Developing a mental health care plan in a low resource setting: the theory of change approach.

PubMed

Hailemariam, Maji; Fekadu, Abebaw; Selamu, Medhin; Alem, Atalay; Medhin, Girmay; Giorgis, Tedla Wolde; DeSilva, Mary; Breuer, Erica

2015-09-28

Scaling up mental healthcare through integration into primary care remains the main strategy to address the extensive unmet mental health need in low-income countries. For integrated care to achieve its goal, a clear understanding of the organisational processes that can promote and hinder the integration and delivery of mental health care is essential. Theory of Change (ToC), a method employed in the planning, implementation and evaluation of complex community initiatives, is an innovative approach that has the potential to assist in the development of a comprehensive mental health care plan (MHCP), which can inform the delivery of integrated care. We used the ToC approach to develop a MHCP in a rural district in Ethiopia. The work was part of a cross-country study, the Programme for Improving Mental Health Care (PRIME) which focuses on developing evidence on the integration of mental health in to primary care. An iterative ToC development process was undertaken involving multiple workshops with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds that included representatives from the community, faith and traditional healers, community associations, non-governmental organisations, Zonal, Regional and Federal level government offices, higher education institutions, social work and mental health specialists (psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses). The objective of this study is to report the process of implementing the ToC approach in developing mental health care plan. A total of 46 persons participated in four ToC workshops. Four critical path dimensions were identified: community, health facility, administrative and higher level care organisation. The ToC participants were actively engaged in the process and the ToC encouraged strong commitment among participants. Key opportunities and barriers to implementation and how to overcome these were suggested. During the workshops, a map incorporating the key agreed outcomes and outcome indicators was developed and finalized later. The ToC approach was found to be an important component in the development of the MHCP and to encourage broad political support for the integration of mental health services into primary care. The method may have broader applicability in planning complex health interventions in low resource settings.

Sex differences in a chronometric mental rotation test with cube figures: a behavioral, electroencephalography, and eye-tracking pilot study.

PubMed

Scheer, Clara; Mattioni Maturana, Felipe; Jansen, Petra

2018-05-07

In chronometric mental rotation tasks, sex differences are widely discussed. Most studies find men to be more skilled in mental rotation than women, which can be explained by the holistic strategy that they use to rotate stimuli. Women are believed to apply a piecemeal strategy. So far, there have been no studies investigating this phenomenon using eye-tacking methods in combination with electroencephalography (EEG) analysis: the present study compared behavioral responses, EEG activity, and eye movements of 15 men and 15 women while solving a three-dimensional chronometric mental rotation test. The behavioral analysis showed neither differences in reaction time nor in the accuracy rate between men and women. The EEG data showed a higher right activation on parietal electrodes for women and the eye-tracking results indicated a longer fixation in a higher number of areas of interest at 0° for women. Men and women are likely to possess different perceptual (visual search) and decision-making mechanisms, but similar mental rotation processes. Furthermore, men presented a longer visual search processing, characterized by the greater saccade latency of 0°-135°. Generally, this study could be considered a pilot study to investigate sex differences in mental rotation tasks while combining eye-tracking and EEG methods.

A Study of Mental Health Literacy Among North Korean Refugees in South Korea

PubMed Central

Noh, Jin-Won; Kwon, Young Dae; Yu, Sieun; Park, Hyunchun; Woo, Jong-Min

2015-01-01

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate North Korean refugees’ knowledge of mental illnesses and treatments and analyze the factors affecting this knowledge. Methods: Subjects were selected via a snowball sampling method, and the survey outcomes of 152 North Korean refugee participants were analyzed. The factors affecting knowledge of mental illnesses were analyzed via a regression analysis by constructing a multivariate model with mental illness knowledge score as the dependent variable. Results: The North Korean refugees’ mental illness scores ranged from 3 to 24 points, with an average score of 13.0. Regarding the factors that influence mental illness knowledge, the subjects with South Korean spouses and those who had spent more time in South Korea had higher knowledge scores. Furthermore, the subjects who considered the mental health of North Korean refugees to be a serious issue revealed lower knowledge scores than those who did not believe it was a serious issue. The subjects who visit psychiatric clinics showed higher knowledge scores than those who do not. The South Korean subjects who had at least a college education exhibited higher scores than did those without advanced education. The subjects who are satisfied with life in South Korea manifested a higher mental illness knowledge score than those who are not. Conclusions: This study is significant as being the first study to ever measure and evaluate the level of North Korean refugees’ knowledge of mental illnesses. In addition, the evaluations of North Korean refugees’ mental illness knowledge and influencing factors while residing in South Korea created basic data that formed the foundation of an effort to enhance mental health literacy and provide proper mental health services. The results of this study can be utilized to solve mental health problems that might frequently occur during the unification process of North and South Korea in the future. PMID:25652712

The moderating role of centrality on associations between ethnic identity affirmation and ethnic minority college students' mental health.

PubMed

Brittian, Aerika S; Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J; Lee, Richard M; Zamboanga, Byron L; Kim, Su Yeong; Weisskirch, Robert S; Castillo, Linda G; Whitbourne, Susan Krauss; Hurley, Eric A; Huynh, Que-Lam; Brown, Elissa J; Caraway, S Jean

2013-01-01

Prior literature has shown that ethnic affirmation, one aspect of ethnic identity, is positively associated with mental health. However, the associations between ethnic affirmation and mental health may vary depending how much importance individuals place on their ethnic group membership (ie, centrality). Using path analysis, the current study examined the relations between ethnic affirmation and indices of mental health problems (ie, anxiety and depressive symptoms), and tested whether the process was moderated by ethnic centrality among 3,659 college students representing 3 ethnic groups (41% Latino/a, 35% Asian American, and 24% African American) who participated in a large, multisite university study. Results suggested that the associations between ethnic affirmation and mental health were stronger for Latino/a and Asian American students who reported higher levels of ethnic centrality. For African Americans, higher levels of ethnic affirmation predicted better mental health, but this association did not vary as a function of ethnic centrality.

Subjective scaling of mental workload in a multi-task environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daryanian, B.

1982-01-01

Those factors in a multi-task environment that contribute to the operators' "sense" of mental workload were identified. The subjective judgment as conscious experience of mental effort was decided to be the appropriate method of measurement. Thurstone's law of comparative judgment was employed in order to construct interval scales of subjective mental workload from paired comparisons data. An experimental paradigm (Simulated Multi-Task Decision-Making Environment) was employed to represent the ideal experimentally controlled environment in which human operators were asked to "attend" to different cases of Tulga's decision making tasks. Through various statistical analyses it was found that, in general, a lower number of tasks-to-be-processed per unit time (a condition associated with longer interarrival times), results in a lower mental workload, a higher consistency of judgments within a subject, a higher degree of agreement among the subjects, and larger distances between the cases on the Thurstone scale of subjective mental workload. The effects of various control variables and their interactions, and the different characteristics of the subjects on the variation of subjective mental workload are demonstrated.

Facility based cross-sectional study of self stigma among people with mental illness: towards patient empowerment approach

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Self stigma among people with mental illness results from multiple cognitive and environmental factors and processes. It can negatively affect adherence to psychiatric services, self esteem, hope, social integration and quality of life of people with mental illness. The purpose of this study was to measure the level of self stigma and its correlates among people with mental illness at Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Psychiatry clinic in southwest Ethiopia. Methods Facility based cross-sectional study was conducted on 422 consecutive samples of people with mental illness using interviewer administered and pretested internalized stigma of mental illness (ISMI) scale. Data was entered using EPI-DATA and analysis was done using STATA software. Bivariate and multivariate linear regressions were done to identify correlates of self stigma. Results On a scale ranging from 1 to 4, the mean self stigma score was 2.32 (SD = 0.30). Females had higher self stigma (std. β = 0.11, P < 0.05) than males. Patients with a history of traditional treatment had higher self stigma (std. β = 0.11, P < 0.05). There was an inverse relationship between level of education and self-stigma (std. β = −0.17, P < 0.01). Perceived signs (std. β = 0.13, P < 0.05) and supernatural causes of mental illness (std. β = 0.16, P < 0.01) were positively correlated with self stigma. Higher number of drug side effects were positively correlated (std. β = 0.15, P < 0.05) while higher self esteem was negatively correlated (std. β = −0.14, P < 0.01) with self stigma. Conclusions High feeling of inferiority (alienation) but less agreement with common stereotypes (stereotype endorsement) was found. Female showed higher self stigma than male. History of traditional treatment and higher perceived supernatural explanation of mental illness were associated with higher self stigma. Drug side effects and perceived signs of mental illness were correlated with increased self stigma while education and self esteem decreased self stigma among people with mental illness. Patient empowerment psychosocial interventions and strategies to reduce drug side effects can be helpful in reducing self stigma among people with mental illnesses. PMID:24004512

Spatio-temporal brain activity related to rotation method during a mental rotation task of three-dimensional objects: an MEG study.

PubMed

Kawamichi, Hiroaki; Kikuchi, Yoshiaki; Ueno, Shoogo

2007-09-01

During mental rotation tasks, subjects perform mental simulation to solve tasks. However, detailed neural mechanisms underlying mental rotation of three-dimensional (3D) objects, particularly, whether higher motor areas related to mental simulation are activated, remain unknown. We hypothesized that environmental monitoring-a process based on environmental information and is included in motor execution-is as a key factor affecting the utilization of higher motor areas. Therefore, using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we measured spatio-temporal brain activities during two types (two-dimensional (2D) and 3D rotation tasks) of mental rotation of 3D objects. Only the 3D rotation tasks required subjects to mentally rotate objects in a depth plane with visualization of hidden parts of the visual stimuli by acquiring and retrieving 3D information. In cases showing significant differences in the averaged activities at 100-ms intervals between the two rotations, the activities were located in the right dorsal premotor (PMd) at approximately 500 ms. In these cases, averaged activities during 3D rotation were greater than those during 2D rotation, implying that the right PMd activities are related to environmental monitoring. During 3D rotation, higher activities were observed from 200 to 300 ms in the left PMd and from 400 to 700 ms in the right PMd. It is considered that the left PMd is related to primary motor control, whereas the right PMd plays a supplementary role during mental simulation. Further, during 3D rotation, late higher activities related to mental simulation are observed in the right superior parietal lobule (SPL), which is connected to PMd.

Hispanic Caregivers of Adults with Mental Retardation: Importance of Family Functioning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magana, Sandra; Schwartz, Seth J.; Rubert, Mark P.; Szapocznik, Jose

2006-01-01

Our aim in this study was to validate a stress-process model for Hispanic caregivers of adults with mental retardation that incorporates family functioning. The model postulates that maladaptive adult behaviors are related to poorer family relationships and higher levels of family burden, which in turn is related to caregiver psychological…

Divided attention and mental effort after severe traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Azouvi, Philippe; Couillet, Josette; Leclercq, Michel; Martin, Yves; Asloun, Sybille; Rousseaux, Marc

2004-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess dual-task performance in TBI patients, under different experimental conditions, with or without explicit emphasis on one of two tasks. Results were compared with measurement of the subjective mental effort required to perform each task. Forty-three severe TBI patients at the subacute or chronic phase performed two tasks under single- and dual-task conditions: (a) random generation; (b) visual go-no go reaction time task. Three dual-task conditions were given, requiring either to consider both tasks as equally important or to focus preferentially on one of them. Patients were compared to matched controls. Subjective mental effort was rated on a visual analogic scale. TBI patients showed a disproportionate increase in reaction time in the go-no go task under the dual-task condition. However, they were just as able as controls to adapt performance to the specific instructions about the task to be emphasised. Patients reported significantly higher subjective mental effort, but the variation of mental effort according to task condition was similar to that of controls. These results suggest that the divided attention deficit of TBI patients is related to a reduction in available processing resources rather than an impairment of strategic processes responsible for attentional allocation and switching. The higher level of subjective mental effort may explain why TBI patients frequently complain of mental fatigue, although this subjective complaint seems to be relatively independent of cognitive impairment.

Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: Conceptual Issues and Research Evidence

PubMed Central

Meyer, Ilan H.

2007-01-01

In this article the author reviews research evidence on the prevalence of mental disorders in lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) and shows, using meta-analyses, that LGBs have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals. The author offers a conceptual framework for understanding this excess in prevalence of disorder in terms of minority stress—explaining that stigma, prejudice, and discrimination create a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental health problems. The model describes stress processes, including the experience of prejudice events, expectations of rejection, hiding and concealing, internalized homophobia, and ameliorative coping processes. This conceptual framework is the basis for the review of research evidence, suggestions for future research directions, and exploration of public policy implications. PMID:12956539

The impairing effects of mental fatigue on response inhibition: An ERP study

PubMed Central

Guo, Zizheng; Chen, Ruiya; Liu, Xian; Zheng, Yan; Gong, Mingliang; Zhang, Jun

2018-01-01

Mental fatigue is one of the main reasons for the decline of response inhibition. This study aimed to explore the impairing influence of mental fatigue on a driver’s response inhibition. The effects of mental fatigue on response inhibition were assessed by comparing brain activity and behavioral indices when performing a Go/NoGo task before and after a 90-min fatigue manipulation task. Participants in the driving group performed a simulated driving task, while individuals in the control group spent the same time watching movies. We found that participants in the driving group reported higher levels of mental fatigue and had a higher percentage of eye closure and larger lateral deviations from their lane positions, which indicated there was effective manipulation of mental fatigue through a prolonged simulated driving task. After manipulation of mental fatigue, we observed increased reaction time and miss rates, delayed NoGo-N2 latency and Go-P3 latency, and decreased NoGo-P3 amplitude, which indicated that mental fatigue may slow down the speed of the inhibition process, delay the evaluation of visual stimuli and reduce the availability of attentional resources. These findings revealed the underlying neurological mechanisms of how mental fatigue impaired response inhibition. PMID:29856827

Interrelationships between trait anxiety, situational stress and mental effort predict phonological processing efficiency, but not effectiveness.

PubMed

Edwards, Elizabeth J; Edwards, Mark S; Lyvers, Michael

2016-08-01

Attentional control theory (ACT) describes the mechanisms associated with the relationship between anxiety and cognitive performance. We investigated the relationship between cognitive trait anxiety, situational stress and mental effort on phonological performance using a simple (forward-) and complex (backward-) word span task. Ninety undergraduate students participated in the study. Predictor variables were cognitive trait anxiety, indexed using questionnaire scores; situational stress, manipulated using ego threat instructions; and perceived level of mental effort, measured using a visual analogue scale. Criterion variables (a) performance effectiveness (accuracy) and (b) processing efficiency (accuracy divided by response time) were analyzed in separate multiple moderated-regression analyses. The results revealed (a) no relationship between the predictors and performance effectiveness, and (b) a significant 3-way interaction on processing efficiency for both the simple and complex tasks, such that at higher effort, trait anxiety and situational stress did not predict processing efficiency, whereas at lower effort, higher trait anxiety was associated with lower efficiency at high situational stress, but not at low situational stress. Our results were in full support of the assumptions of ACT and implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Adult Spinal Deformity Patients Recall Fewer Than 50% of the Risks Discussed in the Informed Consent Process Preoperatively and the Recall Rate Worsens Significantly in the Postoperative Period.

PubMed

Saigal, Rajiv; Clark, Aaron J; Scheer, Justin K; Smith, Justin S; Bess, Shay; Mummaneni, Praveen V; McCarthy, Ian M; Hart, Robert A; Kebaish, Khaled M; Klineberg, Eric O; Deviren, Vedat; Schwab, Frank; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Ames, Christopher P

2015-07-15

Recall of the informed consent process in patients undergoing adult spinal deformity surgery and their family members was investigated prospectively. To quantify the percentage recall of the most common complications discussed during the informed consent process in adult spinal deformity surgery, assess for differences between patients and family members, and correlate with mental status. Given high rates of complications in adult spinal deformity surgery, it is critical to shared decision making that patients are adequately informed about risks and are able to recall preoperative discussion of possible complications to mitigate medical legal risk. Patients undergoing adult spinal deformity surgery underwent an augmented informed consent process involving both verbal and video explanations. Recall of the 11 most common complications was scored. Mental status was assessed with the mini-mental status examination-brief version. Patients subjectively scored the informed consent process and video. After surgery, the recall test and mini-mental status examination-brief version were readministered at 5 additional time points: hospital discharge, 6 to 8 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Family members were assessed at the first 3 time points for comparison. Fifty-six patients enrolled. Despite ranking the consent process as important (median overall score: 10/10; video score: 9/10), median patient recall was only 45% immediately after discussion and video re-enforcement and subsequently declined to 18% at 6 to 8 weeks and 1 year postoperatively. Median family recall trended higher at 55% immediately and 36% at 6 to 8 weeks postoperatively. The perception of the severity of complications significantly differs between patient and surgeon. Mental status scores showed a transient, significant decrease from preoperation to discharge but were significantly higher at 1 year. Despite being well-informed in an optimized informed consent process, patients cannot recall most surgical risks discussed and recall declines over time. Significant progress remains to improve informed consent retention. 3.

Depression Screening Using Daily Mental-Health Ratings from a Smartphone Application for Breast Cancer Patients.

PubMed

Kim, Junetae; Lim, Sanghee; Min, Yul Ha; Shin, Yong-Wook; Lee, Byungtae; Sohn, Guiyun; Jung, Kyung Hae; Lee, Jae-Ho; Son, Byung Ho; Ahn, Sei Hyun; Shin, Soo-Yong; Lee, Jong Won

2016-08-04

Mobile mental-health trackers are mobile phone apps that gather self-reported mental-health ratings from users. They have received great attention from clinicians as tools to screen for depression in individual patients. While several apps that ask simple questions using face emoticons have been developed, there has been no study examining the validity of their screening performance. In this study, we (1) evaluate the potential of a mobile mental-health tracker that uses three daily mental-health ratings (sleep satisfaction, mood, and anxiety) as indicators for depression, (2) discuss three approaches to data processing (ratio, average, and frequency) for generating indicator variables, and (3) examine the impact of adherence on reporting using a mobile mental-health tracker and accuracy in depression screening. We analyzed 5792 sets of daily mental-health ratings collected from 78 breast cancer patients over a 48-week period. Using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) as the measure of true depression status, we conducted a random-effect logistic panel regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to evaluate the screening performance of the mobile mental-health tracker. In addition, we classified patients into two subgroups based on their adherence level (higher adherence and lower adherence) using a k-means clustering algorithm and compared the screening accuracy between the two groups. With the ratio approach, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) is 0.8012, indicating that the performance of depression screening using daily mental-health ratings gathered via mobile mental-health trackers is comparable to the results of PHQ-9 tests. Also, the AUC is significantly higher (P=.002) for the higher adherence group (AUC=0.8524) than for the lower adherence group (AUC=0.7234). This result shows that adherence to self-reporting is associated with a higher accuracy of depression screening. Our results support the potential of a mobile mental-health tracker as a tool for screening for depression in practice. Also, this study provides clinicians with a guideline for generating indicator variables from daily mental-health ratings. Furthermore, our results provide empirical evidence for the critical role of adherence to self-reporting, which represents crucial information for both doctors and patients.

Mood stability versus mood instability in bipolar disorder: A possible role for emotional mental imagery

PubMed Central

Holmes, Emily A.; Deeprose, Catherine; Fairburn, Christopher G.; Wallace-Hadrill, Sophie M.A.; Bonsall, Michael B.; Geddes, John R.; Goodwin, Guy M.

2011-01-01

A cognitive model of bipolar disorder suggests that mental imagery acts as an emotional amplifier of mood and may be heightened in bipolar disorder. First, we tested whether patients with bipolar disorder would score higher on mental imagery measures than a matched healthy control group. Second, we examined differences in imagery between patients divided into groups according to their level of mood stability. Mood ratings over approximately 6-months, made using a mobile phone messaging system, were used to divide patients into stable or unstable groups. Clinician decisions of mood stability were corroborated with statistical analysis. Results showed (I) compared to healthy controls, patients with bipolar disorder had significantly higher scores for general mental imagery use, more vivid imagery of future events, higher levels of intrusive prospective imagery, and more extreme imagery-based interpretation bias; (II) compared to patients with stable mood, patients with unstable mood had higher levels of intrusive prospective imagery, and this correlated highly with their current levels of anxiety and depression. The findings were consistent with predictions. Further investigation of imagery in bipolar disorder appears warranted as it may highlight processes that contribute to mood instability with relevance for cognitive behaviour therapy. PMID:21798515

Which types of mental work demands may be associated with reduced risk of dementia?

PubMed

Then, Francisca S; Luck, Tobias; Heser, Kathrin; Ernst, Annette; Posselt, Tina; Wiese, Birgitt; Mamone, Silke; Brettschneider, Christian; König, Hans-Helmut; Weyerer, Siegfried; Werle, Jochen; Mösch, Edelgard; Bickel, Horst; Fuchs, Angela; Pentzek, Michael; Maier, Wolfgang; Scherer, Martin; Wagner, Michael; Riedel-Heller, Steffi G

2017-04-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that an overall high level of mental work demands decreased dementia risk. In our study, we investigated whether this effect is driven by specific mental work demands and whether it is exposure dependent. Patients aged 75+ years were recruited from general practitioners and participated in up to seven assessment waves (every 1.5 years) of the longitudinal AgeCoDe study. Analyses of the impact of specific mental work demands on dementia risk were carried out via multivariate regression modeling (n = 2315). We observed a significantly lower dementia risk in individuals with a higher level of "information processing" (HR, 0.888), "pattern detection" (HR, 0.878), "mathematics" (HR, 0.878), and "creativity" (HR, 0.878). Yet, exposure-dependent effects were only significant for "information processing" and "pattern detection." Our longitudinal observations suggest that dementia risk may be reduced by some but not all types of mental work demands. Copyright © 2016 the Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Parental Rejection Following Sexual Orientation Disclosure: Impact on Internalized Homophobia, Social Support, and Mental Health.

PubMed

Puckett, Julia A; Woodward, Eva N; Mereish, Ethan H; Pantalone, David W

2015-09-01

Sexual minority individuals face unique stressors because of their sexual identity. We explored associations between parental reactions to children's coming out, internalized homophobia (IH), social support, and mental health in a sample of 257 sexual minority adults. Path analyses revealed that higher IH and lower social support mediated the association between past parental rejection and current psychological distress. Mental health providers may benefit clients by utilizing interventions that challenge internalized stereotypes about homosexuality, increase social support, and process parental rejection, as well as focusing on how certain crucial experiences of rejection may impact clients' IH and mental health.

Sense of agency and mentalizing: dissociation of subdomains of social cognition in patients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Schimansky, Jenny; David, Nicole; Rössler, Wulf; Haker, Helene

2010-06-30

The sense of agency, i.e., the sense that "I am the one who is causing an action", and mentalizing, the ability to understand the mental states of other individuals, are key domains of social cognition. It has been hypothesized that an intact sense of agency is an important precondition for higher-level mentalizing abilities. A substantial body of evidence shows that both processes rely on similar brain areas and are severely impaired in schizophrenia, suggesting a close link between agency and mentalizing. Yet this relationship has not been explicitly tested. We investigated 40 individuals with schizophrenia and 40 healthy controls on an agency and mentalizing task. On the agency task, participants carried out simple mouse movements and judged the partially manipulated visual feedback as either self- or other-generated. On the mentalizing task, participants inferred mental states from pictures that depicted others' eyes ("Reading the mind in the eyes test"). Neuropsychological, psychopathological and social functioning levels were also evaluated. Both sense of agency and mentalizing were impaired in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls. However, testing for a relationship revealed no significant correlations between the two processes, either in the schizophrenia or the control group. The present findings demonstrate a dissociation of agency and mentalizing deficits in schizophrenia, suggesting that the multifaceted construct of social cognition consists of independent subdomains in healthy and psychiatrically ill individuals.

