questionnaire (HPIQ). The results show a clear indication that there are gender differences in attitudes of health promotion interventions in mental health services, with females rating overall health promotion interventions as more important than males did. The article concludes that gender issues have to be considered in health promotion interventions in mental health services and taken into account in the assessment, planning and delivery of the interventions as well as the evaluation of outcomes.
Between a rock and a hard place? Locus of control, religious problem-solving and psychological help-seeking
- Authors:
- ANDREWS Shinquina, SREFURAK James Tres, MEHTA Sheila
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Religion and Culture, 14(9), 2011, pp.855-876.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
An in-depth understanding of help-seeking is essential to the proliferation and effective delivery of services in the mental health professions. Drawing on a college and community sample, this study used hierarchical multiple regression to examine the relative contributions of demographic variables, psychological treatment experience, religious service attendance, locus of control, and religious problem-solving style in predicting attitudes towards psychological help-seeking. Participants were recruited from a small public university and church congregations in Alabama. The final sample consisted of 189 participants (80% female; mean age 35.6 years). Women, those holding a graduate degree, and those with treatment experience held more positive attitudes towards psychological help-seeking. While neither the locus of control nor religious problem-solving scales alone were related to help-seeking, several significant interaction effects were observed. God-centred locus of control was a positive predictor of psychological help-seeking, but only for older participants. Chance locus of control was a negative predictor, but only for graduate degree holders. Finally, self-directing religious problem-solving style was a negative predictor, especially for individuals also endorsing a deferring religious problem-solving style. The authors note that the sample largely consisted of educated, religious, African-American women.
Meeting the training needs of staff working with older people with dual diagnosis
- Authors:
- SAXTON Louise, LANCASHIRE Stuart, KIPPING Cheryl
- Journal article citation:
- Advances in Dual Diagnosis, 4(1), 2011, pp.36-46.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Dual diagnosis initiatives, particularly those related to training, have largely focused on working age adults. Professionals working with older people need to identify whether dual diagnosis is present and provide effective assessment and treatment, but they often lack knowledge, skills and confidence in working with this group. This paper describes the development and preliminary evaluation of a 5-day course designed to meet the needs of staff working with older people who have a dual diagnosis. The course was designed to provide Level 1 (‘core’) and Level 2 (‘generalist’) competencies for staff working in mental health of older adults (MHOA) services. The training was intended for practitioners in a variety of clinical roles. It was taught using a range of methods including didactic presentations, small group discussions, videos, exercises, role-play, homework and clinical supervision. Evaluation of the course involved a short battery of self-report questionnaires aiming to assess changes to knowledge, confidence and attitudes which were completed prior to and on completion of training. The students' perceptions of the quality of the programme were also obtained. The evaluation indicated that significant changes were achieved in knowledge and confidence after the course. Although there were some changes in attitudes these did not reach significance.
More to it than stigma: the multiple ways young people make sense of mental illness
- Author:
- LINDLEY Emma
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Today, May 2011, pp.29-33.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
Data from a qualitative study is presented that explored how secondary school pupils make sense of mental illness. A group 10 pupils aged 14-15 took part in a programme of activities over a school year, which included group discussions and workshops. The study also assessed how talking about mental health with peers may impact on young people's understanding of the subject. The study found that young people's understanding of mental illness is complex. Issues discussed include: language used to discuss mental health; the tension experienced by doing the right thing and doing what others do; difficulties in dealing with, and attitudes towards, behaviour that is unfamiliar. The article concludes by calling for a recognition of this complexity in any anti-stigma education.
Knowledge of and attitudes towards behavioral health services among older youth in the foster care system
- Authors:
- MUNSON Michelle R., NARENDORF Sarah Carter, McMILLEN J. Curtis
- Journal article citation:
- Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 28(2), April 2011, pp.97-112.
- Publisher:
- Springer
This study examined knowledge of and attitudes toward services among 268 17-year olds with psychiatric diagnoses preparing to exit foster care. A structured interview assessed knowledge of services with vignette scenarios and attitudes with a standardized scale. Descriptive statistics described the extent of knowledge and attitudes among this population and regression analyses examined predictors of these dimensions of literacy. Most youth suggested a help source, but responses often lacked specificity. Gender and depression were the strongest predictors of knowledge and attitudes, respectively. Knowing which aspects of literacy are low, and for whom, can inform education efforts to improve access to care in adulthood.