Mental object rotation in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Crucian, Gregory P; Barrett, Anna M; Burks, David W; Riestra, Alonso R; Roth, Heidi L; Schwartz, Ronald L; Triggs, William J; Bowers, Dawn; Friedman, William; Greer, Melvin; Heilman, Kenneth M

2003-11-01

Deficits in visual-spatial ability can be associated with Parkinson's disease (PD), and there are several possible reasons for these deficits. Dysfunction in frontal-striatal and/or frontal-parietal systems, associated with dopamine deficiency, might disrupt cognitive processes either supporting (e.g., working memory) or subserving visual-spatial computations. The goal of this study was to assess visual-spatial orientation ability in individuals with PD using the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), along with other measures of cognitive function. Non-demented men with PD were significantly less accurate on this test than matched control men. In contrast, women with PD performed similarly to matched control women, but both groups of women did not perform much better than chance. Further, mental rotation accuracy in men correlated with their executive skills involving mental processing and psychomotor speed. In women with PD, however, mental rotation accuracy correlated negatively with verbal memory, indicating that higher mental rotation performance was associated with lower ability in verbal memory. These results indicate that PD is associated with visual-spatial orientation deficits in men. Women with PD and control women both performed poorly on the MRT, possibly reflecting a floor effect. Although men and women with PD appear to engage different cognitive processes in this task, the reason for the sex difference remains to be elucidated.

The Impact of Child Problem Behaviors of Children with ASD on Parent Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Acceptance and Empowerment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiss, Jonathan A.; Cappadocia, M. Catherine; MacMullin, Jennifer Anne; Viecili, Michelle; Lunsky, Yona

2012-01-01

Raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has often been associated with higher levels of parenting stress and psychological distress, and a number of studies have examined the role of psychological processes as mediators of the impact of child problem behavior on parent mental health. The current study examined the relations among…

Systematic Consensus Building on Disaster Mental Health Services After the Great East Japan Earthquake by Phase.

PubMed

Fukasawa, Maiko; Suzuki, Yuriko; Nakajima, Satomi; Asano, Keiko; Narisawa, Tomomi; Kim, Yoshiharu

2015-08-01

We intended to build consensus on appropriate disaster mental health services among professionals working in the area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. We focused on the first 3 months after the disaster, divided into 3 phases: immediate aftermath, acute phase, and midphase. We adopted the Delphi process and asked our survey participants (n=115) to rate the appropriateness of specific mental health services in each phase and comment on them. We repeated this process 3 times, giving participants feedback on the results of the previous round. Through this process, we determined the criterion for positive consensus for each item as having the agreement of more than 80% of the participants. We found that the importance of acute psychiatric care and prescribing regular medication for psychiatric patients gained positive consensus in the immediate aftermath and acute phase. Counseling and psychoeducation after traumatic events or provision of information gained consensus in the acute phase and midphase, and screening of mental distress gained consensus in the midphase. Higher priority was given to continuous psychiatric services in the immediate aftermath and mental health activities in later phases.

The impact of selected environmental, behavioral and psychosocial factors on schoolchildren's somatic and mental health.

PubMed

Vondrova, Diana; Kapsdorfer, Daniela; Argalasova, Lubica; Hirosova, Katarina; Samohyl, Martin; Sevcikova, Ludmila

2017-03-01

Children develop rapidly and many exogenous determinants of health significantly affect their somatic and mental development. There is a subjective perception of cognitive load associated with the educational process. The aim of the study is to assess individual environmental, behavioral and psychosocial factors influencing physical health and to investigate the amount of mental load in children. We investigated 87 schoolchildren (47 girls and 40 boys) aged 10-12 years, who were attending primary school in Bratislava. To assess values of selected factors we used a questionnaire form and personality characteristics were estimated by standardized psycho-diagnostic and IQ tests [range of classic fear, social-situation anxiety and jitters [skala Klasickeho strachu a Socialno-situacnej (in Slovak)] (KSAT), Eyesenck Personality Questionnaire for children (EPQ), Raven's IQ test]. Self-reported perception of mental load was assessed by questionnaire of subjective feelings and states (SFS). Children's body parameters were assessed using anthropometric measurements [height, weight, chest, abdominal and hip girth, Rohrer's index (RI), body mass index (BMI)] and a body fat measurement method (skinfold thickness). The results confirmed a significant relationship between higher parameters of overweight and obesity and irregular breakfast eating (p<0.05), absence of family dining (p<0.05), exposure to tobacco smoke in the family environment (p<0.01) and mother's level of education (p<0.05). Almost 60% of children reported high mental effort and cognitive load associated with the educational process. We note a close relationship between the higher mental load and the score of neuroticism (p<0.01). The physical and mental health of schoolchildren is significantly affected by exogenous factors. Therefore, in terms of protection and promotion of children's health, it is important to evaluate and monitor environmental risk factors and to form their healthy habits.

The impact of the asylum process on mental health: a longitudinal study of unaccompanied refugee minors in Norway.

PubMed

Jakobsen, Marianne; Meyer DeMott, Melinda Ashley; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Heir, Trond

2017-06-21

To examine the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors prospectively during the asylum-seeking process, with a focus on specific stages in the asylum process, such as age assessment, placement in a supportive or non-supportive facility and final decision on the asylum applications. This was a2½ year follow-up study of unaccompanied minors (UM) seeking asylum in Norway. Data were collected within three weeks (n=138) and at 4 months (n=101), 15 months (n=84) and 26 months (n=69) after arrival. Initially in an observation and orientation centre for unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents, and subsequently wherever the UM were located in other refugee facilities in Norway. Male UM from Afghanistan, Somalia, Algeria and Iran. Mental health symptoms assessed by Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 and Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. At the group level, the young asylum seekers reported high levels of psychological distress on arrival and symptom levels that stayed relatively unchanged over time. According to age-assessment procedures, 56% of the population were not recognised as minors. Subsequent placement in a low-support facility was associated with higher levels of psychological distress in the follow-up period. Those who were placed in a reception centre for adults had higher levels of psychological distress symptoms both after 15 months and 26 months compared with the remaining participants who were placed in reception centres for youth. Refusal of asylum was highly associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Mental health trajectory of young asylum seekers appears to be negatively affected by low support and refusal of asylum. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

The impact of the asylum process on mental health: a longitudinal study of unaccompanied refugee minors in Norway

PubMed Central

Jakobsen, Marianne; Meyer DeMott, Melinda Ashley; Wentzel-Larsen, Tore; Heir, Trond

2017-01-01

Objectives To examine the mental health of unaccompanied refugee minors prospectively during the asylum-seeking process, with a focus on specific stages in the asylum process, such as age assessment, placement in a supportive or non-supportive facility and final decision on the asylum applications. Design This was a2½ year follow-up study of unaccompanied minors (UM) seeking asylum in Norway. Data were collected within three weeks (n=138) and at 4 months (n=101), 15 months (n=84) and 26 months (n=69) after arrival. Setting Initially in an observation and orientation centre for unaccompanied asylum-seeking adolescents, and subsequently wherever the UM were located in other refugee facilities in Norway. Participants Male UM from Afghanistan, Somalia, Algeria and Iran. Main outcome measures Mental health symptoms assessed by Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 and Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Results At the group level, the young asylum seekers reported high levels of psychological distress on arrival and symptom levels that stayed relatively unchanged over time. According to age-assessment procedures, 56% of the population were not recognised as minors. Subsequent placement in a low-support facility was associated with higher levels of psychological distress in the follow-up period. Those who were placed in a reception centre for adults had higher levels of psychological distress symptoms both after 15 months and 26 months compared with the remaining participants who were placed in reception centres for youth. Refusal of asylum was highly associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Conclusion Mental health trajectory of young asylum seekers appears to be negatively affected by low support and refusal of asylum. PMID:28637731

Left inferior parietal lobe engagement in social cognition and language

PubMed Central

Bzdok, Danilo; Hartwigsen, Gesa; Reid, Andrew; Laird, Angela R.; Fox, Peter T.; Eickhoff, Simon B.

2017-01-01

Social cognition and language are two core features of the human species. Despite distributed recruitment of brain regions in each mental capacity, the left parietal lobe (LPL) represents a zone of topographical convergence. The present study quantitatively summarizes hundreds of neuroimaging studies on social cognition and language. Using connectivity-based parcellation on a meta-analytically defined volume of interest (VOI), regional coactivation patterns within this VOI allowed identifying distinct subregions. Across parcellation solutions, two clusters emerged consistently in rostro-ventral and caudo-ventral aspects of the parietal VOI. Both clusters were functionally significantly associated with social-cognitive and language processing. In particular, the rostro-ventral cluster was associated with lower-level processing facets, while the caudo-ventral cluster was associated with higher-level processing facets in both mental capacities. Contrarily, in the (less stable) dorsal parietal VOI, all clusters reflected computation of general-purpose processes, such as working memory and matching tasks, that are frequently co-recruited by social or language processes. Our results hence favour a rostro-caudal distinction of lower-versus higher-level processes underlying social cognition and language in the left inferior parietal lobe. PMID:27241201

Harmony in Linguistic Cognition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smolensky, Paul

2006-01-01

In this article, I survey the integrated connectionist/symbolic (ICS) cognitive architecture in which higher cognition must be formally characterized on two levels of description. At the microlevel, parallel distributed processing (PDP) characterizes mental processing; this PDP system has special organization in virtue of which it can be…

[A Correlational Study of the Recovery Process in Patients With Mental Illness].

PubMed

Huang, Yao-Hui; Lin, Yao-Yu; Lee, Shih-Kai; Lee, Ming-Feng; Lin, Ching-Lan Esther

2018-04-01

The ideology of recovery addresses the autonomy of patients with mental illness and their ability to reconstruct a normal life. Empirical knowledge of this process of recovery and related factors remains unclear. To assess the process of recovery and related factors in patients with mental illness. This cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted on a convenience sample in a psychiatric hospital. Two-hundred and fifty patients with mental illness were recruited and were assessed using 3 instruments: Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery (QPR), Perceived Psychiatric Stigma Scale (PPSS), and Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, χ 2 , analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis. Most of the participants were male, middle-aged, unmarried, educated to the senior high school level, employed, receiving home-care treatment, and diagnosed with schizophrenia. Those who were unemployed, living in a community rehabilitative house, and living in the community, respectively, earned relatively higher recovery scores (p < .05). The total scores of QPR and the 3 subscales were negatively correlated with PPSS (p < .01) and positively correlated with PSPS (p < .01; p < .05). Multiple regression analysis indicated that the factors of education, employment, having received community rehabilitative models, and stigma, respectively, significantly explained the recovery capacity of patients with mental illness. Community psychiatric nurses should provide care to help employed patients adapt to stresses in the workplace, strengthen their stigma-coping strategies, and promote public awareness of mental health issues by increasing public knowledge and acceptance of mental illness in order to minimize patient-perceived stigma and facilitate their recovery.

Toward an Understanding of Higher-Order Thinking among Minority Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armour-Thomas, Eleanor; And Others

1992-01-01

Used principal-factors extraction with varimax rotation analysis to clarify nature and function of higher-order thinking among minority high school students (n=107) from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Results allowed for specification of mental processes associated with the construct and the extent to which students reported awareness and…

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The Emergence of Primary Anoetic Consciousness in Episodic Memory

PubMed Central

Vandekerckhove, Marie; Bulnes, Luis Carlo; Panksepp, Jaak

2014-01-01

Based on an interdisciplinary perspective, we discuss how primary-process, anoetic forms of consciousness emerge into higher forms of awareness such as knowledge-based episodic knowing and self-aware forms of higher-order consciousness like autonoetic awareness. Anoetic consciousness is defined as the rudimentary state of affective, homeostatic, and sensory-perceptual mental experiences. It can be considered as the autonomic flow of primary-process phenomenal experiences that reflects a fundamental form of first-person “self-experience,” a vastly underestimated primary form of phenomenal consciousness. We argue that this anoetic form of evolutionarily refined consciousness constitutes a critical antecedent that is foundational for all forms of knowledge acquisition via learning and memory, giving rise to a knowledge-based, or noetic, consciousness as well as higher forms of “awareness” or “knowing consciousness” that permits “time-travel” in the brain-mind. We summarize the conceptual advantages of such a multi-tiered neuroevolutionary approach to psychological issues, namely from genetically controlled primary (affective) and secondary (learning and memory), to higher tertiary (developmentally emergent) brain-mind processes, along with suggestions about how affective experiences become more cognitive and object-oriented, allowing the developmental creation of more subtle higher mental processes such as episodic memory which allows the possibility of autonoetic consciousness, namely looking forward and backward at one’s life and its possibilities within the “mind’s eye.” PMID:24427125

The embodied nature of motor imagery processes highlighted by short-term limb immobilization.

PubMed

Meugnot, Aurore; Almecija, Yves; Toussaint, Lucette

2014-01-01

We investigated the embodied nature of motor imagery processes through a recent use-dependent plasticity approach, a short-term limb immobilization paradigm. A splint placed on the participants' left-hand during a brief period of 24 h was used for immobilization. The immobilized participants performed two mental rotation tasks (a hand mental rotation task and a number mental rotation task) before (pre-test) and immediately after (post-test) the splint removal. The control group did not undergo the immobilization procedure. The main results showed an immobilization-induced effect on left-hand stimuli, resulting in a lack of task-repetition benefit. By contrast, accuracy was higher and response times were shorter for right-hand stimuli. No immobilization-induced effects appeared for number stimuli. These results revealed that the cognitive representation of hand movements can be modified by a brief period of sensorimotor deprivation, supporting the hypothesis of the embodied nature of motor simulation processes.

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1924): an introduction to the historico-cultural psychology and the development of the higher psychological processes.

PubMed

Derouesné, Christian

2017-09-01

In the 1930's LS Vygotsky developed an original conception of the psychology and the development of the higher psychological processes, which stands up the current theories in Russia and the West. He layed the bases for the study of the higher mental processes and their relationship with the brain functioning, which will be later on developped by AR Luria. After a brief historical notice, this paper will specify the relationships between Vygoski and Marx's and Engels's philosophy, the Soviet power and the works of Freud and Piaget.

Depression Screening Using Daily Mental-Health Ratings from a Smartphone Application for Breast Cancer Patients

PubMed Central

Kim, Junetae; Lim, Sanghee; Min, Yul Ha; Shin, Yong-Wook; Lee, Byungtae; Sohn, Guiyun; Jung, Kyung Hae; Lee, Jae-Ho; Son, Byung Ho; Ahn, Sei Hyun; Shin, Soo-Yong

2016-01-01

Background Mobile mental-health trackers are mobile phone apps that gather self-reported mental-health ratings from users. They have received great attention from clinicians as tools to screen for depression in individual patients. While several apps that ask simple questions using face emoticons have been developed, there has been no study examining the validity of their screening performance. Objective In this study, we (1) evaluate the potential of a mobile mental-health tracker that uses three daily mental-health ratings (sleep satisfaction, mood, and anxiety) as indicators for depression, (2) discuss three approaches to data processing (ratio, average, and frequency) for generating indicator variables, and (3) examine the impact of adherence on reporting using a mobile mental-health tracker and accuracy in depression screening. Methods We analyzed 5792 sets of daily mental-health ratings collected from 78 breast cancer patients over a 48-week period. Using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) as the measure of true depression status, we conducted a random-effect logistic panel regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to evaluate the screening performance of the mobile mental-health tracker. In addition, we classified patients into two subgroups based on their adherence level (higher adherence and lower adherence) using a k-means clustering algorithm and compared the screening accuracy between the two groups. Results With the ratio approach, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) is 0.8012, indicating that the performance of depression screening using daily mental-health ratings gathered via mobile mental-health trackers is comparable to the results of PHQ-9 tests. Also, the AUC is significantly higher (P=.002) for the higher adherence group (AUC=0.8524) than for the lower adherence group (AUC=0.7234). This result shows that adherence to self-reporting is associated with a higher accuracy of depression screening. Conclusions Our results support the potential of a mobile mental-health tracker as a tool for screening for depression in practice. Also, this study provides clinicians with a guideline for generating indicator variables from daily mental-health ratings. Furthermore, our results provide empirical evidence for the critical role of adherence to self-reporting, which represents crucial information for both doctors and patients. PMID:27492880

Psychological Processes Mediate the Impact of Familial Risk, Social Circumstances and Life Events on Mental Health

PubMed Central

Kinderman, Peter; Schwannauer, Matthias; Pontin, Eleanor; Tai, Sara

2013-01-01

Background Despite widespread acceptance of the ‘biopsychosocial model’, the aetiology of mental health problems has provoked debate amongst researchers and practitioners for decades. The role of psychological factors in the development of mental health problems remains particularly contentious, and to date there has not been a large enough dataset to conduct the necessary multivariate analysis of whether psychological factors influence, or are influenced by, mental health. This study reports on the first empirical, multivariate, test of the relationships between the key elements of the biospychosocial model of mental ill-health. Methods and Findings Participants were 32,827 (age 18–85 years) self-selected respondents from the general population who completed an open-access online battery of questionnaires hosted by the BBC. An initial confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess the adequacy of the proposed factor structure and the relationships between latent and measured variables. The predictive path model was then tested whereby the latent variables of psychological processes were positioned as mediating between the causal latent variables (biological, social and circumstantial) and the outcome latent variables of mental health problems and well-being. This revealed an excellent fit to the data, S-B χ2 (3199, N = 23,397) = 126654·8, p<·001; RCFI = ·97; RMSEA = ·04 (·038–·039). As hypothesised, a family history of mental health difficulties, social deprivation, and traumatic or abusive life-experiences all strongly predicted higher levels of anxiety and depression. However, these relationships were strongly mediated by psychological processes; specifically lack of adaptive coping, rumination and self-blame. Conclusion These results support a significant revision of the biopsychosocial model, as psychological processes determine the causal impact of biological, social, and circumstantial risk factors on mental health. This has clear implications for policy, education and clinical practice as psychological processes such as rumination and self-blame are amenable to evidence-based psychological therapies. PMID:24146890

Psychological processes mediate the impact of familial risk, social circumstances and life events on mental health.

PubMed

Kinderman, Peter; Schwannauer, Matthias; Pontin, Eleanor; Tai, Sara

2013-01-01

Despite widespread acceptance of the 'biopsychosocial model', the aetiology of mental health problems has provoked debate amongst researchers and practitioners for decades. The role of psychological factors in the development of mental health problems remains particularly contentious, and to date there has not been a large enough dataset to conduct the necessary multivariate analysis of whether psychological factors influence, or are influenced by, mental health. This study reports on the first empirical, multivariate, test of the relationships between the key elements of the biospychosocial model of mental ill-health. Participants were 32,827 (age 18-85 years) self-selected respondents from the general population who completed an open-access online battery of questionnaires hosted by the BBC. An initial confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess the adequacy of the proposed factor structure and the relationships between latent and measured variables. The predictive path model was then tested whereby the latent variables of psychological processes were positioned as mediating between the causal latent variables (biological, social and circumstantial) and the outcome latent variables of mental health problems and well-being. This revealed an excellent fit to the data, S-B χ(2) (3199, N = 23,397) = 126654.8, p<.001; RCFI = .97; RMSEA = .04 (.038-.039). As hypothesised, a family history of mental health difficulties, social deprivation, and traumatic or abusive life-experiences all strongly predicted higher levels of anxiety and depression. However, these relationships were strongly mediated by psychological processes; specifically lack of adaptive coping, rumination and self-blame. These results support a significant revision of the biopsychosocial model, as psychological processes determine the causal impact of biological, social, and circumstantial risk factors on mental health. This has clear implications for policy, education and clinical practice as psychological processes such as rumination and self-blame are amenable to evidence-based psychological therapies.

Interfering with the neural activity of mirror-related frontal areas impairs mentalistic inferences.

PubMed

Herbet, Guillaume; Lafargue, Gilles; Moritz-Gasser, Sylvie; Bonnetblanc, François; Duffau, Hugues

2015-07-01

According to recently proposed interactive dual-process theories, mentalizing abilities emerge from the coherent interaction between two physically distinct neural systems: (1) the mirror network, coding for the low-level embodied representations involved in pre-reflective sociocognitive processes and (2) the mentalizing network per se, which codes for higher level representations subtending the reflective attribution of psychological states. However, although the latest studies have shown that the core areas forming these two neurocognitive systems do indeed maintain effective connectivity during mentalizing, it is unclear whether an intact mirror system (and, more specifically, its anterior node, namely the posterior inferior frontal cortex) is a prerequisite for accurate mentalistic inferences. Intraoperative brain mapping via direct electrical stimulation offers a unique opportunity to address this issue. Electrical stimulation of the brain creates a "virtual" lesion, which provides functional information on well-defined parts of the cerebral cortex. In the present study, five patients were mapped in real time while they performed a mentalizing task. We found six responsive sites: four in the lateral part of the right pars opercularis and two in the dorsal part of the right pars triangularis. On the subcortical level, two additional sites were located within the white matter connectivity of the pars opercularis. Taken as a whole, our results suggest that the right inferior frontal cortex and its underlying axonal connectivity have a key role in mentalizing. Specifically, our findings support the hypothesis whereby transient, functional disruption of the mirror network influences higher order mentalistic inferences.

Optimizing the Presentation of Mental Health Information in Social Media: The Effects of Health Testimonials and Platform on Source Perceptions, Message Processing, and Health Outcomes.

PubMed

Quintero Johnson, Jessie M; Yilmaz, Gamze; Najarian, Kristy

2017-09-01

Using social media for the purpose of disseminating mental health information is a critical area of scientific inquiry for health communication professionals. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the presence of a first-person testimonial in educational mental health information placed in Facebook and Twitter messages influenced college students' (N = 257) source perceptions, information processing, cognitive elaboration, health information recall, beliefs, and behavioral intentions. Results show that exposure to social media messages that featured mental health information embedded with a testimonial predicted less source homophily and more critical thoughts about the social media source, less systematic message processing, and less cognitive elaboration. Health information recall was significantly impacted by both the social media platform and message content such that participants in the testimonial condition on Facebook were more likely to recall the health facts in those messages whereas participants who viewed the testimonial in Twitter were less likely to recall the facts in those tweets. Compared to those who read Facebook messages, participants who read Twitter messages reported higher levels of systematic message processing. These findings suggest that the integration of health testimonials into social media messages might inadvertently provoke psychological resistance to mental health information, thereby reducing the persuasive impact of those messages.

Autism, Asperger syndrome and brain mechanisms for the attribution of mental states to animated shapes.

PubMed

Castelli, Fulvia; Frith, Chris; Happé, Francesca; Frith, Uta

2002-08-01

Ten able adults with autism or Asperger syndrome and 10 normal volunteers were PET scanned while watching animated sequences. The animations depicted two triangles moving about on a screen in three different conditions: moving randomly, moving in a goal-directed fashion (chasing, fighting), and moving interactively with implied intentions (coaxing, tricking). The last condition frequently elicited descriptions in terms of mental states that viewers attributed to the triangles (mentalizing). The autism group gave fewer and less accurate descriptions of these latter animations, but equally accurate descriptions of the other animations compared with controls. While viewing animations that elicited mentalizing, in contrast to randomly moving shapes, the normal group showed increased activation in a previously identified mentalizing network (medial prefrontal cortex, superior temporal sulcus at the temporo-parietal junction and temporal poles). The autism group showed less activation than the normal group in all these regions. However, one additional region, extrastriate cortex, which was highly active when watching animations that elicited mentalizing, showed the same amount of increased activation in both groups. In the autism group this extrastriate region showed reduced functional connectivity with the superior temporal sulcus at the temporo-parietal junction, an area associated with the processing of biological motion as well as with mentalizing. This finding suggests a physiological cause for the mentalizing dysfunction in autism: a bottleneck in the interaction between higher order and lower order perceptual processes.

Diffusion of innovation in mental health policy adoption: what should we ask about the quality of policy and the role of stakeholders in this process? Comment on "Cross-national diffusion of mental health policy".

PubMed

Lee, Lucy

2015-03-10

In his recent study, Gordon Shen analyses a pertinent question facing the global mental health research and practice community today; that of how and why mental health policy is or is not adopted by national governments. This study identifies becoming a World Health Organization (WHO) member nation, and being in regional proximity to countries which have adopted a mental health policy as supportive of mental health policy adoption, but no support for its hypothesis that country recipients of higher levels of aid would have adopted a mental health policy due to conditionalities imposed on aid recipients by donors. Asking further questions of each may help to understand more not only about how and why mental health policies may be adopted, but also about the relevance and quality of implementation of these policies and the role of specific actors in achieving adoption and implementation of high quality mental health policies. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

The effect of acculturation and discrimination on mental health symptoms and risk behaviors among adolescent migrants in Israel.

PubMed

Nakash, Ora; Nagar, Maayan; Shoshani, Anat; Zubida, Hani; Harper, Robin A

2012-07-01

This study examines the role of acculturation, perceived discrimination, and self-esteem in predicting the mental health symptoms and risk behaviors among 1.5 and second generation non-Jewish adolescents born to migrant families compared with native-born Jewish Israeli adolescents in Israel. Participants included n = 65 1.5 migrant adolescents, n = 60 second generation migrant adolescents, and n = 146 age, gender, and socioeconomic matched sample of native-born Jewish Israelis. Participants completed measures of acculturation pattern, perceived discrimination, and self-esteem as well as measures of mental health symptoms and risk behaviors. Results show that migrant adolescents across generations reported worse mental health symptoms compared with native-born Jewish Israelis. However, only the 1.5 generation migrants reported higher engagement in risk behaviors compared with second generation migrants and native-born Jewish Israelis. Our findings further showed that acculturation plays an important role in predicting the mental health status of migrant youth, with those characterized with integrated acculturative pattern reporting lower mental health symptoms compared with assimilated acculturation pattern. Importantly, contextual factors, such as higher perception of discrimination in the receiving culture as well as individual factors such as lower self-esteem and female gender were strongly associated with worse mental health symptoms. The findings manifest the complex relationship between contextual factors and individual level variables in the acculturative process of migrants as well as the importance of examining the effect of migration generation on mental health outcomes.

Left inferior parietal lobe engagement in social cognition and language.

PubMed

Bzdok, Danilo; Hartwigsen, Gesa; Reid, Andrew; Laird, Angela R; Fox, Peter T; Eickhoff, Simon B

2016-09-01

Social cognition and language are two core features of the human species. Despite distributed recruitment of brain regions in each mental capacity, the left parietal lobe (LPL) represents a zone of topographical convergence. The present study quantitatively summarizes hundreds of neuroimaging studies on social cognition and language. Using connectivity-based parcellation on a meta-analytically defined volume of interest (VOI), regional coactivation patterns within this VOI allowed identifying distinct subregions. Across parcellation solutions, two clusters emerged consistently in rostro-ventral and caudo-ventral aspects of the parietal VOI. Both clusters were functionally significantly associated with social-cognitive and language processing. In particular, the rostro-ventral cluster was associated with lower-level processing facets, while the caudo-ventral cluster was associated with higher-level processing facets in both mental capacities. Contrarily, in the (less stable) dorsal parietal VOI, all clusters reflected computation of general-purpose processes, such as working memory and matching tasks, that are frequently co-recruited by social or language processes. Our results hence favour a rostro-caudal distinction of lower- versus higher-level processes underlying social cognition and language in the left inferior parietal lobe. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Migrant Children and Adolescents in American Countries: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Belhadj Kouider, Esmahan; Koglin, Ute; Petermann, Franz

2015-08-01

The present review postulates the current mental health status in migrant children and adolescents in the North American continent. 35 studies published from 2009 to 2013 chosen from a systematic literature research were included. Almost all studies were conducted in the United States and Canada. From the perspective of selection effect, migration as a risk factor was not proven. The migration process perspective could have underestimated a higher danger of problem behavior in second-generation migrant children. Comparing native and migrant children, balanced results in problem behavior were reported, but the Asian migrant group was at higher risk of developing mental disorders. Family-based risk factors were offered: high acculturation stress, low English language competence, language brokering, discrepancies in children's and parent's cultural orientation, the non-Western cultural orientation, e.g., collectivistic, acceptance feelings of parents, or harsh parenting. However, the importance to support migrant families in the acculturation process becomes apparent.

Analysis of EEG signals related to artists and nonartists during visual perception, mental imagery, and rest using approximate entropy.

PubMed

Shourie, Nasrin; Firoozabadi, Mohammad; Badie, Kambiz

2014-01-01

In this paper, differences between multichannel EEG signals of artists and nonartists were analyzed during visual perception and mental imagery of some paintings and at resting condition using approximate entropy (ApEn). It was found that ApEn is significantly higher for artists during the visual perception and the mental imagery in the frontal lobe, suggesting that artists process more information during these conditions. It was also observed that ApEn decreases for the two groups during the visual perception due to increasing mental load; however, their variation patterns are different. This difference may be used for measuring progress in novice artists. In addition, it was found that ApEn is significantly lower during the visual perception than the mental imagery in some of the channels, suggesting that visual perception task requires more cerebral efforts.

TMS of supplementary motor area (SMA) facilitates mental rotation performance: Evidence for sequence processing in SMA.

PubMed

Cona, G; Marino, G; Semenza, C

2017-02-01

In the present study we applied online transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) bursts at 10Hz to the supplementary motor area (SMA) and primary motor cortex to test whether these regions are causally involved in mental rotation. Furthermore, in order to investigate what is the specific role played by SMA and primary motor cortex, two mental rotation tasks were used, which included pictures of hands and abstract objects, respectively. While primary motor cortex stimulation did not affect mental rotation performance, SMA stimulation improved the performance in the task with object stimuli, and only for the pairs of stimuli that had higher angular disparity between each other (i.e., 100° and 150°). The finding that the effect of SMA stimulation was modulated by the amount of spatial orientation information indicates that SMA is causally involved in the very act of mental rotation. More specifically, we propose that SMA mediates domain-general sequence processes, likely required to accumulate and integrate information that are, in this context, spatial. The possible physiological mechanisms underlying the facilitation of performance due to SMA stimulation are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Social Support, Help-Seeking, and Mental Health Outcomes Among Veterans in Non-VA Facilities: Results from the Veterans’ Health Study

PubMed Central

Adams, Richard E.; Urosevich, Thomas G.; Hoffman, Stuart N.; Kirchner, H. Lester; Hyacinthe, Johanna C.; Figley, Charles R.; Boscarino, Joseph J.; Boscarino, Joseph A.

2017-01-01

Using a stress process model, the authors examined social and psychological resources to better understand mental health outcomes among veterans. For this study, we surveyed 700 U.S. veterans who were outpatients in the Geisinger Health System. Independent variables included demographic factors, stressful and traumatic events, social support measures, and psychosocial factors. Using logistic regression, the authors examined 4 types of social connections: social support, help-seeking support, social capital, and other mental health support to predict mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, suicide ideation, alcohol misuse, mental health service use, and Veterans Affairs service use. Results suggested that help-seeking support since deployment was a risk factor for 5 adverse outcomes, whereas social support was protective for 1 outcome. We concluded that high levels of help-seeking support since deployment among veterans was associated with a higher prevalence of mental health problems. These findings were unexpected and suggest the need for additional social support-related research among veterans. PMID:29098116

Cultural and Linguistic Considerations in Psychodiagnosis with Hispanics: The Need for an Empirically Informed Process Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malgady, Robert G.; Zayas, Luis H.

2001-01-01

Nearly half the population who seeks mental health services in the century ahead will be ethnic minorities. Evidence suggests that Hispanics, who are the fastest growing minority group, present higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology and prevalence rates of disorders. A discussion is included on process variables that can inform social…

Are Cortical Motor Maps Based on Body Parts or Coordinated Actions? Implications for Embodied Semantics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernandino, Leonardo; Iacoboni, Marco

2010-01-01

The embodied cognition approach to the study of the mind proposes that higher order mental processes such as concept formation and language are essentially based on perceptual and motor processes. Contrary to the classical approach in cognitive science, in which concepts are viewed as amodal, arbitrary symbols, embodied semantics argues that…

A model of the hierarchy of behaviour, cognition, and consciousness.

PubMed

Toates, Frederick

2006-03-01

Processes comparable in important respects to those underlying human conscious and non-conscious processing can be identified in a range of species and it is argued that these reflect evolutionary precursors of the human processes. A distinction is drawn between two types of processing: (1) stimulus-based and (2) higher-order. For 'higher-order,' in humans the operations of processing are themselves associated with conscious awareness. Conscious awareness sets the context for stimulus-based processing and its end-point is accessible to conscious awareness. However, the mechanics of the translation between stimulus and response proceeds without conscious control. The paper argues that higher-order processing is an evolutionary addition to stimulus-based processing. The model's value is shown for gaining insight into a range of phenomena and their link with consciousness. These include brain damage, learning, memory, development, vision, emotion, motor control, reasoning, the voluntary versus involuntary debate, and mental disorder.

A cross-sectional study of pain sensitivity, disease-activity assessment, mental health, and fibromyalgia status in rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Joharatnam, Nalinie; McWilliams, Daniel F; Wilson, Deborah; Wheeler, Maggie; Pande, Ira; Walsh, David A

2015-01-20

Pain remains the most important problem for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Active inflammatory disease contributes to pain, but pain due to non-inflammatory mechanisms can confound the assessment of disease activity. We hypothesize that augmented pain processing, fibromyalgic features, poorer mental health, and patient-reported 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) components are associated in RA. In total, 50 people with stable, long-standing RA recruited from a rheumatology outpatient clinic were assessed for pain-pressure thresholds (PPTs) at three separate sites (knee, tibia, and sternum), DAS28, fibromyalgia, and mental health status. Multivariable analysis was performed to assess the association between PPT and DAS28 components, DAS28-P (the proportion of DAS28 derived from the patient-reported components of visual analogue score and tender joint count), or fibromyalgia status. More-sensitive PPTs at sites over or distant from joints were each associated with greater reported pain, higher patient-reported DAS28 components, and poorer mental health. A high proportion of participants (48%) satisfied classification criteria for fibromyalgia, and fibromyalgia classification or characteristics were each associated with more sensitive PPTs, higher patient-reported DAS28 components, and poorer mental health. Widespread sensitivity to pressure-induced pain, a high prevalence of fibromyalgic features, higher patient-reported DAS28 components, and poorer mental health are all linked in established RA. The increased sensitivity at nonjoint sites (sternum and anterior tibia), as well as over joints, indicates that central mechanisms may contribute to pain sensitivity in RA. The contribution of patient-reported components to high DAS28 should inform decisions on disease-modifying or pain-management approaches in the treatment of RA when inflammation may be well controlled.

Oxytocin receptor polymorphism and childhood social experiences shape adult personality, brain structure and neural correlates of mentalizing.

PubMed

Schneider-Hassloff, H; Straube, B; Jansen, A; Nuscheler, B; Wemken, G; Witt, S H; Rietschel, M; Kircher, T

2016-07-01

The oxytocin system is involved in human social behavior and social cognition such as attachment, emotion recognition and mentalizing (i.e. the ability to represent mental states of oneself and others). It is shaped by social experiences in early life, especially by parent-infant interactions. The single nucleotid polymorphism rs53576 in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene has been linked to social behavioral phenotypes. In 195 adult healthy subjects we investigated the interaction of OXTR rs53576 and childhood attachment security (CAS) on the personality traits "adult attachment style" and "alexithymia" (i.e. emotional self-awareness), on brain structure (voxel-based morphometry) and neural activation (fMRI) during an interactive mentalizing paradigm (prisoner's dilemma game; subgroup: n=163). We found that in GG-homozygotes, but not in A-allele carriers, insecure childhood attachment is - in adulthood - associated with a) higher attachment-related anxiety and alexithymia, b) higher brain gray matter volume of left amygdala and lower volumes in right superior parietal lobule (SPL), left temporal pole (TP), and bilateral frontal regions, and c) higher mentalizing-related neural activity in bilateral TP and precunei, and right middle and superior frontal gyri. Interaction effects of genotype and CAS on brain volume and/or function were associated with individual differences in alexithymia and attachment-related anxiety. Interactive effects were in part sexually dimorphic. The interaction of OXTR genotype and CAS modulates adult personality as well as brain structure and function of areas implicated in salience processing and mentalizing. Rs53576 GG-homozygotes are partially more susceptible to childhood attachment experiences than A-allele carriers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mobile Virtual Learning Object for the Assessment of Acute Pain as a Learning Tool to Assess Acute Pain in Nursing: An Analysis of the Mental Workload.

PubMed

Alvarez, Ana Graziela; Sasso, Grace; Iyengar, Sriram

2015-11-06

The inclusion of new technologies in education has motivated the development of studies on mental workload. These technologies are now being used in the teaching and learning process. The analysis enables identification of factors intervening in this workload as well as planning of overload prevention for educational activities using these technologies. To analyze the mental workload of an educational intervention with the Mobile Virtual Learning Object for the Assessment of Acute Pain in adults and newborns, according to the NASA Task Load Index criteria. A methodological study with data collected from 5 nurses and 75 students, from November of 2013 to February of 2014. The highest students' and specialists' means were in the dimensions of "Mental demand" (57.20 ± 22.27; 51 ± 29.45) and "Performance" (58.47 ± 24.19; 73 ± 28.85). The specialists' mental workload index was higher (50.20 ± 7.28) when compared with students' (47.87 ± 16.85) on a scale from 0 to 100 (P=.557). The instrument allowed for the assessment of mental workload after an online educational intervention with a mobile learning virtual object. An excessive overload was not identified among participants. Assessing mental workload from the use of educational technologies at the end of a task is a key to their applicability, with the aim of providing a more effective, stimulating, and long-lasting experience of the learning process.

The role of neuropsychological performance in the relationship between chronic pain and functional physical impairment.

PubMed

Pulles, Wiesje L J A; Oosterman, Joukje M

2011-12-01

  In this study, the relationship between pain intensity, neuropsychological, and physical function in adult chronic pain patients was examined.   Thirty participants with chronic pain completed neuropsychological tests tapping mental processing speed, memory, and executive function. Pain intensity was measured with three visual analog scales and the Pain Rating Index of the McGill Pain Questionnaire. A grip strength test, the 6-minute walk test, the Unipedal Stance Test and the Lifting Low Test were administered in order to obtain a performance-based measure of physical capacity. Self-reported physical ability was assessed with the Disability Rating Index and the Short Form-36 Physical Functioning, and Role Physical scales. Psychosocial function was examined using the Mental Health and Role Emotional subscales of the Short Form-36.   The study was set in two outpatient physical therapy clinics in The Netherlands.   The analysis showed that a lower mental processing speed was related to a higher level of pain, as well as to a lower performance-based and self-reported physical functioning. In addition, both performance-based and self-reported physical function revealed an inverse correlation with pain intensity. Psychosocial function turned out to be an important mediator of the relationship between pain and self-reported, but not performance-based, physical function. Mental processing speed, on the other hand, was found to mediate the relationship between pain and performance-based physical functioning.   The results suggest that in chronic pain patients, mental processing speed mediates the relationship between pain and physical function. Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Interaction matters: A perceived social partner alters the neural processing of human speech.

PubMed

Rice, Katherine; Redcay, Elizabeth

2016-04-01

Mounting evidence suggests that social interaction changes how communicative behaviors (e.g., spoken language, gaze) are processed, but the precise neural bases by which social-interactive context may alter communication remain unknown. Various perspectives suggest that live interactions are more rewarding, more attention-grabbing, or require increased mentalizing-thinking about the thoughts of others. Dissociating between these possibilities is difficult because most extant neuroimaging paradigms examining social interaction have not directly compared live paradigms to conventional "offline" (or recorded) paradigms. We developed a novel fMRI paradigm to assess whether and how an interactive context changes the processing of speech matched in content and vocal characteristics. Participants listened to short vignettes--which contained no reference to people or mental states--believing that some vignettes were prerecorded and that others were presented over a real-time audio-feed by a live social partner. In actuality, all speech was prerecorded. Simply believing that speech was live increased activation in each participant's own mentalizing regions, defined using a functional localizer. Contrasting live to recorded speech did not reveal significant differences in attention or reward regions. Further, higher levels of autistic-like traits were associated with altered neural specialization for live interaction. These results suggest that humans engage in ongoing mentalizing about social partners, even when such mentalizing is not explicitly required, illustrating how social context shapes social cognition. Understanding communication in social context has important implications for typical and atypical social processing, especially for disorders like autism where social difficulties are more acute in live interaction. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition.

PubMed

Feng, Jing; Spence, Ian; Pratt, Jay

2007-10-01

We demonstrate a previously unknown gender difference in the distribution of spatial attention, a basic capacity that supports higher-level spatial cognition. More remarkably, we found that playing an action video game can virtually eliminate this gender difference in spatial attention and simultaneously decrease the gender disparity in mental rotation ability, a higher-level process in spatial cognition. After only 10 hr of training with an action video game, subjects realized substantial gains in both spatial attention and mental rotation, with women benefiting more than men. Control subjects who played a non-action game showed no improvement. Given that superior spatial skills are important in the mathematical and engineering sciences, these findings have practical implications for attracting men and women to these fields.

The components of working memory updating: an experimental decomposition and individual differences.

PubMed

Ecker, Ullrich K H; Lewandowsky, Stephan; Oberauer, Klaus; Chee, Abby E H

2010-01-01

Working memory updating (WMU) has been identified as a cognitive function of prime importance for everyday tasks and has also been found to be a significant predictor of higher mental abilities. Yet, little is known about the constituent processes of WMU. We suggest that operations required in a typical WMU task can be decomposed into 3 major component processes: retrieval, transformation, and substitution. We report a large-scale experiment that instantiated all possible combinations of those 3 component processes. Results show that the 3 components make independent contributions to updating performance. We additionally present structural equation models that link WMU task performance and working memory capacity (WMC) measures. These feature the methodological advancement of estimating interindividual covariation and experimental effects on mean updating measures simultaneously. The modeling results imply that WMC is a strong predictor of WMU skills in general, although some component processes-in particular, substitution skills-were independent of WMC. Hence, the reported predictive power of WMU measures may rely largely on common WM functions also measured in typical WMC tasks, although substitution skills may make an independent contribution to predicting higher mental abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Laterality effects in motor learning by mental practice in right-handers.

PubMed

Gentili, R J; Papaxanthis, C

2015-06-25

Converging evidences suggest that mental movement simulation and actual movement production share similar neurocognitive and learning processes. Although a large body of data is available in the literature regarding mental states involving the dominant arm, examinations for the nondominant arm are sparse. Does mental training, through motor-imagery practice, with the dominant arm or the nondominant arm is equally efficient for motor learning? In the current study, we investigated laterality effects in motor learning by motor-imagery practice. Four groups of right-hander adults mentally and physically performed as fast and accurately as possible (speed/accuracy trade-off paradigm) successive reaching movements with their dominant or nondominant arm (physical-training-dominant-arm, mental-training-dominant-arm, physical-training-nondominant-arm, and mental-training-nondominant-arm groups). Movement time was recorded and analyzed before, during, and after the training sessions. We found that physical and mental practice had a positive effect on the motor performance (i.e., decrease in movement time) of both arms through similar learning process (i.e., similar exponential learning curves). However, movement time reduction in the posttest session was significantly higher after physical practice than motor-imagery practice for both arms. More importantly, motor-imagery practice with the dominant arm resulted in larger and more robust improvements in movement speed compared to motor-imagery practice with the nondominant arm. No such improvements were observed in the control group. Our results suggest a superiority of the dominant arm in motor learning by mental practice. We discussed these findings from the perspective of the internal models theory. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding criminal behavior: Empathic impairment in criminal offenders.

PubMed

Mariano, Melania; Pino, Maria Chiara; Peretti, Sara; Valenti, Marco; Mazza, Monica

2017-08-01

Criminal offenders (CO) are characterized by antisocial and impulsive lifestyles and reduced empathy competence. According to Zaki and Ochsner, empathy is a process that can be divided into three components: mentalizing, emotional sharing and prosocial concern. The aim of our study was to evaluate these competences in 74 criminal subjects compared to 65 controls. The CO group demonstrated a lower ability in measures of mentalizing and sharing, especially in recognizing the mental and emotional states of other people by observing their eyes and sharing other people's emotions. Conversely, CO subjects showed better abilities in prosocial concern measures, such as judging and predicting the emotions and behavior of other people, but they were not able to evaluate the gravity of violations of social rules as well as the control group. In addition, logistic regression results show that the higher the deficits in the mentalizing component are, the higher the probability of committing a crime against another person. Taken together, our results suggest that criminal subjects are able to judge and recognize other people's behavior as right or wrong in a social context, but they are not able to recognize and share the suffering of other people.

Elevated levels of psychophysiological arousal and cortisol in patients with somatization syndrome.

PubMed

Rief, W; Shaw, R; Fichter, M M

1998-01-01

This study investigates psychological and psychobiological processes in patients with somatization syndrome. We compared physiological measures (heart rate, finger pulse volume, electrodermal activity, electromyography), cortisol levels, and subjective well-being during rest and during a mental stress task as well as selective attention and memory for illness-related words in 58 patients with somatization syndrome and 21 healthy controls. The somatization group had higher morning salivary cortisol concentrations, higher heart rates, and lower levels of finger pulse volume. During the mental stress task, patients with somatization syndrome felt more distressed and had higher heart rates, whereas controls showed habituation to the experimental situation. We were unable to demonstrate an attention or memory bias specific for somatization. The results point to several psychological, psychophysiological, and psychobiological mechanisms that might be involved in the maintenance of somatization syndrome. These results are discussed from a cognitive-psychobiological perspective.

Decreased electrophysiological activity represents the conscious state of emptiness in meditation

PubMed Central

Hinterberger, Thilo; Schmidt, Stephanie; Kamei, Tsutomu; Walach, Harald

2014-01-01

Many neuroscientific theories explain consciousness with higher order information processing corresponding to an activation of specific brain areas and processes. In contrast, most forms of meditation ask for a down-regulation of certain mental processing activities while remaining fully conscious. To identify the physiological properties of conscious states with decreased mental and cognitive processing, the electrical brain activity (64 channels of EEG) of 50 participants of various meditation proficiencies was measured during distinct and idiosyncratic meditative tasks. The tasks comprised a wakeful “thoughtless emptiness (TE),” a “focused attention,” and an “open monitoring” task asking for mindful presence in the moment and in the environment without attachment to distracting thoughts. Our analysis mainly focused on 30 highly experienced meditators with at least 5 years and 1000 h of meditation experience. Spectral EEG power comparisons of the TE state with the resting state or other forms of meditation showed decreased activities in specific frequency bands. In contrast to a focused attention task the TE task showed significant central and parietal gamma decreases (p < 0.05). Compared to open monitoring TE expressed decreased alpha and beta amplitudes, mainly in parietal areas (p < 0.01). TE presented significantly less delta (p < 0.001) and theta (p < 0.05) waves than a wakeful closed eyes resting condition. A group of participants with none or little meditation practice did not present those differences significantly. Our findings indicate that a conscious state of TE reached by experienced meditators is characterized by reduced high-frequency brain processing with simultaneous reduction of the low frequencies. This suggests that such a state of meditative conscious awareness might be different from higher cognitive and mentally focused states but also from states of sleep and drowsiness. PMID:24596562

The autobiography of addiction: autobiographical reasoning and psychological adjustment in abstinent alcoholics.

PubMed

Dunlop, William L; Tracy, Jessica L

2013-01-01

The narration of drinking experiences plays a central role in many alcohol rehabilitation programmes, yet few researchers have considered whether alcoholics' stories about such experiences relate to their psychological adjustment. Here we examine the extent to which drinking stories of abstinent alcoholics reflect autobiographical reasoning processes denoting self-change and self-stability, and whether these processes are associated with adjustment. Participants who revealed a positive self-change in their narratives about drinking demonstrated higher levels of self-esteem, authentic pride, and mental health compared to those who did not. In contrast, those who implied a sense of self-stability in their narratives demonstrated higher levels of hubristic pride and aggression, and poorer mental health. These results suggest that narrating positive self-change in the wake of substance abuse may underlie psychological adjustment, whereas establishing self-stability in these experiences may impede adjustment. More broadly, these findings underscore the importance of recognising the multi-dimensional nature of autobiographical reasoning.

A survey of pedagogical approaches and quality mechanisms used in education programs for mental health professionals.

PubMed

McCann, Edward; Higgins, Agnes; Maguire, Gerry; Alexander, Jane; Watts, Mike; Creaner, Mary; Rani, Shobha

2012-09-01

The provision of high-quality education and training that is responsive, relevant, accessible and evidence based is critical if the vision for quality mental health services presented in recent policy initiatives in Ireland is to be fulfilled. This paper reports the findings related to pedagogical approaches and quality assurance mechanisms utilized within mental health education. The study involved canvassing all Higher Education Institutions in Ireland. A total of 227 courses in 31 educational institutes were identified and 149 questionnaires were returned from 129 Course Coordinators. Various quality processes were identified in existing programs; however, formal feedback from service providers, service users and carers was seldom reported. Ongoing evaluation and quality assurance strategies are a key element of governance and there is a need to develop strategies that explore the impact of education programs on mental health education and health outcomes. Recommendations are made in terms of future interprofessional mental health education and practice.

The Moderating Effect of Mental Toughness: Perception of Risk and Belief in the Paranormal.

PubMed

Drinkwater, Kenneth; Dagnall, Neil; Denovan, Andrew; Parker, Andrew

2018-01-01

This research demonstrates that higher levels of mental toughness provide cognitive-perceptual processing advantages when evaluating risk. No previous research, however, has examined mental toughness in relation to perception of risk and paranormal belief (a variable associated with distorted perception of causality and elevated levels of perceived risk). Accordingly, the present paper investigated relationships between these factors. A sample of 174 participants completed self-report measures assessing mental toughness, general perception of risk, and paranormal belief. Responses were analyzed via correlations and moderation analyses. Results revealed that mental toughness correlated negatively with perception of risk and paranormal belief, whereas paranormal belief correlated positively with perception of risk. For the moderation effects, simple slopes analyses indicated that high levels of MT and subfactors of commitment and confidence reduced the strength of association between paranormal belief and perceived risk. Therefore, MT potentially acts as a protective factor among individuals who believe in the paranormal, reducing the tendency to perceive elevated levels of risk.

Relation of Mental Health to Alcohol and Substance Use Among Texas College Students.

PubMed

Shafer, Alan B; Koenig, Jessica A; Becker, Emilie A

2017-04-01

We examined the effect of mental health problems and difficulties on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use among college students by using the 2013 Texas College Survey of Substance Use (n=11,216), which includes the K6 screening scale for severe mental illness (SMI). Students' K6 scores were used to classify them into 3 groups: those likely to have SMI (9% with scores ≥ 13), those with some mental health problems (36%), and those without mental health issues (55% with scores ≤ 4). Questions regarding ATOD use were analyzed using these 3 groups. Alcohol use was not significantly associated with K6 scores, although problematic alcohol behaviors as measured by the CAGE test were. Higher cigarette use was significantly associated with higher K6 scores. Finally, both higher marijuana and higher drug use (across 9 other individual drugs) were significantly associated with higher K6 scores. Although higher K6 scores were associated with higher rates of drug use, most students with high K6 scores did not use drugs. However, given the higher level of risk, drug and alcohol interventions should be made available for those students who receive mental health counseling.

[The concept of mental health deterioration in light of decisions by higher judicial bodies].

PubMed

Kaya, Ahsen; Aktaş, Ekin Özgür

2014-01-01

Important arrangements were made to protect an individuals' sexual safety in the Turkish Penal Code. During judgments of sexual crimes, the witnesses of medical experts are usually used for evidence collection and for researching whether the crimes were aggravated. Due to this, reports are frequently requested from all physicians in all fields of medicine in their daily clinical practices by judicial authorities. Following implementation of the new Turkish Penal Code, the concept of mental health deterioration was frequently discussed and is still a discussed topic in the fields of both law and medicine in terms of crimes against sexual immunity. It is believed that subjects discussed in this article will provide important information for both adult, child and adolescent mental health professionals in terms of drawing attention to the importance of the medicolegal evaluations which are frequently requested from psychiatrists in their daily clinical practice and in terms of providing an evaluation of the concept of mental health deterioration in light of judicial decisions. Regarding the process from the beginning of application to the present, prejudications reduce questions about how the concept must be evaluated and what the meaning of the concept is. In this study, the decisions of Higher Judicial Bodies were researched and situations relating to how concepts must be evaluated and the meaning of the concept of mental health deterioration today in accordance with the prejudications were presented.

Workplace social capital, mental health and health behaviors among Brazilian female workers.

PubMed

Pattussi, Marcos Pascoal; Olinto, Maria Teresa Anselmo; Canuto, Raquel; da Silva Garcez, Anderson; Paniz, Vera Maria Vieira; Kawachi, Ichiro

2016-09-01

Previous studies have investigated the relationship between workplace social capital and mental health, yet few have sought to examine the mediating mechanisms. We sought to explore the role of workplace social capital on health related behaviors and on mental health among female employees in Brazil. A cross-sectional study was undertaken with 553 women aged 28-50 years working in the production line of a poultry processing plant. We assessed workplace social capital, common mental disorders, stress (Perceived Stress Scale) and health related behaviors (physical activity, healthy eating habits and co-occurrence of risk behaviors). We used structural equation modeling to clarify relationships between exposures, outcomes, and mediating variables. Our model demonstrated a direct effect of social capital on the outcomes studied. Higher workplace social capital was associated with lower stress and common mental disorders as well as more favorable health-related behaviors. Our model also showed an indirect effect of social capital on mental health and on behaviors that was mediated by lower levels of perceived stress. Workplace social cohesion may play an important role in the promotion of mental health and healthy behaviors among women employees.

Learning how the electron transport chain works: independent and interactive effects of instructional strategies and learners' characteristics.

PubMed

Darabi, Aubteen; Arrastia-Lloyd, Meagan C; Nelson, David W; Liang, Xinya; Farrell, Jennifer

2015-12-01

In order to develop an expert-like mental model of complex systems, causal reasoning is essential. This study examines the differences between forward and backward instructional strategies' in terms of efficiency, students' learning and progression of their mental models of the electronic transport chain in an undergraduate metabolism course (n = 151). Additionally, the participants' cognitive flexibility, prior knowledge, and mental effort in the learning process are also investigated. The data were analyzed using a series of general linear models to compare the strategies. Although the two strategies did not differ significantly in terms of mental model progression and learning outcomes, both groups' mental models progressed significantly. Mental effort and prior knowledge were identified as significant predictors of mental model progression. An interaction between instructional strategy and cognitive flexibility revealed that the backward instruction was more efficient than the conventional (forward) strategy for students with lower cognitive flexibility, whereas the conventional instruction was more efficient for students with higher cognitive flexibility. The results are discussed and suggestions for future research on the possible moderating role of cognitive flexibility in the area of health education are presented.

Pilot mental workload: how well do pilots really perform?

PubMed

Morris, Charles H; Leung, Ying K

2006-12-15

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of increasing mental demands on various aspects of aircrew performance. In particular, the robustness of the prioritization and allocation hierarchy of aviate-navigate-communicate was examined, a hierarchy commonly used within the aviation industry. A total of 42 trainee pilots were divided into three workload groups (low, medium, high) to complete a desktop, computer-based exercise that simulated combinations of generic flight deck activities: flight control manipulation, rule-based actions and higher level cognitive processing, in addition to Air Traffic Control instructions that varied in length from one chunk of auditory information to seven chunks. It was found that as mental workload and auditory input increased, participants experienced considerable difficulty in carrying out the primary manipulation task. A similar decline in prioritization was also observed. Moreover, when pilots were under a high mental workload their ability to comprehend more than two chunks of auditory data deteriorated rapidly.

Effects of digital altimetry on pilot workload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harris, R. L., Sr.; Glover, B. J.

1985-01-01

A series of VOR-DME instrument landing approaches was flown in the DC-9 full-workload simulator to compare pilot performance, scan behavior, and workload when using a computer-drum-pointer altimeter (CDPA) and a digital altimeter (DA). Six pilots executed two sets of instrument landing approaches, with a CDPA on one set and a DA on the other set. Pilot scanning parameters, flight performance, and subjective opinion data were evaluated. It is found that the processes of gathering information from the CDPA and the DA are different. The DA requires a higher mental workload than the CDPA for a VOR-DME type landing approach. Mental processing of altitude information after transitioning back to the attitude indicator is more evident with the DA than with the CDPA.

Spatiotemporal Phase Synchronization in Adaptive Reconfiguration from Action Observation Network to Mentalizing Network for Understanding Other's Action Intention.

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Gan, John Q; Zheng, Wenming; Wang, Haixian

2018-05-01

In action intention understanding, the mirror system is involved in perception-action matching process and the mentalizing system underlies higher-level intention inference. By analyzing the dynamic functional connectivity in α (8-12 Hz) and β (12-30 Hz) frequency bands over a "hand-cup interaction" observation task, this study investigates the topological transition from the action observation network (AON) to the mentalizing network (MZN), and estimates their functional relevance for intention identification from other's different action kinematics. Sequential brain microstates were extracted based on event-related potentials (ERPs), in which significantly differing neuronal responses were found in N170-P200 related to perceptually matching kinematic profiles and P400-700 involved in goal inference. Inter-electrode weighted phase lag index analysis on the ERP microstates revealed a shift of hub centrality salient in α frequency band, from the AON dominated by left-lateral frontal-premotor-temporal and temporal-parietooccipital synchronizations to the MZN consisting of more bilateral frontal-parietal and temporal-parietal synchronizations. As compared with usual actions, intention identification of unintelligible actions induces weaker synchronizations in the AON but dramatically increased connectivity in right frontal-temporal-parietal regions of the MZN, indicating a spatiotemporally complementary effect between the functional network configurations involved in mirror and mentalizing processes. Perceptual processing in observing usual/unintelligible actions decreases/increases requirements for intention inference, which would induce less/greater functional network reorganization on the way to mentalization. From the comparison, our study suggests that the adaptive topological changes from the AON to the MZN indicate implicit causal association between the mirror and mentalizing systems for decoding others' intentionality.

Transition from child and adolescent to adult mental health services in the Republic of Ireland: an investigation of process and operational practice.

PubMed

McNamara, Niamh; McNicholas, Fiona; Ford, Tamsin; Paul, Moli; Gavin, Blanaid; Coyne, Imelda; Cullen, Walter; O'Connor, Karen; Ramperti, Nicolas; Dooley, Barbara; Barry, Siobhan; Singh, Swaran P

2014-08-01

Ensuring a seamless transition from child to adult mental health services poses challenges for services worldwide. This is an important process in the ongoing care of young people with mental illness; therefore, it is incumbent on all countries to probe their individual structures to assess the quality of mental health service delivery to this vulnerable cohort. To date, there have been no published studies on the transition from Child to Adult Mental Health Services in the Republic of Ireland. To this end, a nationwide survey of transition policies of community mental health teams in both services was conducted in order to compare best practice guidelines for transition with current process and experience in clinical practice. Structured interviews were conducted with 57 consultant psychiatrists (representing 32 CAMHS teams and 25 AMHS teams) to obtain information on annual transition numbers, existing transition policies and operational practice from the professional perspective. Numbers of young people considered suitable for transfer to adult services (M = 7.73, SD = 9.86, n = 25) were slightly higher than numbers who actually transferred (M = 4.50, SD = 3.33, n = 20). There is a lack of standardized practice nationwide regarding the service transition boundary, an absence of written transition policies and protocols, and minimal formal interaction between child and adult services. The findings suggest that there are critical gaps between current operational practice and best practice guidelines. Future studies will investigate the impact this has on the transition experiences of young people, their carers and health-care professionals. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Mobile Virtual Learning Object for the Assessment of Acute Pain as a Learning Tool to Assess Acute Pain in Nursing: An Analysis of the Mental Workload

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background The inclusion of new technologies in education has motivated the development of studies on mental workload. These technologies are now being used in the teaching and learning process. The analysis enables identification of factors intervening in this workload as well as planning of overload prevention for educational activities using these technologies. Objective To analyze the mental workload of an educational intervention with the Mobile Virtual Learning Object for the Assessment of Acute Pain in adults and newborns, according to the NASA Task Load Index criteria. Methods A methodological study with data collected from 5 nurses and 75 students, from November of 2013 to February of 2014. Results The highest students’ and specialists’ means were in the dimensions of “Mental demand” (57.20 ± 22.27; 51 ± 29.45) and “Performance” (58.47 ± 24.19; 73 ± 28.85). The specialists’ mental workload index was higher (50.20 ± 7.28) when compared with students’ (47.87 ± 16.85) on a scale from 0 to 100 (P=.557). Conclusions The instrument allowed for the assessment of mental workload after an online educational intervention with a mobile learning virtual object. An excessive overload was not identified among participants. Assessing mental workload from the use of educational technologies at the end of a task is a key to their applicability, with the aim of providing a more effective, stimulating, and long-lasting experience of the learning process. PMID:27731849

Student nurses' experience working with mentally challenged individuals in South Africa.

PubMed

Janse VAN Rensburg, E S; Poggenpoel, M; Myburgh, C P H

2012-11-01

South African student nurses experience emotional discomfort that might influence their adjustment and coping while working with mentally challenged individuals. Adjustment and coping might impact on their mental health and support needed while working in this challenging context. Student nurses working with mentally challenged individuals experience emotional discomfort that may result in work-related stress. The experiences of student nurses working with mentally challenged individuals were explored and described as it may influence their adjustment, coping and result in work-related stress, impacting on their mental health. The study used a qualitative, explorative, descriptive, contextual research design with a case study as strategy. Thirteen student nurses from a specific higher educational institution in Gauteng, South Africa, participated in the focus group interviews. The researcher utilized reflective journals, a reflective letter, naïve sketches, drawings and field notes to collect data. Data analysis was done according to Tesch's descriptive method of open coding and theme analysis. A central storyline emerged where student nurses described working with mentally challenged individuals as a process of personal transformation that was initiated by an engagement on a deeper emotional level with these individuals. The process of personal transformation started a journey towards the discovery of meaning for the self, as student nurses. Student nurses working in challenging environments during their training may experience emotional discomfort and need additional support in coping and adjustment within this context. The nurse educator plays an important role in providing this support to manage work-related stress as well as in creating learning opportunities for the student nurses working in challenging contexts. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing.

Mental illness disclosure decision making.

PubMed

Pahwa, Rohini; Fulginiti, Anthony; Brekke, John S; Rice, Eric

2017-01-01

Disclosure related to mental illness has been linked to various positive outcomes, including better mental health. However, many individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) continue to practice non-disclosure. Even though disclosure inherently occurs within the context of one's social relationships, research has generally conceptualized mental illness disclosure as an individual level phenomenon and neglected to consider preferences concerning to whom an individual discloses and the factors that influence this decision. The current study uses the disclosure decision-making model (DD-MM) by Greene (2009) to better understand the processes of mental illness disclosure preference and selective disclosure for individuals with SMI (n = 60) using multivariate random intercept logistic regression with an emphasis on the constituent factors of disclosure preference at both individual and relational levels. The majority of participants were found to practice selective disclosure, with 68% of the participants identifying at least 1 network member to whom they could disclose. Family members and friends were central to the selective disclosure process, comprising the greatest proportion of network members who, both were and were not identified as preferred confidants. Women were found to show higher odds of preference for mental illness disclosure than men. Having lower perceived social support was associated with lower odds of disclosure preference. Among relational factors, greater relationship availability and lower dyadic tangible social support were associated with lower odds of disclosure preference. Practice and research implications of using social network analysis to get a deeper understanding of disclosure and disclosure preference are discussed, including implications for future interventions targeting stigma reduction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-esteem and symptoms of depression in children with seizures: relationships with neuropsychological functioning and family variables over time.

PubMed

Austin, Joan K; Perkins, Susan M; Johnson, Cynthia S; Fastenau, Philip S; Byars, Anna W; deGrauw, Ton J; Dunn, David W

2010-10-01

To test over time the relationships of neuropsychological functioning to mental health in children following a first recognized seizure and, of primary importance, to determine if the strength of these relationships differs based on risk and protective factors. In a larger prospective study, 135 children with a first seizure (ages 8-14 years) and 73 healthy sibling controls completed neuropsychological testing at baseline and 36 months. Structured telephone interviews were used to obtain data from children on mental health and family environment; major caregiving parents provided data on demographic and family variables. Data analyses included correlation coefficients and linear regression models. Children with seizures showed an overall trend for improvement in mental health. More children with seizures than siblings had declines in processing speed. Declines in neuropsychological functioning were correlated with worse mental health. With regard to risk and protective factors, higher parent education protected against decline in self-esteem related to decline in processing speed. Better family functioning and greater parental support protected against decline in self-esteem related to decrease in verbal memory and learning. Older child age protected against increase in depressive symptoms related to decline in processing speed. Seizure onset had a negative impact on mental health in children with declines in cognitive functioning except for older children and those with more family resources. Children should be assessed for declines in processing speed and, if found, those subgroups of children with less educated or more anxious parents and those in less supportive families should be targeted for interventions. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2010 International League Against Epilepsy.

Denial of illness in schizophrenia as a disturbance of self-reflection, self-perception and insight.

PubMed

Bedford, Nicholas J; David, Anthony S

2014-01-01

A substantial proportion of schizophrenia patients deny aspects of their illness to others, which may indicate a deeper disturbance of 'insight' and a self-reflection deficit. The present study used a 'levels-of-processing' mnemonic paradigm to examine whether such patients engage in particularly brief and shallow self-reflection during mental illness-related self-evaluation. 26 schizophrenia patients with either an overall acceptance or denial of their illness and 25 healthy controls made timed decisions about the self-descriptiveness, other-person-descriptiveness and phonological properties of mental illness traits, negative traits and positive traits, before completing surprise tests of retrieval for these traits. The acceptance patients and denial patients were particularly slow in their mental illness-related self-evaluation, indicating that they both found this exercise particularly difficult. Both patient groups displayed intact recognition but particularly reduced recall for self-evaluated traits in general, possibly indicating poor organisational processing during self-reflection. Lower recall for self-evaluated mental illness traits significantly correlated with higher denial of illness and higher illness-severity. Whilst explicit and implicit measures of self-perception corresponded in the healthy controls (who displayed an intact positive>negative 'self-positivity bias') and acceptance patients (who displayed a reduced self-positivity bias), the denial patients' self-positivity bias was explicitly intact but implicitly reduced. Schizophrenia patients, regardless of their illness-attitudes, have a particular deficit in recalling new self-related information that worsens with increasing denial of illness. This deficit may contribute towards rigid self-perception and disturbed self-awareness and insight in patients with denial of illness. © 2013.

The neural substrates of action identification.

PubMed

Marsh, Abigail A; Kozak, Megan N; Wegner, Daniel M; Reid, Marguerite E; Yu, Henry H; Blair, R J R

2010-12-01

Mentalization is the process by which an observer views a target as possessing higher cognitive faculties such as goals, intentions and desires. Mentalization can be assessed using action identification paradigms, in which observers choose mentalistic (goals-focused) or mechanistic (action-focused) descriptions of targets' actions. Neural structures that play key roles in inferring goals and intentions from others' observed or imagined actions include temporo-parietal junction, ventral premotor cortex and extrastriate body area. We hypothesized that these regions play a role in action identification as well. Data collected using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) confirmed our predictions that activity in ventral premotor cortex and middle temporal gyrus near the extrastriate body area varies both as a function of the valence of the target and the extent to which actions are identified as goal-directed. In addition, the inferior parietal lobule is preferentially engaged when participants identify the actions of mentalized targets. Functional connectivity analyses suggest support from other regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala, during mentalization. We found correlations between action identification and Autism Quotient scores, suggesting that understanding the neural correlates of action identification may enhance our understanding of the underpinnings of essential social cognitive processes.

Ego-rotation and object-rotation in major depressive disorder.

PubMed

Chen, Jiu; Yang, Laiqi; Ma, Wentao; Wu, Xingqu; Zhang, Yan; Wei, Dunhong; Liu, Guangxiong; Deng, Zihe; Hua, Zhen; Jia, Ting

2013-08-30

Mental rotation (MR) performance provides a direct insight into a prototypical higher-level visuo-spatial cognitive operation. Previous studies suggest that progressive slowing with an increasing angle of orientation indicates a specific wing of object-based mental transformations in the psychomotor retardation that occurs in major depressive disorder (MDD). It is still not known, however, whether the ability of object-rotation is associated with the ability of ego-rotation in MDD. The present study was designed to investigate the level of impairment of mental transformation abilities in MDD. For this purpose we tested 33 MDD (aged 18-52 years, 16 women) and 30 healthy control subjects (15 women, age and education matched) by evaluating the performance of MDD subjects with regard to ego-rotation and object-rotation tasks. First, MDD subjects were significantly slower and made more errors than controls in mentally rotating hands and letters. Second, MDD and control subjects displayed the same pattern of response times to stimuli at various orientations in the letter task but not the hand task. Third, in particular, MDD subjects were significantly slower and made more errors during the mental transformation of hands than letters relative to control subjects and were significantly slower and made more errors in physiologically impossible angles than physiologically possible angles in the mental rotation hand task. In conclusion, MDD subjects present with more serious mental rotation deficits specific to the hand than the letter task. Importantly, deficits were more present during the mental transformation in outward rotation angles, thus suggesting that the mental imagery for hands and letters relies on different processing mechanisms which suggest a module that is more complex for the processing of human hands than for letters during mental rotation tasks. Our study emphasises the necessity of distinguishing different levels of impairment of action in MDD subjects. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL TOUGHNESS, STRESS, AND BURNOUT AMONG ADOLESCENTS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY WITH SWISS VOCATIONAL STUDENTS (.).

PubMed

Gerber, Markus; Feldmeth, Anne Karina; Lang, Christin; Brand, Serge; Elliot, Catherine; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith; Pühse, Uwe

2015-12-01

Past research has shown that higher stress is associated with increased burnout symptoms. The purpose of this study was to test whether mental toughness protects against symptoms of burnout and whether mental toughness moderates the relationship between perceived stress and burnout over time. Fifty-four vocational students (M age = 18.1 yr., SD = 1.2; 27 males, 27 females) completed self-report questionnaires twice, 10 mo. apart. Perceived stress, mental toughness, and burnout were measured using the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ), the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ), and the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM). Students who perceived higher stress and lower mental toughness scores reported higher burnout symptoms. Although no significant interaction effects were found between stress and mental toughness in the prediction of burnout, the graphical inspection of the interactions indicated that among students with high stress, those with high mental toughness remained below the cutoff for mild burnout, whereas an increase in burnout symptoms was observable among peers with low mental toughness.

Mental toughness in sport: motivational antecedents and associations with performance and psychological health.

PubMed

Mahoney, John W; Gucciardi, Daniel F; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Mallett, Cliff J; Mallet, Cliff J

2014-06-01

We argue that basic psychological needs theory (BPNT) offers impetus to the value of mental toughness as a mechanism for optimizing human functioning. We hypothesized that psychological needs satisfaction (thwarting) would be associated with higher (lower) levels of mental toughness, positive affect, and performance and lower (higher) levels of negative affect. We also expected that mental toughness would be associated with higher levels of positive affect and performance and lower levels of negative affect. Further, we predicted that coaching environments would be related to mental toughness indirectly through psychological needs and that psychological needs would indirectly relate with performance and affect through mental toughness. Adolescent cross-country runners (136 male and 85 female, M(age) = 14.36) completed questionnaires pertaining to BPNT variables, mental toughness, and affect. Race times were also collected. Our findings supported our hypotheses. We concluded that BPNT is generative in understanding some of the antecedents and consequences of mental toughness and is a novel framework useful for understanding mental toughness.

A serial mediation model of workplace social support on work productivity: the role of self-stigma and job tenure self-efficacy in people with severe mental disorders.

PubMed

Villotti, Patrizia; Corbière, Marc; Dewa, Carolyn S; Fraccaroli, Franco; Sultan-Taïeb, Hélène; Zaniboni, Sara; Lecomte, Tania

2017-09-12

Compared to groups with other disabilities, people with a severe mental illness face the greatest stigma and barriers to employment opportunities. This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between workplace social support and work productivity in people with severe mental illness working in Social Enterprises by taking into account the mediating role of self-stigma and job tenure self-efficacy. A total of 170 individuals with a severe mental disorder employed in a Social Enterprise filled out questionnaires assessing personal and work-related variables at Phase-1 (baseline) and Phase-2 (6-month follow-up). Process modeling was used to test for serial mediation. In the Social Enterprise workplace, social support yields better perceptions of work productivity through lower levels of internalized stigma and higher confidence in facing job-related problems. When testing serial multiple mediations, the specific indirect effect of high workplace social support on work productivity through both low internalized stigma and high job tenure self-efficacy was significant with a point estimate of 1.01 (95% CI = 0.42, 2.28). Continued work in this area can provide guidance for organizations in the open labor market addressing the challenges posed by the work integration of people with severe mental illness. Implications for Rehabilitation: Work integration of people with severe mental disorders is difficult because of limited access to supportive and nondiscriminatory workplaces. Social enterprise represents an effective model for supporting people with severe mental disorders to integrate the labor market. In the social enterprise workplace, social support yields better perceptions of work productivity through lower levels of internalized stigma and higher confidence in facing job-related problems.

Contemporary Approaches to Conditioning and Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGuigan, F. J., Ed.; Lumsden, D. Barry, Ed.

Chapters contained in this volume, each with a list of references appended, are: "Scientific Psychology in Transition" by Gregory A. Kimble; "Higher Mental Processes as the Bases for the Laws of Conditioning" by Eli Saltz; "Reification and Reality in Conditioning Paradigms: Implications of Results When Modes of Reinforcement are Changed" by David…

The Resistance to More Humanistic Forms of Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Brandon

2010-01-01

This response to Tom Bryce's paper aims to supplement some of the critical points made regarding the imbalance between content, process, and context in today's science education curriculum in higher learning institutions. Discussion and examples of how the present student-mentor relationship fosters tribe mentality are also included. However a…

Mental Health and Adjustment of Higher Secondary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murugan, P. Vel

2017-01-01

The main objective of this study is to find out the relationship between mental health and adjustment of higher secondary school students. Mental Health Scale developed by Sakthimani (2010) and Adjustment Inventory developed by A.K.P. Sinha and R.P. Singh (2007) were used to collect the relevant data. The sample consists of 103 higher secondary…

Caseload management, work-related stress and case manager self-efficacy among Victorian mental health case managers.

PubMed

King, Robert

2009-05-01

In Australia and comparable countries, case management has become the dominant process by which public mental health services provide outpatient clinical services to people with severe mental illness. There is recognition that caseload size impacts on service provision and that management of caseloads is an important dimension of overall service management. There has been little empirical investigation, however, of caseload and its management. The present study was undertaken in the context of an industrial agreement in Victoria, Australia that required services to introduce standardized approaches to caseload management. The aims of the present study were therefore to (i) investigate caseload size and approaches to caseload management in Victoria's mental health services; and (ii) determine whether caseload size and/or approach to caseload management is associated with work-related stress or case manager self-efficacy among community mental health professionals employed in Victoria's mental health services. A total of 188 case managers responded to an online cross-sectional survey with both purpose-developed items investigating methods of case allocation and caseload monitoring, and standard measures of work-related stress and case manager personal efficacy. The mean caseload size was 20 per full-time case manager. Both work-related stress scores and case manager personal efficacy scores were broadly comparable with those reported in previous studies. Higher caseloads were associated with higher levels of work-related stress and lower levels of case manager personal efficacy. Active monitoring of caseload was associated with lower scores for work-related stress and higher scores for case manager personal efficacy, regardless of size of caseload. Although caseloads were most frequently monitored by the case manager, there was evidence that monitoring by a supervisor was more beneficial than self-monitoring. Routine monitoring of caseload, especially by a workplace supervisor, may be effective in reducing work-related stress and enhancing case manager personal efficacy.

Do socio-economic factors, elderly population size and service development factors influence the development of specialist mental health programs for older people?

PubMed

Shah, Ajit

2008-12-01

Despite the increase in the proportion of older people in the population, little is known about factors that facilitate the development of specialist mental health services for older people. The relationship between the presence of specialist mental health programs for older people and elderly population size, proportion of older people in the population, gross national domestic product (GDP), and various parameters of health funding, mental health funding and mental health service provision was examined in an ecological study using data from the World Health Organization. The presence of specialist mental health programs for older people was significantly associated with higher GDP, higher expenditure on healthcare and mental healthcare, the presence of a national mental health policy and a national mental health program, the availability of mental health care in primary care and the community, and higher density of psychiatric beds, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, psychologists and social workers. The challenge will be to persuade policy-makers in low and medium income countries, where the increase in the elderly population is most rapid, to develop specialist mental health services for older people.

Familiarity with and intentions to use Internet-delivered mental health treatments among older rural adults.

PubMed

Handley, Tonelle; Perkins, David; Kay-Lambkin, Frances; Lewin, Terry; Kelly, Brian

2015-01-01

Older adults are the fastest growing age group in Australia, necessitating an increase in appropriate mental health services in the coming years. While Internet-delivered mental health treatments have been established as acceptable and efficacious among younger samples, little research has explored whether they would be similarly useful in older populations. The participants were part of the Australian Rural Mental Health study, which explores mental health and well-being in residents of non-metropolitan New South Wales. A postal survey was used to assess knowledge of and intentions to use Internet-delivered mental health treatments. Demographics, mental health, and frequency of Internet use were also measured. The survey was completed by 950 adults aged 50-93. The sample was largely unfamiliar with Internet mental health services, with 75% reporting that they had never heard of them and a further 20% not knowing any details of what they involved. Intentions to use these services were also low, at 13.5%; however, this increased with level of familiarity. Respondents with higher psychological distress, higher education, and more frequent Internet use were significantly more likely to consider using Internet treatments. Among older adults, overall awareness of Internet-delivered mental health treatments appears to be limited; however, higher familiarity contributes to higher intentions to use these treatments. Importantly, respondents with higher distress and greater computer literacy were more likely to consider mental health treatments delivered via the Internet. Future research exploring strategies to increase the promotion of these services to older samples may further improve their perceptions and use.

Yes, and … : Continuing the Scholarly Conversation about Mental Health Stigma in Higher Education. Wicked Problems Forum: Mental Health Stigma

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudick, C. Kyle; Dannels, Deanna P.

2018-01-01

The issues surrounding mental health stigma in higher education are complex and multipronged; perfectly classifying the topic as a "wicked problem" Approximately 55% of students stated they have been diagnosed or treated by a professional for some form of mental illness while in college (American College Health Association, 2017a). The…

A Lifetime of Trauma: Mental Health Challenges for Higher Education in a Conflict Environment in Afghanistan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Babury, Mohammed Osman; Hayward, Fred Manwarren

2013-01-01

More than 30 years of war in Afghanistan have resulted in immense policy challenges to address the resulting mental health issues. The purpose of this policy analysis is to examine the potential role of higher education in addressing the pressing mental health problems in Afghanistan's public universities and higher education institutions as a…

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG): association between its addiction, self-control and mental disorders among young people in Vietnam.

PubMed

Son, Dinh Thai; Yasuoka, Junko; Poudel, Krishna C; Otsuka, Keiko; Jimba, Masamine

2013-09-01

To explore the association between MMORPG addiction and mental health status, and between self-control ability and mental health status among young male MMORPG players in Hanoi, Vietnam. In this cross-sectional study, 10 computer game rooms were randomly selected out of 77 in five communes in Hanoi. From these game rooms, 350 MMORPG players were purposively recruited as a study group, of whom 344 completed the questionnaire. In the same five communes, 344 non-players were selected as a control group. An online game addiction scale, a self-control scale and the Vietnamese SRQ-20 were used to measure the degree of MMORPG addiction, self-control ability and level of mental disorders. MMORPG players had significantly higher mental disorders scale scores than non-players (p < .001). The strongest positive correlation was detected between MMORPG addiction scale scores and mental disorders scale scores (r = 0.730, p < .001). Self-control scale scores were negatively associated with mental disorders scale scores (r = -0.345, p < .001). The average amount of money spent on games per month, MMORPG addiction scale score and self-control scale score were considered the best predictors of a higher mental disorders scale score. Young, male MMORPG players with higher addiction scores were more likely to have higher mental disorders scale scores, and such mental status was negatively associated with the level of self-control in Hanoi, Vietnam. Closer attention should be paid to prevent mental disorders among MMORPG players.

[Efficacy of mental health prevention and promotion strategies in higher education].

PubMed

Martineau, Marc; Beauchamp, Guy; Marcotte, Diane

Recent studies inform of increases in reported mental health problems in higher education students worldwide, with suicide and homicide being the most dramatic outcomes. Improving first-hand intervention and implementing mental health prevention and promotion strategies in colleges and universities are amongst the most commonly mentioned means of addressing these concerns. While institutions increasingly favor mental health promotion, most programs have not been properly evaluated and most strategies cannot be replicated. The article analyses results obtained from literature reviews and meta-analysis focusing on mental health prevention and promotion strategies targeting college and university students. Mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral and relaxation strategies, as well as social ability training, appeared to be the most effective if they were practiced under supervision. The implementation of supervised mental health prevention strategies within a setting-based systematic and multifactorial promotion frame could significantly decrease mental health problems in higher education students.

Variations in Student Mental Health and Treatment Utilization Across US Colleges and Universities.

PubMed

Ketchen Lipson, Sarah; Gaddis, S Michael; Heinze, Justin; Beck, Kathryn; Eisenberg, Daniel

2015-01-01

On US college campuses, mental health problems are highly prevalent, appear to be increasing, and are often untreated. Concerns about student mental health are well documented, but little is known about potential variations across the diversity of institutions of higher education. Participants were 43,210 undergraduates at 72 campuses that participated in the Healthy Minds Study from 2007 to 2013. Multivariable logistic regressions focus on associations between institutional characteristics and student mental health and treatment utilization. The following institutional characteristics are associated with worse mental health: doctoral-granting, public, large enrollment, nonresidential, less competitive, and lower graduation rates. Among students with apparent mental health problems, treatment utilization is higher at doctorate-granting institutions, baccalaureate colleges, institutions with small enrollments, and schools with strong residential systems. Although high rates of mental health problems and low treatment utilization are major concerns at all types of institutions of higher education, substantial variation occurs across campuses.

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!" - Higher Hypomania Scores Are Associated with Higher Mental Toughness, Increased Physical Activity, and Lower Symptoms of Depression and Lower Sleep Complaints.

PubMed

Jahangard, Leila; Rahmani, Anahita; Haghighi, Mohammad; Ahmadpanah, Mohammad; Sadeghi Bahmani, Dena; Soltanian, Ali R; Shirzadi, Shahriar; Bajoghli, Hafez; Gerber, Markus; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith; Brand, Serge

2017-01-01

Background: In the present study, we explored the associations between hypomania, symptoms of depression, sleep complaints, physical activity and mental toughness. The latter construct has gained interest for its association with a broad variety of favorable behavior in both clinical and non-clinical samples. Subjects and Methods: The non-clinical sample consisted of 206 young adults ( M = 21.3 years; age range: 18-24 years; 57.3% males). They completed questionnaires covering hypomania, mental toughness, symptoms of depression, physical activity, and sleep quality. Results: Higher hypomania scores were associated with higher mental toughness, increased physical activity, lower symptoms of depression and lower sleep complaints. No gender differences were observed. Higher hypomania scores were predicted by higher scores of mental toughness subscales of control and challenge, and physical activity. Conclusion: The pattern of results suggests that among a non-clinical sample of young adults, self-rated hypomania scores were associated with higher scores on mental toughness and physical activity, along with lower depression and sleep complaints. The pattern of results further suggests that hypomania traits are associated with a broad range of favorable psychological, behavioral and sleep-related traits, at least among a non-clinical sample of young adults.

The Generation and Maintenance of Visual Mental Images: Evidence from Image Type and Aging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Beni, Rossana; Pazzaglia, Francesca; Gardini, Simona

2007-01-01

Imagery is a multi-componential process involving different mental operations. This paper addresses whether separate processes underlie the generation, maintenance and transformation of mental images or whether these cognitive processes rely on the same mental functions. We also examine the influence of age on these mental operations for…

[Gender specific differences in coping with colon cancer--empirical findings with special consideration of religious coping].

PubMed

Murken, S; Namini, S; Gross, S; Körber, J

2010-04-01

The present study investigated whether women and men differ with regard to non-religious and religious coping with cancer, here: colon cancer--a question on which only little research has been done so far. 341 patients filled in a questionnaire during inpatient oncological rehabilitation. Statistical analyses showed that women reported higher mental strain than men. They used more bagatellization and wishful thinking, more depressive and less active problem-oriented coping strategies. A higher use of religious coping among women was to a high degree associated with their generally stronger religiosity. Correlations between coping strategies and measures of mental health indicated commonalities and differences. In particular, a positive correlation between active problem-oriented coping and mental health was found for men but not for women. In accordance with women's higher religiosity, the data indicate a stronger correlation between religious coping and adaptation among women than among men. The results suggest that gender differences and religiosity can be relevant in the context of treatment but that their significance must not be overinterpreted. In terms of patient orientation they speak for the necessity to individually assess the need for support, also with regard to the consideration of religiosity in the treatment process. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart.New York.

Neural mechanisms of the mind, Aristotle, Zadeh, and fMRI.

PubMed

Perlovsky, Leonid I

2010-05-01

Processes in the mind: perception, cognition, concepts, instincts, emotions, and higher cognitive abilities for abstract thinking, beautiful music are considered here within a neural modeling fields (NMFs) paradigm. Its fundamental mathematical mechanism is a process "from vague-fuzzy to crisp," called dynamic logic (DL). This paper discusses why this paradigm is necessary mathematically, and relates it to a psychological description of the mind. Surprisingly, the process from "vague to crisp" corresponds to Aristotelian understanding of mental functioning. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements confirmed this process in neural mechanisms of perception.

Neural and psychophysiological correlates of human performance under stress and high mental workload.

PubMed

Mandrick, Kevin; Peysakhovich, Vsevolod; Rémy, Florence; Lepron, Evelyne; Causse, Mickaël

2016-12-01

In our anxiogenic and stressful world, the maintenance of an optimal cognitive performance is a constant challenge. It is particularly true in complex working environments (e.g. flight deck, air traffic control tower), where individuals have sometimes to cope with a high mental workload and stressful situations. Several models (i.e. processing efficiency theory, cognitive-energetical framework) have attempted to provide a conceptual basis on how human performance is modulated by high workload and stress/anxiety. These models predict that stress can reduce human cognitive efficiency, even in the absence of a visible impact on the task performance. Performance may be protected under stress thanks to compensatory effort, but only at the expense of a cognitive cost. Yet, the psychophysiological cost of this regulation remains unclear. We designed two experiments involving pupil diameter, cardiovascular and prefrontal oxygenation measurements. Participants performed the Toulouse N-back Task that intensively engaged both working memory and mental calculation processes under the threat (or not) of unpredictable aversive sounds. The results revealed that higher task difficulty (higher n level) degraded the performance and induced an increased tonic pupil diameter, heart rate and activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex, and a decreased phasic pupil response and heart rate variability. Importantly, the condition of stress did not impact the performance, but at the expense of a psychophysiological cost as demonstrated by lower phasic pupil response, and greater heart rate and prefrontal activity. Prefrontal cortex seems to be a central region for mitigating the influence of stress because it subserves crucial functions (e.g. inhibition, working memory) that can promote the engagement of coping strategies. Overall, findings confirmed the psychophysiological cost of both mental effort and stress. Stress likely triggered increased motivation and the recruitment of additional cognitive resources that minimize its aversive effects on task performance (effectiveness), but these compensatory efforts consumed resources that caused a loss of cognitive efficiency (ratio between performance effectiveness and mental effort). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mental Rotation of Tactical Instruction Displays Affects Information Processing Demand and Execution Accuracy in Basketball.

PubMed

Koopmann, Till; Steggemann-Weinrich, Yvonne; Baumeister, Jochen; Krause, Daniel

2017-09-01

In sports games, coaches often use tactic boards to present tactical instructions during time-outs (e.g., 20 s to 60 s in basketball). Instructions should be presented in a way that enables fast and errorless information processing for the players. The aim of this study was to test the effect of different orientations of visual tactical displays on observation time and execution performance. High affordances in visual-spatial transformation (e.g., mental rotation processes) might impede information processing and might decrease execution performance with regard to the instructed playing patterns. In a within-subjects design with 1 factor, 10 novice students were instructed with visual tactical instructions of basketball playing patterns with different orientations either showing the playing pattern with low spatial disparity to the players' on-court perspective (basket on top) or upside down (basket on bottom). The self-chosen time for watching the pattern before execution was significantly shorter and spatial accuracy in pattern execution was significantly higher when the instructional perspective and the real perspective on the basketball court had a congruent orientation. The effects might be explained by interfering mental rotation processes that are necessary to transform the instructional perspective into the players' actual perspective while standing on the court or imagining themselves standing on the court. According to these results, coaches should align their tactic boards to their players' on-court viewing perspective.

Birth order effects on the separation process in young adults: an evolutionary and dynamic approach.

PubMed

Ziv, Ido; Hermel, Orly

2011-01-01

The present study analyzes the differential contribution of a familial or social focus in imaginative ideation (the personal fable and imagined audience mental constructs) to the separation-individuation process of firstborn, middleborn, and lastborn children. A total of 160 young adults were divided into 3 groups by birth order. Participants' separation-individuation process was evaluated by the Psychological Separation Inventory, and results were cross-validated by the Pathology of Separation-Individuation Inventory. The Imaginative Ideation Inventory tested the relative dominance of the familial and social environments in participants' mental constructs. The findings showed that middleborn children had attained more advanced separation and were lower in family-focused ideation and higher in nonfamilial social ideation. However, the familial and not the social ideation explained the variance in the separation process in all the groups. The findings offer new insights into the effects of birth order on separation and individuation in adolescents and young adults.

Development of Higher Mental Functions in First-Graders during the School Year Depending on the Intensity of Educational Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tvardovskaya, Alla A.; Svinar, Elena V.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the investigated problem is caused by the fact that most children who start to study do not have a good level of higher mental functions. It leads to difficulties at school and health problems. The article aims at estimating the level of higher mental functions and the degree of educational motivation development among…

Context Effects in the Processing of Phonolexical Ambiguity in L2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chrabaszcz, Anna; Gor, Kira

2014-01-01

In order to comprehend speech, listeners have to combine low-level phonetic information about the incoming auditory signal with higher-order contextual information to make a lexical selection. This requires stable phonological categories and unambiguous representations of words in the mental lexicon. Unlike native speakers, second language (L2)…

Contextualizing Action for the Abstraction of Scientific Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saglam, Yilmaz

2015-01-01

In this paper, abstraction is associated with an activity in the sense of activity theory by Vygotsky. To him, participation in social activities is a fundamental act for the child in order to achieve higher mental functions. The present paper aimed to experimentally investigate the abstraction process and illustrate how meaning emerges on social…

Academic Literacy and Plagiarism: Conversations with International Graduate Students and Disciplinary Professors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abasi, Ali R.; Graves, Barbara

2008-01-01

In this study we examine how university plagiarism policies interact with international graduate students' academic writing in English as they develop identities as authors and students. The study is informed by the sociocultural theoretical perspective [Vygotsky, L. (1978). "Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes." Cambridge,…

Examining the links between therapeutic jurisprudence and mental health court completion.

PubMed

Redlich, Allison D; Han, Woojae

2014-04-01

Research demonstrates that mental health courts (MHCs) lead to improved outcomes compared to traditional criminal court processes. An underlying premise of MHCs is therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ). However, no research, to our knowledge, has examined whether MHC outcomes are predicted by TJ principles as theorized. In the present study, we examined whether principles measured at the onset of MHC enrollment (knowledge, perceived voluntariness, and procedural justice) predicted MHC completion (graduation). Using structural equation modeling with MHC participants from four courts, a significant, direct relationship between TJ and MHC completion was found, such that higher levels of TJ were associated with higher rates of success. Although this direct effect became nonsignificant when mediator variables were included, a significant indirect path remained, such that increased levels of initial perceived voluntariness and procedural justice, and MHC knowledge, led to decreased rates of new arrests, prison, MHC bench warrants, and increased court compliance, which, in turn, led to a higher likelihood of MHC graduation. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The resistance to more humanistic forms of science education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez, Brandon

2010-09-01

This response to Tom Bryce's paper aims to supplement some of the critical points made regarding the imbalance between content, process, and context in today's science education curriculum in higher learning institutions. Discussion and examples of how the present student-mentor relationship fosters tribe mentality are also included. However a caution is also suggested against the treatment of science as a purely subjective process, overrun by self-interested and exclusive parties.

Neural Network Classification of Mental Workload Conditions by Analysis of Spontaneous Electroencephalograms

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

and other higher order cognitive processe elevant to the design and use of the system. Characterization of human abilities and limitations in terms of...pilot’s workload and cognitive resources at any given moment. Before flight, the pilot can tailor the mode, type and quantity of information provided...it needs to incorporate models of human cognitive processes and resource limitations into the resource model. As mentioned earlier, characterization of

Disaster Management: Mental Health Perspective

PubMed Central

Math, Suresh Bada; Nirmala, Maria Christine; Moirangthem, Sydney; Kumar, Naveen C.

2015-01-01

Disaster mental health is based on the principles of ‘preventive medicine’ This principle has necessitated a paradigm shift from relief centered post-disaster management to a holistic, multi-dimensional integrated community approach of health promotion, disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation. This has ignited the paradigm shift from curative to preventive aspects of disaster management. This can be understood on the basis of six ‘R’s such as Readiness (Preparedness), Response (Immediate action), Relief (Sustained rescue work), Rehabilitation (Long term remedial measures using community resources), Recovery (Returning to normalcy) and Resilience (Fostering). Prevalence of mental health problems in disaster affected population is found to be higher by two to three times than that of the general population. Along with the diagnosable mental disorders, affected community also harbours large number of sub-syndromal symptoms. Majority of the acute phase reactions and disorders are self-limiting, whereas long-term phase disorders require assistance from mental health professionals. Role of psychotropic medication is very limited in preventing mental health morbidity. The role of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) in mitigating the mental health morbidity appears to be promising. Role of Psychological First Aid (PFA) and debriefing is not well-established. Disaster management is a continuous and integrated cyclical process of planning, organising, coordinating and implementing measures to prevent and to manage disaster effectively. Thus, now it is time to integrate public health principles into disaster mental health. PMID:26664073

Substrates of metacognition on perception and metacognition on higher-order cognition relate to different subsystems of the mentalizing network.

PubMed

Valk, Sofie L; Bernhardt, Boris C; Böckler, Anne; Kanske, Philipp; Singer, Tania

2016-10-01

Humans have the ability to reflect upon their perception, thoughts, and actions, known as metacognition (MC). The brain basis of MC is incompletely understood, and it is debated whether MC on different processes is subserved by common or divergent networks. We combined behavioral phenotyping with multi-modal neuroimaging to investigate whether structural substrates of individual differences in MC on higher-order cognition (MC-C) are dissociable from those underlying MC on perceptual accuracy (MC-P). Motivated by conceptual work suggesting a link between MC and cognitive perspective taking, we furthermore tested for overlaps between MC substrates and mentalizing networks. In a large sample of healthy adults, individual differences in MC-C and MC-P did not correlate. MRI-based cortical thickness mapping revealed a structural basis of this independence, by showing that individual differences in MC-P related to right prefrontal cortical thickness, while MC-C scores correlated with measures in lateral prefrontal, temporo-parietal, and posterior midline regions. Surface-based superficial white matter diffusivity analysis revealed substrates resembling those seen for cortical thickness, confirming the divergence of both MC faculties using an independent imaging marker. Despite their specificity, substrates of MC-C and MC-P fell clearly within networks known to participate in mentalizing, confirmed by task-based fMRI in the same subjects, previous meta-analytical findings, and ad-hoc Neurosynth-based meta-analyses. Our integrative multi-method approach indicates domain-specific substrates of MC; despite their divergence, these nevertheless likely rely on component processes mediated by circuits also involved in mentalizing. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3388-3399, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Association between psychosomatic health symptoms and common mental illness in Ghanaian adolescents: Age and gender as potential moderators.

PubMed

Glozah, Franklin N; Pevalin, David J

2017-09-01

Little is known about the role of age and gender in the association between psychosomatic symptoms and common mental illness in Ghanaian adolescents. This cross-sectional study examined age and gender as moderators between psychosomatic symptoms and common mental illness using data from a school-based survey ( N = 770). Males reported higher psychosomatic symptoms and common mental illness, while younger adolescents reported higher common mental illness only. Psychosomatic symptoms were positively associated with common mental illness, but age and gender did not moderate this association. Interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence rate in psychosomatic symptoms are crucial in decreasing common mental illness in Ghanaian adolescents.

Sexual orientation, internal migration, and mental health during the transition to adulthood.

PubMed

Ueno, Koji; Vaghela, Preeti; Ritter, Lacey J

2014-12-01

Previous research has suggested that sexual minorities may have higher rates of migration than heterosexuals, indicating their effort to escape stigma in the currently residing areas. However, direct evidence for the migration pattern has been lacking, and mental health implications of such coping effort have been unclear. This study seeks to fill these gaps in the literature by analyzing the Add Health data, which include longitudinal measures of residential locations, sexual orientation, and mental health. The analysis focuses on the transition to adulthood, when the rate of internal migration peaks. Among women, sexual minorities have a higher rate of migration than heterosexuals, but men do not show such a difference. Sexual minorities show better mental health when they migrate to counties with higher proportions of people living in urban areas whereas heterosexuals do not show such an association. Among sexual minority men, migration to counties with higher population density and higher proportions of college-educated residents is also linked to better mental health. © American Sociological Association 2014.

The impact of ageing and gender on visual mental imagery processes: A study of performance on tasks from the Complete Visual Mental Imagery Battery (CVMIB).

PubMed

Palermo, Liana; Piccardi, Laura; Nori, Raffaella; Giusberti, Fiorella; Guariglia, Cecilia

2016-09-01

In this study we aim to evaluate the impact of ageing and gender on different visual mental imagery processes. Two hundred and fifty-one participants (130 women and 121 men; age range = 18-77 years) were given an extensive neuropsychological battery including tasks probing the generation, maintenance, inspection, and transformation of visual mental images (Complete Visual Mental Imagery Battery, CVMIB). Our results show that all mental imagery processes with the exception of the maintenance are affected by ageing, suggesting that other deficits, such as working memory deficits, could account for this effect. However, the analysis of the transformation process, investigated in terms of mental rotation and mental folding skills, shows a steeper decline in mental rotation, suggesting that age could affect rigid transformations of objects and spare non-rigid transformations. Our study also adds to previous ones in showing gender differences favoring men across the lifespan in the transformation process, and, interestingly, it shows a steeper decline in men than in women in inspecting mental images, which could partially account for the mixed results about the effect of ageing on this specific process. We also discuss the possibility to introduce the CVMIB in clinical assessment in the context of theoretical models of mental imagery.

Stages of Change as a Correlate of Mental Health Symptoms in Abused, Low-Income African American Women

PubMed Central

Edwards, Tiffany A.; Houry, Debra; Kemball, Robin S.; Harp, Sharon E.; McNutt, Louise-Anne; Straus, Helen; Rhodes, Karin V.; Cerulli, Catherine; Kaslow, Nadine J.

2006-01-01

The current study aims to further our understanding of the applicability of the transtheoretical model (TM) to intimate partner violence (IPV), with particular focus on mental health symptoms (depression, posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology, suicidal ideation) in a sample of low-income African American women seeking medical services at an inner city emergency department. Results revealed that of the 121 abused African American women, the majority (95%) were in the precontempla-tion and contemplation stages of the change process. Further, contrary to predictions, bivariate analyses revealed those at further stages of change endorsed more severe mental health symptoms. However, a multivariate analysis of variance examining differences in level of mental health symptoms between women high and low on stages of change was inconclusive due to the small number of women at the higher stages of the TM model. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature supporting the TM as applied to IPV. Results are discussed in terms of applicability to intervention design. PMID:16897735

Autism and psychosis expressions diametrically modulate the right temporoparietal junction.

PubMed

Abu-Akel, Ahmad M; Apperly, Ian A; Wood, Stephen J; Hansen, Peter C

2017-10-01

The mentalizing network is atypically activated in autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. While these disorders are considered diagnostically independent, expressions of both can co-occur in the same individual. We examined the concurrent effect of autism traits and psychosis proneness on the activity of the mentalizing network in 24 neurotypical adults while performing a social competitive game. Activations were observed in the paracingulate cortex and the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ). Autism traits and psychosis proneness did not modulate activity within the paracingulate or the dorsal component of the rTPJ. However, diametric modulations of autism traits and psychosis proneness were observed in the posterior (rvpTPJ) and anterior (rvaTPJ) subdivisions of the ventral rTPJ, which respectively constitute core regions within the mentalizing and attention-reorienting networks. Within the rvpTPJ, increasing autism tendencies decreased activity, and increasing psychosis proneness increased activity. This effect was reversed within the rvaTPJ. We suggest that this results from an interaction between regions responsible for higher level social cognitive processing (rvpTPJ) and regions responsible for domain-general attentional processes (rvaTPJ). The observed diametric modulation of autism tendencies and psychosis proneness of neuronal activity within the mentalizing network highlights the importance of assessing both autism and psychosis expressions within the individual.

“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life!” – Higher Hypomania Scores Are Associated with Higher Mental Toughness, Increased Physical Activity, and Lower Symptoms of Depression and Lower Sleep Complaints

PubMed Central

Jahangard, Leila; Rahmani, Anahita; Haghighi, Mohammad; Ahmadpanah, Mohammad; Sadeghi Bahmani, Dena; Soltanian, Ali R.; Shirzadi, Shahriar; Bajoghli, Hafez; Gerber, Markus; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith; Brand, Serge

2017-01-01

Background: In the present study, we explored the associations between hypomania, symptoms of depression, sleep complaints, physical activity and mental toughness. The latter construct has gained interest for its association with a broad variety of favorable behavior in both clinical and non-clinical samples. Subjects and Methods: The non-clinical sample consisted of 206 young adults (M = 21.3 years; age range: 18–24 years; 57.3% males). They completed questionnaires covering hypomania, mental toughness, symptoms of depression, physical activity, and sleep quality. Results: Higher hypomania scores were associated with higher mental toughness, increased physical activity, lower symptoms of depression and lower sleep complaints. No gender differences were observed. Higher hypomania scores were predicted by higher scores of mental toughness subscales of control and challenge, and physical activity. Conclusion: The pattern of results suggests that among a non-clinical sample of young adults, self-rated hypomania scores were associated with higher scores on mental toughness and physical activity, along with lower depression and sleep complaints. The pattern of results further suggests that hypomania traits are associated with a broad range of favorable psychological, behavioral and sleep-related traits, at least among a non-clinical sample of young adults. PMID:29312026

[Employees with mental illness - possibilities and barriers in professional activity].

PubMed

Cybula-Fujiwara, Anna; Merecz-Kot, Dorota; Walusiak-Skorupa, Jolanta; Marcinkiewicz, Andrzej; Wiszniewska, Marta

2015-01-01

In Poland patients with psychiatric problems form a large group; in 2010 there were almost 1.5 million people for whom outpatient psychiatric care was provided, whereas approximately 200 thousand ill individuals were treated in 24-h psychiatric wards. Only 17% of the mentally disabled are professionally active. The results of many researches show that despite the detrimental influence of mental disorders on the employment (e.g., lower productivity, absenteeism, presenteism, increased risk of accidents at the workplace), professional activity can play a key role in the7stabilization of the mental state, it can also help in disease recovery. People with mental disorders are a social group that is at the higher risk of exclusion from the job market. The opinion prevailing among employers is that mentally ill individuals have decreased ability to conduct professional activity, and social attitudes towards them tend to be based on marking and stigmatizing. This review tackles the advantages of working during the illness, barriers which people with mental disorders face on the job market when they want to either start or continue work, and professional functioning of people with diagnosed depression (e.g., affective disorders) and schizophrenia (representing psychotic disorders). The analysis of existing data show that to improve the situation of mentally ill people present on the job market close cooperation between the representatives of various medical specializations is necessary, as well as their active participation in the process of social and professional rehabilitation of people affected by mental disorders.

The functional role of dorso-lateral premotor cortex during mental rotation: an event-related fMRI study separating cognitive processing steps using a novel task paradigm.

PubMed

Lamm, Claus; Windischberger, Christian; Moser, Ewald; Bauer, Herbert

2007-07-15

Subjects deciding whether two objects presented at angular disparity are identical or mirror versions of each other usually show response times that linearly increase with the angle between objects. This phenomenon has been termed mental rotation. While there is widespread agreement that parietal cortex plays a dominant role in mental rotation, reports concerning the involvement of motor areas are less consistent. From a theoretical point of view, activation in motor areas suggests that mental rotation relies upon visuo-motor rather than visuo-spatial processing alone. However, the type of information that is processed by motor areas during mental rotation remains unclear. In this study we used event-related fMRI to assess whether activation in parietal and dorsolateral premotor areas (dPM) during mental rotation is distinctively related to processing spatial orientation information. Using a newly developed task paradigm we explicitly separated the processing steps (encoding, mental rotation proper and object matching) required by mental rotation tasks and additionally modulated the amount of spatial orientation information that had to be processed. Our results show that activation in dPM during mental rotation is not strongly modulated by the processing of spatial orientation information, and that activation in dPM areas is strongest during mental rotation proper. The latter finding suggests that dPM is involved in more generalized processes such as visuo-spatial attention and movement anticipation. We propose that solving mental rotation tasks is heavily dependent upon visuo-motor processes and evokes neural processing that may be considered as an implicit simulation of actual object rotation.

When math operations have visuospatial meanings versus purely symbolic definitions: Which solving stages and brain regions are affected?

PubMed

Pyke, Aryn A; Fincham, Jon M; Anderson, John R

2017-06-01

How does processing differ during purely symbolic problem solving versus when mathematical operations can be mentally associated with meaningful (here, visuospatial) referents? Learners were trained on novel math operations (↓, ↑), that were defined strictly symbolically or in terms of a visuospatial interpretation (operands mapped to dimensions of shaded areas, answer = total area). During testing (scanner session), no visuospatial representations were displayed. However, we expected visuospatially-trained learners to form mental visuospatial representations for problems, and exhibit distinct activations. Since some solution intervals were long (~10s) and visuospatial representations might only be instantiated in some stages during solving, group differences were difficult to detect when treating the solving interval as a whole. However, an HSMM-MVPA process (Anderson and Fincham, 2014a) to parse fMRI data identified four distinct problem-solving stages in each group, dubbed: 1) encode; 2) plan; 3) compute; and 4) respond. We assessed stage-specific differences across groups. During encoding, several regions implicated in general semantic processing and/or mental imagery were more active in visuospatially-trained learners, including: bilateral supramarginal, precuneus, cuneus, parahippocampus, and left middle temporal regions. Four of these regions again emerged in the computation stage: precuneus, right supramarginal/angular, left supramarginal/inferior parietal, and left parahippocampal gyrus. Thus, mental visuospatial representations may not just inform initial problem interpretation (followed by symbolic computation), but may scaffold on-going computation. In the second stage, higher activations were found among symbolically-trained solvers in frontal regions (R. medial and inferior and L. superior) and the right angular and middle temporal gyrus. Activations in contrasting regions may shed light on solvers' degree of use of symbolic versus mental visuospatial strategies, even in absence of behavioral differences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Processes linking cultural ingroup bonds and mental health: the roles of social connection and emotion regulation.

PubMed

Roberts, Nicole A; Burleson, Mary H

2013-01-01

Cultural and ethnic identities influence the relationships individuals seek out and how they feel and behave in these relationships, which can strongly affect mental and physical health through their impacts on emotions, physiology, and behavior. We proposed and tested a model in which ethnocultural identifications and ingroup affiliations were hypothesized explicitly to enhance social connectedness, which would in turn promote expectancy for effective regulation of negative emotions and reduce self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Our sample comprised women aged 18-30 currently attending college in the Southwestern US, who self-identified as Hispanic of Mexican descent (MAs; n = 82) or as non-Hispanic White/European American (EAs; n = 234) and who completed an online survey. In the full sample and in each subgroup, stronger ethnocultural group identity and greater comfort with mainstream American culture were associated with higher social connectedness, which in turn was associated with expectancy for more effective regulation of negative emotions, fewer depressive symptoms, and less anxiety. Unexpectedly, preference for ingroup affiliation predicted lower social connectedness in both groups. In addition to indirect effects through social connection, direct paths from mainstream comfort and preference for ingroup affiliation to emotion regulation expectancy were found for EAs. Models of our data underscore that social connection is a central mechanism through which ethnocultural identities-including with one's own group and the mainstream cultural group-relate to mental health, and that emotion regulation may be a key aspect of this linkage. We use the term ethnocultural social connection to make explicit a process that, we believe, has been implied in the ethnic identity literature for many years, and that may have consequential implications for mental health and conceptualizations of processes underlying mental disorders.

Processes linking cultural ingroup bonds and mental health: the roles of social connection and emotion regulation

PubMed Central

Roberts, Nicole A.; Burleson, Mary H.

2013-01-01

Cultural and ethnic identities influence the relationships individuals seek out and how they feel and behave in these relationships, which can strongly affect mental and physical health through their impacts on emotions, physiology, and behavior. We proposed and tested a model in which ethnocultural identifications and ingroup affiliations were hypothesized explicitly to enhance social connectedness, which would in turn promote expectancy for effective regulation of negative emotions and reduce self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Our sample comprised women aged 18–30 currently attending college in the Southwestern US, who self-identified as Hispanic of Mexican descent (MAs; n = 82) or as non-Hispanic White/European American (EAs; n = 234) and who completed an online survey. In the full sample and in each subgroup, stronger ethnocultural group identity and greater comfort with mainstream American culture were associated with higher social connectedness, which in turn was associated with expectancy for more effective regulation of negative emotions, fewer depressive symptoms, and less anxiety. Unexpectedly, preference for ingroup affiliation predicted lower social connectedness in both groups. In addition to indirect effects through social connection, direct paths from mainstream comfort and preference for ingroup affiliation to emotion regulation expectancy were found for EAs. Models of our data underscore that social connection is a central mechanism through which ethnocultural identities—including with one's own group and the mainstream cultural group—relate to mental health, and that emotion regulation may be a key aspect of this linkage. We use the term ethnocultural social connection to make explicit a process that, we believe, has been implied in the ethnic identity literature for many years, and that may have consequential implications for mental health and conceptualizations of processes underlying mental disorders. PMID:23450647

Disaster mental health services following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing: modifying approaches to address terrorism.

PubMed

Pfefferbaum, Betty; North, Carol S; Flynn, Brian W; Norris, Fran H; DeMartino, Robert

2002-08-01

How did the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing differ from prior disasters and what implications did it have for disaster mental health services and service delivery? The federal disaster mental health approach in this country developed largely out of experiences with natural disasters. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing differed in several important ways, including the large number of human casualties, higher rates of psychopathology, and an extended period of concern due to the criminal investigation and trials, which suggested the need to consider modifications in the program. Outreach was extensive, but psychiatric morbidity of direct victims was greater than that of victims of natural disasters, emphasizing the need for attention to the triage and referral process. Other concerns that warrant consideration include practices related to record keeping and program evaluation.

[Age-specific dynamics of mental working capacity in different regimens of locomotor activity].

PubMed

Miakotnykh, V V; Khodasevich, L S

2012-01-01

The present study included a total of 392 practically healthy men aged between 40 and 79 years differing in the character of routine locomotor activity and the training status (from masters of sport of international grade to the subjects who had never been engaged in sporting activities). They were divided into 4 groups each comprised of subjects ranged by age with a ten-year interval. Their mental working capacity was estimated from the results of the correction test. The study demonstrated that the subjects characterized by a high level of day-to-day locomotor activity have higher indices of attention intensity and information processing speed compared with the age-matched ones leading a relatively sedentary lifestyle. Moreover, they have better chances to retain the mental working capacity up to the age of 70 years.

How are perceived stigma, self-stigma, and self-reliance related to treatment-seeking? A three-path model.

PubMed

Jennings, Kristen S; Cheung, Janelle H; Britt, Thomas W; Goguen, Kandice N; Jeffirs, Stephanie M; Peasley, Allison L; Lee, Abigail C

2015-06-01

Many college students may experience mental health problems but do not seek treatment from mental health professionals. The present study examined how perceived stigma and self-stigma toward seeking mental health treatment, as well as perceptions of self-reliance for coping with mental health problems, relate to college student treatment-seeking. In total, 246 students completed a self-report survey that included measures of perceived stigma and self-stigma for treatment-seeking, self-reliance for addressing mental health concerns, self-reported mental health problems, symptoms of depression and alcohol-related problems, attitudes toward treatment-seeking, and treatment-seeking behavior. Regression analyses revealed that higher perceived stigma, self-stigma, and self-reliance were all related to a more negative attitude toward treatment-seeking. In a 3-path mediation model, bootstrapping results indicated an indirect effect where perceived stigma was related to attitude toward treatment-seeking and treatment-seeking behaviors through self-stigma and self-reliance. Specifically, higher perceived stigma was related to higher self-stigma, higher self-stigma was related to higher self-reliance, and higher self-reliance was associated with a more negative attitude toward treatment-seeking in the overall sample, and a decreased probability of having sought treatment among those who screened positive for a mental health problem. Perceived stigma may influence whether or not college students seek treatment for mental health problems by potentially increasing stigmatizing attitudes toward themselves and increasing preferences for handling problems on their own. Researchers and practitioners are recommended to seek a better understanding of the complex treatment barriers to reduce stigma and facilitate treatment-seeking. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Housing index, urbanisation level and lifetime prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders: a cross-sectional analysis of the Colombian national mental health survey

PubMed Central

Rincon, Carlos Javier; Tamayo Martínez, Nathalie; Rodriguez, Nelcy; Tiemeier, Henning; Mackenbach, Johan P; Gómez-Restrepo, Carlos; Guarnizo-Herreño, Carol C

2018-01-01

Objectives To study socioeconomic inequalities in mental health in rural and urban Colombia, a country with a history of internal conflict and large socioeconomic inequalities. Recent survey data are available to study this understudied topic in a middle-income country. Methods Using data from 9656 respondents from the 2015 Colombian Mental Health survey, we investigated the association between lifetime prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders and quality of dwellings and access to public services housing score (HS). We calculated the relative index of inequality (RII) and slope index of inequality (SII) for HS in urban and rural areas, adjusting for potential confounders and mediating factors. Outcomes The lifetime prevalence of anxiety and depression (combined) was 9.6% in urban versus 6.9% in rural areas (p<0.001). HS was not associated with prevalence of anxiety and depression in urban settings, whereas a higher HS (poorer housing quality) was associated with fewer mental disorders in rural areas in both univariate and multivariate models (multivariate RIIurban0.96 (95% CI 0.51 to 1.81); RIIrural0.11 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.32)). In rural areas, the prevalence of mental health problems was 12% points lower in persons living in the poorest quality dwellings than in those living in high-quality dwellings (SII −0.12 (95% CI −0.18 to −0.06)). Interestingly, within rural areas, persons living in ‘populated centres’ (small towns, villages) had a higher lifetime prevalence of any mental health disorder (9.8% (95% CI 6.9 to 13.6)) compared with those living in more isolated, dispersed areas (6.0% (95% CI 4.6 to 7.7)). Interpretation In rural Colombia, those living in the poorest houses and in dispersed areas had a lower prevalence of mental health problems. Further understanding of this phenomenon of a seemingly inverse association of prevalence of mental disorders with poverty and/or urbanisation in rural areas is needed. Particularly, considering the progressive urbanisation process in Colombia, it is important to monitor mental health in populations migrating to the cities. PMID:29880561

Competency courts: a creative solution for restoring competency to the competency process.

PubMed

Finkle, Michael J; Kurth, Russell; Cadle, Christopher; Mullan, Jessica

2009-01-01

It is well accepted that jail is a poor setting for treating the acutely mentally ill, yet the number of mentally ill persons in jail has increased such that Los Angeles County Jail and Riker's Island in New York house more mentally ill than any psychiatric hospital. The number of mentally ill persons charged with a crime whose competency to stand trial is in question has also increased dramatically. Inefficiencies within the competency process result in mentally ill persons charged with crimes remaining in jail longer than necessary. One solution is "competency court", a specialty court within a mental health court. The same judges, attorneys, and mental health professionals staff both courts. By combining their Mental Health Court experience, they can work with the mentally ill using their expertise in competency law and processes, and thereby improve the competency process and reduce the unnecessary time that mentally ill persons spend in jail. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Shifts in information processing level: the speed theory of intelligence revisited.

PubMed

Sircar, S S

2000-06-01

A hypothesis is proposed here to reconcile the inconsistencies observed in the IQ-P3 latency relation. The hypothesis stems from the observation that task-induced increase in P3 latency correlates positively with IQ scores. It is hypothesised that: (a) there are several parallel information processing pathways of varying complexity which are associated with the generation of P3 waves of varying latencies; (b) with increasing workload, there is a shift in the 'information processing level' through progressive recruitment of more complex polysynaptic pathways with greater processing power and inhibition of the oligosynaptic pathways; (c) high-IQ subjects have a greater reserve of higher level processing pathways; (d) a given 'task-load' imposes a greater 'mental workload' in subjects with lower IQ than in those with higher IQ. According to this hypothesis, a meaningful comparison of the P3 correlates of IQ is possible only when the information processing level is pushed to its limits.

Stigma, barriers to care, and use of mental health services among active duty and National Guard soldiers after combat.

PubMed

Kim, Paul Y; Thomas, Jeffrey L; Wilk, Joshua E; Castro, Carl A; Hoge, Charles W

2010-06-01

This study examined rates of utilization of mental health care among active duty and National Guard soldiers with mental health problems three and 12 months after they returned from combat in Iraq. Stigma and barriers to care were also reported for each component (active duty and National Guard). Cross-sectional, anonymous surveys were administered to 10,386 soldiers across both time points and components. Mean scores from 11 items measuring stigma and barriers to care were computed. Service utilization was assessed by asking soldiers whether they had received services for a mental health problem from a mental health professional, a medical doctor, or the Department of Veterans Affairs in the past month. Risk of mental problems was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire, the PTSD Checklist, and items asking about aggressive behaviors and "stress, emotional, alcohol, or family" problems within the past month. A higher proportion of active duty soldiers than National Guard soldiers reported at least one type of mental health problem at both three months (45% versus 33%) and 12 months (44% versus 35%) postdeployment. Among soldiers with mental health problems, National Guard soldiers reported significantly higher rates of mental health care utilization 12 months after deployment, compared with active duty soldiers (27% versus 13%). Mean stigma scores were higher among active duty soldiers than among National Guard soldiers. Active duty soldiers with a mental health problem had significantly lower rates of service utilization than National Guard soldiers and significantly higher endorsements of stigma. Current and future efforts to improve care for veterans should work toward reducing the stigma of receiving mental health care.

Sense of Community among Female Residents of a Trauma-Informed Sober Living Home.

PubMed

Edwards, Katie M; Haynes, Ellen E; Palmer, Kelly M; Murphy, Sharon

2018-05-12

Substance use disorders (SUDs) and domestic and/or sexual violence (DSV) co-occur at high rates. Although some studies have examined sober living homes (SLHs), no research to date has evaluated SLHs specifically designed for women with histories of SUDS and DSV. The purpose of this article is to present data from an exploratory analysis of the association between sense of community (SOC) and mental health symptoms within a unique trauma-informed and gender-responsive SLH (i.e., Support, Education, Empowerment, and Directions [SEEDs]). Participants included current or former residents of SEEDs (N = 28) who completed surveys assessing SOC and mental health symptoms. The sample was predominantly White (85.7%), heterosexual (64.3%), low income (71.4% < $20,000 per year), had children (67.9%), and reported a history of incarceration (71.4%). On average women reported high levels of SOC. Higher SOC was related to lower posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms and higher coping self-efficacy and sexual assault resistance self-efficacy, with large effect sizes. Trauma-informed SLHs may promote positive mental health symptoms for women with histories of DSV and SUDs via SOC. Additional research is needed to more rigorously evaluate these preliminary findings. Further, longitudinal, prospective research is needed to better understand the process by which SOC develops and mechanisms by which SOC promotes (and/or is impacted by) positive mental health symptoms.

Minor mental disorders in Taiwanese healthcare workers and the associations with psychosocial work conditions.

PubMed

Cheng, Wan-Ju; Cheng, Yawen

2017-04-01

Healthcare workers face multiple psychosocial work hazards intrinsic to their work, including heavy workloads and shift work. However, how contemporary adverse psychosocial work conditions, such as workplace justice and insecurity, may contribute to increased mental health risks has rarely been studied. This study aimed to search for modifiable psychosocial work factors associated with mental health disorders in Taiwanese healthcare workers. A total of 349 healthcare workers were identified from 19,641 employees who participated in a national survey of Taiwan. Minor mental disorder was assessed using the five-item brief symptom rating scale. We compared psychosocial work characteristics and the prevalence of minor mental disorder in healthcare workers with that in a sociodemographically matched sample, and examined the associations of psychosocial work conditions with mental health status. Healthcare workers were found to have a higher prevalence of minor mental disorder than general workers, and they were more likely to have longer working hours, heavier psychological job demands, higher job control, more workplace violence, and a higher prevalence of shift work. Among healthcare workers, experiences of workplace violence, lower workplace justice, heavier psychological job demands, and job insecurity were associated with a higher risk for minor mental disorder, even after controlling for working hours and shift work. Despite the fact that healthcare workers work longer hours and shift work, there were several modifiable psychosocial work conditions that should be targeted to improve their mental health. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Development of Planning Behaviour and Decision Making Ability of Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahapatra, Shamita

2016-01-01

Decision making, a complex mental activity underlying the act of choosing from among the alternatives in attaining a goal constitutes the core component of planning, a higher order cognitive process as per the PASS theory of intelligence. An attempt, therefore, has been made in the present study to examine the development of planning behaviour in…

Languaging as Agent and Constituent of Cognitive Change in an Older Adult: An Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swain, Merrill; Lapkin, Sharon

2011-01-01

Vygotsky's writings have established the critical importance of language in the development of higher mental functions, including memory and attention. One of the processes involved in this development is languaging, the activity of mediating cognitively complex ideas using language (Swain, 2006). The present study of an older adult with mild…

A New Integrated Approach for the Transfer of Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazanas, P.

2006-01-01

One of the purposes of knowledge generation at the higher education level is the creation of expertise. However, the mental structures that an expert uses to process information are not generally considered. Instead, information alone is presented to the learner and it is hoped that he or she will somehow integrate this information into knowledge…

Minority Stress and Mechanisms of Risk for Depression and Suicidal Ideation among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baams, Laura; Grossman, Arnold H.; Russell, Stephen T.

2015-01-01

The experience of minority stress is often named as a cause for mental health disparities among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth, including higher levels of depression and suicidal ideation. The processes or mechanisms through which these disparities occur are understudied. The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide posits 2 key…

Mental Health Status: A Study among Higher Secondary Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kumar, V. Jurist Lionial

2013-01-01

Education is the totality of the process within which the students experiences are structured in order to promote desired learning. Education is a plan and procedure for the development of an individual. Education helps to attain the goal of life of an individual. Student period is one of the important periods in life to plan their future. To…

Uncovering the cognitive processes underlying mental rotation: an eye-movement study.

PubMed

Xue, Jiguo; Li, Chunyong; Quan, Cheng; Lu, Yiming; Yue, Jingwei; Zhang, Chenggang

2017-08-30

Mental rotation is an important paradigm for spatial ability. Mental-rotation tasks are assumed to involve five or three sequential cognitive-processing states, though this has not been demonstrated experimentally. Here, we investigated how processing states alternate during mental-rotation tasks. Inference was carried out using an advanced statistical modelling and data-driven approach - a discriminative hidden Markov model (dHMM) trained using eye-movement data obtained from an experiment consisting of two different strategies: (I) mentally rotate the right-side figure to be aligned with the left-side figure and (II) mentally rotate the left-side figure to be aligned with the right-side figure. Eye movements were found to contain the necessary information for determining the processing strategy, and the dHMM that best fit our data segmented the mental-rotation process into three hidden states, which we termed encoding and searching, comparison, and searching on one-side pair. Additionally, we applied three classification methods, logistic regression, support vector model and dHMM, of which dHMM predicted the strategies with the highest accuracy (76.8%). Our study did confirm that there are differences in processing states between these two of mental-rotation strategies, and were consistent with the previous suggestion that mental rotation is discrete process that is accomplished in a piecemeal fashion.

Mental health recovery: lived experience of consumers, carers and nurses.

PubMed

Jacob, Sini; Munro, Ian; Taylor, Beverley Joan

2015-01-01

Background Mental health recovery is a prominent topic of discussion in the global mental health settings. The concept of mental health recovery brought about a major shift in the traditional philosophical views of many mental health systems. Aim The purpose of this article is to outline the results of a qualitative study on mental health recovery, which involved mental health consumers, carers and mental health nurses from an Area Mental Health Service in Victoria, Australia. This paper is Part One of the results that explored the meaning of recovery. Methods The study used van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology to analyse the data. Findings Themes suggested that the cohort had varying views on recovery that were similar and dissimilar. The similar views were categorised under two processes involving the self, an internal process and an external process. These two processes involved reclaiming various aspects of oneself, living life, cure or absence of symptoms and contribution to community. The dissimilar views involved returning to pre-illness state and recovery was impossible. Conclusion This study highlights the need for placing importance on the person's sense of self in the recovery process.

Mental health recovery: Lived experience of consumers, carers and nurses.

PubMed

Jacob, Sini; Munro, Ian; Taylor, Beverley Joan

2014-09-06

Abstract Background Mental health recovery is a prominent topic of discussion in the global mental health settings. The concept of mental health recovery brought about a major shift in the traditional philosophical views of many mental health systems. Aim The purpose of this article is to outline the results of a qualitative study on mental health recovery, which involved mental health consumers, carers and mental health nurses from an Area Mental Health Service in Victoria, Australia. This paper is part one of the results that explored the meaning of recovery. Methods The study used van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenology to analyse the data. Findings Themes suggested that the cohort had varying views on recovery that were similar and dissimilar. The similar views were categorised under two processes involving the self, an internal process and an external process. These two processes involved reclaiming various aspects of oneself, living life, cure or absence of symptoms and contribution to community. The dissimilar views involved returning to pre-illness state and recovery was impossible. Conclusion This study highlights the need for placing importance to the person's sense of self in the recovery process.

[Study on mental workload of teachers in primary schools].

PubMed

Xiao, Yuan-mei; Wang, Zhi-ming; Wang, Mian-zhen; Lan, Ya-jia; Fan, Guang-qin; Feng, Chang

2011-12-01

To investigate the distribution characteristics and influencing factors of mental workload of teachers in primary schools. National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) was used to assess the mental workload levels for 397 teachers of primary schools in a city. The mental workload (64.34+10.56) of female teachers was significantly higher than that (61.73+ 9.77) of male teachers (P<0.05). The mental workload (65.66+10.42) of "-35" years old group was the highest. When age of teachers was younger than 35 years old, there was a positive correlation between the mental workload and age (r=0.146, P<0.05). When age of teachers was older than 35 years old, there was a negative correlation between the mental workload and age (r=-0.190, P<0.05). The teachers with higher education level felt higher mental workload (unstandardized coefficients B=1.524, standardized coefficients /=0.111, P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between the mental workload and working hours per day (unstandardized coefficients B =4.659, standardized coefficients/3 =0.223, P<0.001). Mental workload of the teachers in primary schools is closely related to age, educational level and work hours per day. Work hours per day is an important risk factor for mental workload. Reducing work hours per day (8 hours) is an effective measure of alleviating the mental workload of teachers in primary schools.

Impact of brain tumour location on emotion and personality: a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping study on mentalization processes.

PubMed

Campanella, Fabio; Shallice, Tim; Ius, Tamara; Fabbro, Franco; Skrap, Miran

2014-09-01

Patients affected by brain tumours may show behavioural and emotional regulation deficits, sometimes showing flattened affect and sometimes experiencing a true 'change' in personality. However, little evidence is available to the surgeon as to what changes are likely to occur with damage at specific sites, as previous studies have either relied on single cases or provided only limited anatomical specificity, mostly reporting associations rather than dissociations of symptoms. We investigated these aspects in patients undergoing surgery for the removal of cerebral tumours. We argued that many of the problems described can be ascribed to the onset of difficulties in one or more of the different levels of the process of mentalizing (i.e. abstracting and reflecting upon) emotion and intentions, which impacts on everyday behaviour. These were investigated in terms of (i) emotion recognition; (ii) Theory of Mind; (iii) alexithymia; and (iv) self-maturity (personality disorder). We hypothesized that temporo/limbic areas would be critical for processing emotion and intentions at a more perceptual level, while frontal lobe structures would be more critical when higher levels of mentalization/abstraction are required. We administered four different tasks, Task 1: emotion recognition of Ekman faces; Task 2: the Eyes Test (Theory of Mind); Task 3: Toronto Alexithymia Scale; and Task 4: Temperament and Character Inventory (a personality inventory), both immediately before and few days after the operation for the removal of brain tumours in a series of 71 patients (age range: 18-75 years; 33 female) with lesions located in the left or right frontal, temporal and parietal lobes. Lobe-based and voxel-based analysis confirmed that tasks requiring interpretation of emotions and intentions at more basic (less mentalized) levels (Tasks 1 and 2) were more affected by temporo/insular lesions, with emotion recognition (Task 1) being maximally impaired by anterior temporal and amygdala lesions and Task 2 (found to be a 'basic' Theory of Mind task involving only limited mentalization) being mostly impaired by posterior temporoparietal lesions. Tasks relying on higher-level mentalization (Tasks 3 and 4) were maximally affected by prefrontal lesions, with the alexithymia scale (Task 3) being mostly associated with anterior/medial lesions and the self-maturity measure (Task 4) with lateral prefrontal ones. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Prevalence and incidence rates of mental syndromes after occupational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls.

PubMed

Gaum, Petra M; Esser, André; Schettgen, Thomas; Gube, Monika; Kraus, Thomas; Lang, Jessica

2014-09-01

Mental disorders were often reported following hazardous substance exposure. The present study analyses this association in relation to a work-related exposure to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). Specifically, the aim was to investigate (a) the relationship of inner PCB burden and the severity of mental symptoms and (b) the prevalence and incidence of mental syndromes. This study was initiated as part of the occupational medical surveillance program HELPcB (Health Effects in high level exposure to PCB). A total of 136 individuals were included in the analysis. The plasma PCBs were collected via biomonitoring and the psychological syndromes (i.e., somatoform, depressive, anxiety, panic) with a standardized screening instrument. The relationship of PCB and the severity of mental syndromes were analyzed via linear regression. Prevalence rates, the respective odds ratios (OR) and the incidence rates were calculated with logistic regressions. We thereby compared the higher-PCB burdened individuals with those individuals showing PCB levels comparable to the general population. We found especially a significant relationship between PCB burden and depressivity. Within the higher-PCB-exposed group prevalence rates were descriptively higher than for normal-exposed participants, except for anxiety syndrome. Similarly, the higher exposed group had a higher risk for developing a depressive syndrome. The incidence rates were always descriptively higher in higher-exposed group. To summarize, this study supports a relationship between PCB exposure and mental illness. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Stigma and Mental Illness: Investigating Attitudes of Mental Health and Non-Mental-Health Professionals and Trainees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Allison L.; Cashwell, Craig S.

2010-01-01

The authors explored attitudes toward adults with mental illness. Results suggest that mental health trainees and professionals had less stigmatizing attitudes than did non-mental-health trainees and professionals. Professionals receiving supervision had higher mean scores on the Benevolence subscale than did professionals who were not receiving…

Neural mechanisms underlying valence inferences to sound: The role of the right angular gyrus.

PubMed

Bravo, Fernando; Cross, Ian; Hawkins, Sarah; Gonzalez, Nadia; Docampo, Jorge; Bruno, Claudio; Stamatakis, Emmanuel Andreas

2017-07-28

We frequently infer others' intentions based on non-verbal auditory cues. Although the brain underpinnings of social cognition have been extensively studied, no empirical work has yet examined the impact of musical structure manipulation on the neural processing of emotional valence during mental state inferences. We used a novel sound-based theory-of-mind paradigm in which participants categorized stimuli of different sensory dissonance level in terms of positive/negative valence. Whilst consistent with previous studies which propose facilitated encoding of consonances, our results demonstrated that distinct levels of consonance/dissonance elicited differential influences on the right angular gyrus, an area implicated in mental state attribution and attention reorienting processes. Functional and effective connectivity analyses further showed that consonances modulated a specific inhibitory interaction from associative memory to mental state attribution substrates. Following evidence suggesting that individuals with autism may process social affective cues differently, we assessed the relationship between participants' task performance and self-reported autistic traits in clinically typical adults. Higher scores on the social cognition scales of the AQ were associated with deficits in recognising positive valence in consonant sound cues. These findings are discussed with respect to Bayesian perspectives on autistic perception, which highlight a functional failure to optimize precision in relation to prior beliefs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The fundamental association between mental health and life satisfaction: results from successive waves of a Canadian national survey.

PubMed

Lombardo, Patrick; Jones, Wayne; Wang, Liangliang; Shen, Xin; Goldner, Elliot M

2018-03-12

A self-reported life satisfaction question is routinely used as an indicator of societal well-being. Several studies support that mental illness is an important determinant for life satisfaction and improvement of mental healthcare access therefore could have beneficial effects on a population's life satisfaction. However, only a few studies report the relationship between subjective mental health and life satisfaction. Subjective mental health is a broader concept than the presence or absence of psychopathology. In this study, we examine the strength of the association between a self-reported mental health question and self-reported life satisfaction, taking into account other relevant factors. We conducted this analysis using successive waves of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) collected between 2003 and 2012. Respondents included more than 400,000 participants aged 12 and over. We extracted information on self-reported mental health, socio-demographic and other factors and examined correlation with self-reported life satisfaction using a proportional ordered logistic regression. Life satisfaction was strongly associated with self-reported mental health, even after simultaneously considering factors such as income, general health, and gender. The poor-self-reported mental health group had a particularly low life satisfaction. In the fair-self-reported mental health category, the odds of having a higher life satisfaction were 2.35 (95% CI 2.21 to 2.50) times higher than the odds in the poor category. In contrast, for the "between 60,000 CAD and 79,999 CAD" household income category, the odds of having a higher life satisfaction were only 1.96 (95% CI 1.90 to 2.01) times higher than the odds in the "less than 19,999 CAD" category. Subjective mental health contributes highly to life satisfaction, being more strongly associated than other selected previously known factors. Future studies could be useful to deepen our understanding of the interplay between subjective mental health, mental illness and life satisfaction. This may be beneficial for developing public health policies that optimize mental health promotion, illness prevention and treatment of mental disorders to enhance life satisfaction in the general population.

[Cognitive impairments in persons exposed to radiation during the period of prenatal development].

PubMed

Burtovaya, E Yu; Kantina, T E; Belova, M V; Akleyev, A V

2015-01-01

To assess the cognitive status in persons exposed to ionizing radiation in prenatal period. The study included in-utero exposed people (n = 77), and the comparison group (n = 73), which consisted of people who lived in the territories of the Chelyabinsk Oblast that were not radioactive. The following methods were used: clinical, clinical-psychological (Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the WAIS test, the proverb interpretation task, neurophysiological (EEG) methods, laboratory-based methods (cholesterol, high and low-density lipoproteins, triglycerides, cortisol, melatonin), and methods of statistical data processing. The number of people with non-psychotic mental disorders with the prevalence of organic mental disorders (cognitive and asthenic) was significantly higher among in-utero exposed subjects. A neurophysiological study revealed more severe changes in the bioelectric brain activity with the presence of pathological and theta-rhythms in exposed persons. The clinical-psychological study revealed a significant decrease in the analytic/synthetic ability in exposed people and significantly lower level of the general and verbal IQ. These changes were accompanied by higher levels of cortisol and melatonin which led to the activation and tension of the adaptation mechanisms in in-utero exposed subjects.

Acknowledge the Barriers to Better the Practices: Support for Student Mental Health in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DiPlacito-DeRango, Maria Lucia

2016-01-01

Despite marked improvements, intervention for students with a mental health problem or illness in Canadian higher education settings remains not yet successful, mature, or sustainable. A number of challenges have been identified as contributory to the shortcomings surrounding student mental health in colleges and universities. In this paper, I…

Recovery practice in community mental health teams: national survey

PubMed Central

Leamy, M.; Clarke, E.; Le Boutillier, C.; Bird, V.; Choudhury, R.; MacPherson, R.; Pesola, F.; Sabas, K.; Williams, J.; Williams, P.; Slade, M.

2016-01-01

Background There is consensus about the importance of ‘recovery’ in mental health services, but the link between recovery orientation of mental health teams and personal recovery of individuals has been underresearched. Aims To investigate differences in team leader, clinician and service user perspectives of recovery orientation of community adult mental health teams in England. Method In six English mental health National Health Service (NHS) trusts, randomly chosen community adult mental health teams were surveyed. A random sample of ten patients, one team leader and a convenience sample of five clinicians were surveyed from each team. All respondents rated the recovery orientation of their team using parallel versions of the Recovery Self Assessment (RSA). In addition, service users also rated their own personal recovery using the Questionnaire about Processes of Recovery (QPR). Results Team leaders (n = 22) rated recovery orientation higher than clinicians (n = 109) or patients (n = 120) (Wald(2) = 7.0, P = 0.03), and both NHS trust and team type influenced RSA ratings. Patient-rated recovery orientation was a predictor of personal recovery (b = 0.58, 95% CI 0.31–0.85, P<0.001). Team leaders and clinicians with experience of mental illness (39%) or supporting a family member or friend with mental illness (76%) did not differ in their RSA ratings from other team leaders or clinicians. Conclusions Compared with team leaders, frontline clinicians and service users have less positive views on recovery orientation. Increasing recovery orientation may support personal recovery. PMID:27340113

Synergic effects of 10°/s constant rotation and rotating background on visual cognitive processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Siyang; Cao, Yi; Zhao, Qi; Tan, Cheng; Niu, Dongbin

In previous studies we have found that constant low-speed rotation facilitated the auditory cognitive process and constant velocity rotation background sped up the perception, recognition and assessment process of visual stimuli. In the condition of constant low-speed rotation body is exposed into a new physical state. In this study the variations of human brain's cognitive process under the complex condition of constant low-speed rotation and visual rotation backgrounds with different speed were explored. 14 university students participated in the ex-periment. EEG signals were recorded when they were performing three different cognitive tasks with increasing mental load, that is no response task, selective switch responses task and selec-tive mental arithmetic task. Rotary chair was used to create constant low-speed10/srotation. Four kinds of background were used in this experiment, they were normal black background and constant 30o /s, 45o /s or 60o /s rotating simulated star background. The P1 and N1 compo-nents of brain event-related potentials (ERP) were analyzed to detect the early visual cognitive processing changes. It was found that compared with task performed under other backgrounds, the posterior P1 and N1 latencies were shortened under 45o /s rotating background in all kinds of cognitive tasks. In the no response task, compared with task performed under black back-ground, the posterior N1 latencies were delayed under 30o /s rotating background. In the selec-tive switch responses task and selective mental arithmetic task, compared with task performed under other background, the P1 latencies were lengthened under 60o /s rotating background, but the average amplitudes of the posterior P1 and N1 were increased. It was suggested that under constant 10/s rotation, the facilitated effect of rotating visual background were changed to an inhibited one in 30o /s rotating background. Under vestibular new environment, not all of the rotating backgrounds accelerated the early process of visual cognition. There is a synergic effect between the effects of constant low-speed rotation and rotating speed of the background. Under certain conditions, they both served to facilitate the visual cognitive processing, and it had been started at the stage when extrastriate cortex perceiving the visual signal. Under the condition of constant low-speed rotation in higher cognitive load tasks, the rapid rotation of the background enhanced the magnitude of the signal transmission in the visual path, making signal to noise ratio increased and a higher signal to noise ratio is clearly in favor of target perception and recognition. This gave rise to the hypothesis that higher cognitive load tasks with higher top-down control had more power in counteracting the inhibition effect of higher velocity rotation background. Acknowledgements: This project was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30670715) and National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No.2007AA04Z254).

In touch with mental rotation: interactions between mental and tactile rotations and motor responses.

PubMed

Lohmann, Johannes; Rolke, Bettina; Butz, Martin V

2017-04-01

Although several process models have described the cognitive processing stages that are involved in mentally rotating objects, the exact nature of the rotation process itself remains elusive. According to embodied cognition, cognitive functions are deeply grounded in the sensorimotor system. We thus hypothesized that modal rotation perceptions should influence mental rotations. We conducted two studies in which participants had to judge if a rotated letter was visually presented canonically or mirrored. Concurrently, participants had to judge if a tactile rotation on their palm changed direction during the trial. The results show that tactile rotations can systematically influence mental rotation performance in that same rotations are favored. In addition, the results show that mental rotations produce a response compatibility effect: clockwise mental rotations facilitate responses to the right, while counterclockwise mental rotations facilitate responses to the left. We conclude that the execution of mental rotations activates cognitive mechanisms that are also used to perceive rotations in different modalities and that are associated with directional motor control processes.

The Relationships of Mental States and Intellectual Processes in the Learning Activities of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prokhorov, Alexander O.; Chernov, Albert V.; Yusupov, Mark G.

2016-01-01

Investigation of the interaction of mental states and cognitive processes in the classroom allows us to solve the problem of increasing the effectiveness of training by activating cognitive processes and management of students' mental states. This article is concerned with the most general patterns of interaction between mental state and…

Care coordinators: a controlled evaluation of an inpatient mental health service innovation.

PubMed

Stewart, Malcolm W; Wilson, Michael; Bergquist, Karla; Thorburn, John

2012-02-01

The study aimed to evaluate the impact of introducing designated care coordinators into an acute mental health inpatient unit in terms of service delivery, clinical outcomes, and service user and significant other perceptions. A pre-post-controlled design was implemented with a consecutive sample of 292 service users admitted and staying more than 5 days in two wards, with care coordinators introduced in one ward. Data were obtained from clinical records, standard measures, and service user and significant other surveys. Care coordinator input was associated with significant improvements in service delivery and stronger involvement of significant others and community resources. Care-coordinated clients showed significantly better clinical outcomes, including the Health of Nations Outcome Scales behaviour subscale, less time in the intensive care subunit, less community crisis team input in the week following discharge, and lower rates of readmission in the month following discharge. Care-coordinated service users and their significant others gave higher ratings of service delivery, outcome, and satisfaction. The results indicate that designated care coordinators significantly improve care processes, outcomes, and service user experience in acute inpatient mental health settings. © 2011 The Authors. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing © 2011 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Empathy for others' suffering and its mediators in mental health professionals.

PubMed

Santamaría-García, Hernando; Baez, Sandra; García, Adolfo M; Flichtentrei, Daniel; Prats, María; Mastandueno, Ricardo; Sigman, Mariano; Matallana, Diana; Cetkovich, Marcelo; Ibáñez, Agustín

2017-07-25

Empathy is a complex cognitive and affective process that allows humans to experience concern for others, comprehend their emotions, and eventually help them. In addition to studies with healthy subjects and various neuropsychiatric populations, a few reports have examined this domain focusing on mental health workers, whose daily work requires the development of a saliently empathic character. Building on this research line, the present population-based study aimed to (a) assess different dimensions of empathy for pain in mental health workers relative to general-physicians and non-medical workers; and (b) evaluate their relationship with relevant factors, such as moral profile, age, gender, years of experience, and workplace type. Relative to both control groups, mental health workers exhibited higher empathic concern and discomfort for others' suffering, and they favored harsher punishment to harmful actions. Furthermore, this was the only group in which empathy variability was explained by moral judgments, years of experience, and workplace type. Taken together, these results indicate that empathy is continuously at stake in mental health care scenarios, as it can be affected by contextual factors and social contingencies. More generally, they highlight the importance of studying this domain in populations characterized by extreme empathic demands.

Biosignal Analysis to Assess Mental Stress in Automatic Driving of Trucks: Palmar Perspiration and Masseter Electromyography

PubMed Central

Zheng, Rencheng; Yamabe, Shigeyuki; Nakano, Kimihiko; Suda, Yoshihiro

2015-01-01

Nowadays insight into human-machine interaction is a critical topic with the large-scale development of intelligent vehicles. Biosignal analysis can provide a deeper understanding of driver behaviors that may indicate rationally practical use of the automatic technology. Therefore, this study concentrates on biosignal analysis to quantitatively evaluate mental stress of drivers during automatic driving of trucks, with vehicles set at a closed gap distance apart to reduce air resistance to save energy consumption. By application of two wearable sensor systems, a continuous measurement was realized for palmar perspiration and masseter electromyography, and a biosignal processing method was proposed to assess mental stress levels. In a driving simulator experiment, ten participants completed automatic driving with 4, 8, and 12 m gap distances from the preceding vehicle, and manual driving with about 25 m gap distance as a reference. It was found that mental stress significantly increased when the gap distances decreased, and an abrupt increase in mental stress of drivers was also observed accompanying a sudden change of the gap distance during automatic driving, which corresponded to significantly higher ride discomfort according to subjective reports. PMID:25738768

Mental fatigue impairs soccer-specific decision-making skill.

PubMed

Smith, Mitchell R; Zeuwts, Linus; Lenoir, Matthieu; Hens, Nathalie; De Jong, Laura M S; Coutts, Aaron J

2016-07-01

This study aimed to investigate the impact of mental fatigue on soccer-specific decision-making. Twelve well-trained male soccer players performed a soccer-specific decision-making task on two occasions, separated by at least 72 h. The decision-making task was preceded in a randomised order by 30 min of the Stroop task (mental fatigue) or 30 min of reading from magazines (control). Subjective ratings of mental fatigue were measured before and after treatment, and mental effort (referring to treatment) and motivation (referring to the decision-making task) were measured after treatment. Performance on the soccer-specific decision-making task was assessed using response accuracy and time. Visual search behaviour was also assessed throughout the decision-making task. Subjective ratings of mental fatigue and effort were almost certainly higher following the Stroop task compared to the magazines. Motivation for the upcoming decision-making task was possibly higher following the Stroop task. Decision-making accuracy was very likely lower and response time likely higher in the mental fatigue condition. Mental fatigue had unclear effects on most visual search behaviour variables. The results suggest that mental fatigue impairs accuracy and speed of soccer-specific decision-making. These impairments are not likely related to changes in visual search behaviour.

Information processing deficits in psychiatric populations: Implications for normal workload assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harvey, Philip D.

1988-01-01

In one study, schizophrenics, bipolar manics, and mentally normal individuals were administered a digit recall task. The total performance of schizophrenics looked much like that of a normal processor under a higher load level. The manics' performance was intermediate. Primary performance was particularly poor among the mentally ill subjects. In a second study, three groups in the same populations as in the first study were asked to shadow and recall verbatim eight descriptive text passages. Distraction effects were found for schizophrenics only in the areas of percentage of words correctly shadowed and recall variables; the two areas were not correlated, however. It appears that, for schizophrenics, distraction disrupts the ability to effectively shadow information to a greater extent than it disrupts the ability to encode information for recall. The two studies imply that capacity-carrying abnormalities that affect the quantity but not the quality of information processing can be useful in pointing to information processing of normal humans under high load conditions.

Attachment in integrative neuroscientific perspective.

PubMed

Hruby, Radovan; Hasto, Jozef; Minarik, Peter

2011-01-01

Attachment theory is a very influential general concept of human social and emotional development, which emphasizes the role of early mother-infant interactions for infant's adaptive behavioural and stress copying strategies, personality organization and mental health. Individuals with disrupted development of secure attachment to mother/primary caregiver are at higher risk of developing mental disorders. This theory consists of the complex developmental psycho-neurobiological model of attachment and emerges from principles of psychoanalysis, evolutionary biology, cognitive-developmental psychology, ethology, physiology and control systems theory. The progress of modern neuroscience enables interpretation of neurobiological aspects of the theory as multi-level neural interactions and functional development of important neural structures, effects of neuromediattors, hormones and essential neurobiological processes including emotional, cognitive, social interactions and the special key role of mentalizing. It has multiple neurobiological, neuroendocrine, neurophysiological, ethological, genetic, developmental, psychological, psychotherapeutic and neuropsychiatric consequences and is a prototype of complex neuroscientific concept as interpretation of modern integrated neuroscience.

Impact of poor mental health in adult spinal deformity patients with poor physical function: a retrospective analysis with a 2-year follow-up.

PubMed

Bakhsheshian, Joshua; Scheer, Justin K; Gum, Jeffrey L; Hostin, Richard; Lafage, Virginie; Bess, Shay; Protopsaltis, Themistocles S; Burton, Douglas C; Keefe, Malla Kate; Hart, Robert A; Mundis, Gregory M; Shaffrey, Christopher I; Schwab, Frank; Smith, Justin S; Ames, Christopher P

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE Mental disease burden can have a significant impact on levels of disability and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures. Therefore, the authors investigated the significance of mental health status in adults with spinal deformity and poor physical function. METHODS A retrospective analysis of a prospective multicenter database of 365 adult spinal deformity (ASD) patients who had undergone surgical treatment was performed. Health-related QOL variables were examined preoperatively and at the 2-year postoperative follow-up. Patients were grouped by their 36-Item Short Form Health Survey mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) scores. Both groups had PCS scores ≤ 25th percentile for matched norms; however, the low mental health (LMH) group consisted of patients with an MCS score ≤ 25th percentile, and the high mental health (HMH) group included patients with an MCS score ≥ 75th percentile. RESULTS Of the 264 patients (72.3%) with a 2-year follow-up, 104 (28.5%) met the inclusion criteria for LMH and 40 patients (11.0%) met those for HMH. The LMH group had a significantly higher overall rate of comorbidities, specifically leg weakness, depression, hypertension, and self-reported neurological and psychiatric disease processes, and were more likely to be unemployed as compared with the HMH group (p < 0.05 for all). The 2 groups had similar 2-year postoperative improvements in HRQOL (p > 0.05) except for the greater improvements in the MCS and the Scoliosis Research Society-22r questionnaire (SRS-22r) mental domain (p < 0.05) in the LMH group and greater improvements in PCS and SRS-22r satisfaction and back pain domains (p < 0.05) in the HMH group. The LMH group had a higher rate of reaching a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) on the SRS-22r mental domain (p < 0.01), and the HMH group had a higher rate of reaching an MCID on the PCS and SRS-22r activity domain (p < 0.05). On multivariable logistic regression, having LMH was a significant independent predictor of failure to reach an MCID on the PCS (p < 0.05). At the 2-year postoperative follow-up, 14 LMH patients (15.1%) were categorized as HMH. Two LMH patients (2.2%), and 3 HMH patients (7.7%) transitioned to a PCS score ≥ 75th percentile for age- and sex-matched US norms (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS While patients with poor mental and physical health, according to their MCS and PCS scores, have higher medical comorbidity and unemployment rates, they still demonstrate significant improvements in HRQOL measurements postoperatively. Both LMH and HMH patient groups demonstrated similar improvements in most HRQOL domains, except that the LMH patients had difficulties in obtaining improvements in the PCS domain.

Planning-related motor processes underlie mental practice and imitation learning.

PubMed

Bach, Patric; Allami, Bassem Khalaf; Tucker, Mike; Ellis, Rob

2014-06-01

It is still controversial whether mental practice-the internal rehearsal of movements to improve later performance-relies on processes engaged during physical motor performance and, if so, which processes these are. We report data from 5 experiments, in which participants mentally practiced complex rhythms with either feet or hands while using the same or different body parts to respond to unrelated sounds. We found that responses were impaired for those body parts that were concurrently used in mental practice, suggesting a binding of body-part-specific motor processes to action plans. This result was found when participants mentally trained to memorize the rhythms, to merely improve their performance, when mental practice and execution directly followed one another and when separated by a different task. Finally, it was found irrespective of whether participants practiced on the basis of a symbolic rhythm description and when they practiced by watching somebody perform the rhythms (imitation learning). The effect was eliminated only when the requirement for mental practice was eliminated from the task while keeping visual stimulation identical. These data link mental practice not to execution but planning related motor processes and reveal that these planning processes underlie both mental practice and imitation learning. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services Among American Indians by Two Age Groups.

PubMed

Roh, Soonhee; Brown-Rice, Kathleen A; Lee, Kyoung Hag; Lee, Yeon-Shim; Yee-Melichar, Darlene; Talbot, Elizabeth P

2015-11-01

This study examined determinants of attitudes toward mental health services with a sample of American Indian younger-old-adults (aged 50-64, n = 158) and American Indian older-old adults (aged 65 and older, n = 69). Adapting Andersen's behavioral model of healthcare utilization, predisposing factors, mental health needs, and enabling factors were considered as potential predictors. Female and those with higher levels of social support tend to report more positive attitudes toward mental health services. Culture-influenced personal belief was associated with negative attitudes toward mental health services among American Indian younger-old -adults. Age and higher chronic medical conditions were significantly related to negative attitudes toward mental health services. Health insurance was positively associated with positive attitudes toward mental health services in the American Indian older-old adults. Findings indicate that practitioners should engage how culture, social support, and chronic conditions influence the response to mental health needs when working with older American Indians.

Mental health courts and their selection processes: modeling variation for consistency.

PubMed

Wolff, Nancy; Fabrikant, Nicole; Belenko, Steven

2011-10-01

Admission into mental health courts is based on a complicated and often variable decision-making process that involves multiple parties representing different expertise and interests. To the extent that eligibility criteria of mental health courts are more suggestive than deterministic, selection bias can be expected. Very little research has focused on the selection processes underpinning problem-solving courts even though such processes may dominate the performance of these interventions. This article describes a qualitative study designed to deconstruct the selection and admission processes of mental health courts. In this article, we describe a multi-stage, complex process for screening and admitting clients into mental health courts. The selection filtering model that is described has three eligibility screening stages: initial, assessment, and evaluation. The results of this study suggest that clients selected by mental health courts are shaped by the formal and informal selection criteria, as well as by the local treatment system.

A Mental Health Survey of Different Ethnic and Occupational Groups in Xinjiang, China

PubMed Central

Fu, Ailing; Liu, Bo; Jiang, Yu; Zhao, Junling; Zhang, Guanghui; Liu, Jiwen

2017-01-01

Poor mental health has become a serious social and public health-care burden. This cross-sectional study used multistage stratified cluster random sampling to gather mental health information from 11,891 adults (18–60 years) employed in various occupations categorized according to the Chinese Standard Occupational Classification. Mental health was measured by the General Health Questionnaire, and participants exceeding the cut-off score were defined as having poor mental health. The overall prevalence of poor mental health was 23.8%. The prevalence of poor mental health was significantly higher in the Han ethnic group than Kazak ethnic group and in health-care workers, teachers, and civil servants compared to manual workers. Females (odds ratios (OR) = 1.139, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.012–3.198) and knowledge workers (1.697, 1.097–2.962) were risk factors for poor mental health, while Kazak ethnicity (0.465, 0.466–0.937), other minority status (non-Han) (0.806, 0.205–0.987), and working ≥15 years in the same occupation (0.832, 0.532–0.932) were protective (p < 0.05). We concluded that the general level of mental health in Xinjiang, China, is higher in the Kazak ethnic group than the Han ethnic group. The prevalence of poor mental health is higher among knowledge workers than in manual workers due to high incidences of poor mental health in civil servants, health-care workers, and teachers. PMID:28067780

Predictors and course of vocational status, income, and quality of life in people with severe mental illness: a naturalistic study.

PubMed

Nordt, Carlos; Müller, Brigitte; Rössler, Wulf; Lauber, Christoph

2007-10-01

Due to high unemployment rates, people with mental illness are at risk of poverty and are deprived of the social and psychological functions of work, such as the provision of social support, structuring of time, and self-esteem, with a negative effect on their perceived quality of life (QoL). Two distinct processes are held responsible for the low work force participation of people with mental illness: 'Social underachievement' and 'social decline'. Social underachievement signifies that, due to early illness onset, the educational attainment of people with mental illness is low and entry to the labor market fails. Social decline, on the other hand, describes the loss of competitive employment after illness onset, followed by prolonged periods of unemployment and difficulties to re-enter the labor market. This study examines how social underachievement and decline are reflected in the course of vocational status, income, and QoL of people with severe mental illness in the years after a psychiatric admission in a naturalistic longitudinal design. A total of 176 participants diagnosed with schizophrenia or affective disorders were interviewed during an index hospitalization in two large psychiatric hospitals in Zurich. Follow-up interviews were conducted 12 and 30 months after. Random coefficient models (multilevel models) were used to examine simultaneously the predictors and course of the variables of interest. A low number of psychiatric hospitalizations, a higher educational degree, a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and years of work experience predicted a higher vocational status. Vocational status decreased in first-admission participants with prolonged hospitalizations during the follow-up period. Income did not change over time and was positively influenced by a higher age of illness onset, competitive employment, higher education, and not having had a longer hospitalization recently. Subjective QoL significantly improved and was rated higher by people with any kind of employment than by participants without a job. Participants with an affective disorder, those with few hospitalizations but a recent inpatient stay of longer duration, showed lower QoL. Including employment issues early in treatment is especially important for people with an early illness onset and those with more severe forms of psychiatric disorder. A life course perspective enhances the understanding of patients' vocational potential and needs for support.

Mental disorders and their association with perceived work stress: an investigation of the 2010 Canadian Community Health Survey.

PubMed

Szeto, Andrew C H; Dobson, Keith S

2013-04-01

The economic repercussions of mental disorders in the workplace are vast. Research has found that individuals in high-stress jobs tend to have higher prevalence of mental disorders. The current cross-sectional study examined the relationships between work-related stress and mental disorders in a recent representative population-based sample-the 2010 Canadian Community Health Survey by Statistics Canada (CCHS; 2010a; Retrieved from http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/instrument/3226_Q1_V7-eng.pdf). Respondents in the highest level of perceived work stress had higher odds of ever being treated for an emotional or mental-health problem and for being treated in the past 12 months. These high-stress respondents also had higher odds of being diagnosed for mood and anxiety disorders than their nonstressed counterparts. These associations highlight the continued need to examine and promote mental health and well-being in the workplace.

Portuguese War Veterans: Moral Injury and Factors Related to Recovery From PTSD.

PubMed

Ferrajão, Paulo Correia; Aragão Oliveira, Rui

2016-01-01

This study explored the factors to which a sample of Portuguese war veterans attributed their recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants were a sample of veterans (N = 60) with mental sequelae of the Portuguese Colonial War: 30 suffered from chronic PTSD (unrecovered) and 30 veterans with remission from PTSD (recovered). Two semistructured interviews were conducted. Analysis of the interviews was conducted using the Thematic and Categorical Analysis. Results showed that unrecovered participants reported higher postwar betrayal, appraisal of hostile societal homecoming, social stigmatization, lack of personal resources (mental fatigue and restriction of coping strategies), and reduced perceived social support. Recovered participants verbalized some capability for self-awareness of their own mental states and/or awareness of others' mental states (mentalization ability), a wider repertoire of coping strategies, and higher perceived social support. The authors discussed that recovery from PTSD among veterans can be related to the assimilation of moral injury by developing higher mentalization abilities. © The Author(s) 2015.

ECT IN MENTALLY RETARDED SUBJECTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS

PubMed Central

Chopra, V.K; Sinha, V.K.

2002-01-01

The mentally retarded subjects show a much higher prevalence of full range of psychiatric disorders than the non-retarded population. Whereas the role of psychotropic drugs in such patients is well discussed, the reports on the use of ECT are scarce. Many psychiatrists dealing with the mentally retarded psychiatric patients are reluctant to consider ECT due to lack of adequate experience. We report five mentally retarded patients with different psychiatric disorders who were successfully treated with ECT after failing adequate trials of pharmacotherapy. No disproportionately higher adverse events on account of mental retardation were observed. ECT need to be favorably considered in mentally retarded persons with psychiatric morbidity especially when treatment with psychotropic drugs either fail or is intolerable. PMID:21206883

A psychological model of mental disorder.

PubMed

Kinderman, Peter

2005-01-01

A coherent conceptualization of the role of psychological factors is of great importance in understanding mental disorder. Academic articles and professional reports alluding to psychological models of the etiology of mental disorder are becoming increasingly common, and there is evidence of a marked policy shift toward the provision of psychological therapies and interventions. This article discusses the relationship between biological, social, and psychological factors in the causation and treatment of mental disorder. It argues that simple biological reductionism is not scientifically justified, and also that the specific role of psychological processes within the biopsychosocial model requires further elaboration. The biopsychosocial model is usually interpreted as implying that biological, psychological, and social factors are co-equal partners in the etiology of mental disorder. The psychological model of mental disorder presented here suggests that disruption or dysfunction in psychological processes is a final common pathway in the development of mental disorder. These processes include, but are not limited to, cognitive processes. The model proposes that biological and social factors, together with a person's individual experiences, lead to mental disorder through their conjoint effects on those psychological processes. Implications for research, interventions, and policy are discussed.

Mental health and school dropout across educational levels and genders: a 4.8-year follow-up study.

PubMed

Hjorth, Cathrine F; Bilgrav, Line; Frandsen, Louise Sjørslev; Overgaard, Charlotte; Torp-Pedersen, Christian; Nielsen, Berit; Bøggild, Henrik

2016-09-15

Education is a key determinant of future employment and income prospects of young people. Poor mental health is common among young people and is related to risk of dropping out of school (dropout). Educational level and gender might play a role in the association, which remains to be studied. Mental health was measured in 3146 Danish inhabitants aged 16-29 years using the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey and examined across genders and educational levels. For students, educational level at baseline was used; for young people who were not enrolled in school at baseline (non-students), the highest achieved educational level was used. The risk of dropout in students was investigated in administrative registers over a 4.8-year period (1(st) March 2010-31(th) December 2014). Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for mental health and in relation to dropout in logistic regression models, adjusting for age, gender, educational level, parental education, parental income and ethnicity. Poor mental health was present in 24 % (n = 753) of the participants, 29 % (n = 468) in females and 19 % (n = 285) in males (p < 0.0001). The prevalence differed from 19 to 39 % across educational levels (p < 0.0001). Females had a statistically significantly higher adjusted risk of poor mental health than males (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.5-2.2). Among the students the lowest risk was found at the elementary level (OR = 1.3, CI = 0.8-2.3), while students in higher education had a statistically significantly higher risk (OR = 1.9, CI = 1.2-2.9). The lowest-educated non-students had the highest OR of poor mental health (OR = 3.3, CI = 2.1-5.4). Dropout occurred in 8 % (n = 124) of the students. Poor mental health was associated to dropout in vocational (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.0-3.2) and higher education (OR = 2.0, CI = 1.0-4.2). For males in higher education, poor mental health was a predictor of dropout (OR = 5.2, CI = 1.6-17.3), which was not seen females in higher education (OR = 1.2, CI = 0.5-3.1). Poor mental health was significantly associated to dropout among students in vocational and higher education. Males in higher education had five times the risk of dropout when reporting poor mental health, while no such association was found for females.

The Components of Working Memory Updating: An Experimental Decomposition and Individual Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ecker, Ullrich K. H.; Lewandowsky, Stephan; Oberauer, Klaus; Chee, Abby E. H.

2010-01-01

Working memory updating (WMU) has been identified as a cognitive function of prime importance for everyday tasks and has also been found to be a significant predictor of higher mental abilities. Yet, little is known about the constituent processes of WMU. We suggest that operations required in a typical WMU task can be decomposed into 3 major…

Integrating the Analysis of Mental Operations into Multilevel Models to Validate an Assessment of Higher Education Students' Competency in Business and Economics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brückner, Sebastian; Pellegrino, James W.

2016-01-01

The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing indicate that validation of assessments should include analyses of participants' response processes. However, such analyses typically are conducted only to supplement quantitative field studies with qualitative data, and seldom are such data connected to quantitative data on student or item…

Factor Structure and Validity of Paper-and-Pencil Measures of Mental Speed: Evidence for a Higher-Order Model?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danthiir, Vanessa; Wilhelm, Oliver; Schulze, Ralf; Roberts, Richard D.

2005-01-01

This study explored the structure of elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) and relations between the corresponding construct(s) with processing speed (Gs) and fluid intelligence (Gf). Participants (N=321) completed 14 ECTs, 3 Gs, and 6 Gf marker tests, all administered in paper-and-pencil format to reduce potential confounds evident when tasks are…

The Acoustic Trigger to Conceptualization: An Hypothesis Concerning the Role of the Spoken Word in the Development of Higher Mental Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dance, Frank E. X.

One of many aspects of the linguistic centrality of the spoken word is the "acoustic trigger" to conceptualization, the most significant primal trigger in human beings, which when activated results in contrast and comparison leading to symbolic conceptualization. The oral/aural mode, or vocal production and acoustic perception, is developmentally…

Theory of positive disintegration as a model of adolescent development.

PubMed

Laycraft, Krystyna

2011-01-01

This article introduces a conceptual model of the adolescent development based on the theory of positive disintegration combined with theory of self-organization. Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration, which was created almost a half century ago, still attracts psychologists' and educators' attention, and is extensively applied into studies of gifted and talented people. The positive disintegration is the mental development described by the process of transition from lower to higher levels of mental life and stimulated by tension, inner conflict, and anxiety. This process can be modeled by a sequence of patterns of organization (attractors) as a developmental potential (a control parameter) changes. Three levels of disintegration (unilevel disintegration, spontaneous multilevel disintegration, and organized multilevel disintegration) are analyzed in detail and it is proposed that they represent behaviour of early, middle and late periods of adolescence. In the discussion, recent research on the adolescent brain development is included.

Graduate students and Mental Health: what we know and what we can do

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, Victor

There is scant but growing data about the mental health challenges and problems specific to graduate students. Nevertheless, the experience of graduate education can be extremely demanding and stressful and data suggest that graduate students are at higher risk for suicide than undergraduates and that when graduate students die by suicide it is more often related to academic stresses. This presentation will review what we know about the mental health of higher ed students in general and the growing body information about graduate student mental health. Finally, strategies that may be implemented to support the mental health of graduate students will be reviewed. none.

Neurodevelopmental correlates of proneness to guilt and shame in adolescence and early adulthood.

PubMed

Whittle, Sarah; Liu, Kirra; Bastin, Coralie; Harrison, Ben J; Davey, Christopher G

2016-06-01

Investigating how brain development during adolescence and early adulthood underlies guilt- and shame-proneness may be important for understanding risk processes for mental disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the neurodevelopmental correlates of interpersonal guilt- and shame-proneness in healthy adolescents and young adults using structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI). Sixty participants (age range: 15-25) completed sMRI and self-report measures of interpersonal guilt- and shame-proneness. Independent of interpersonal guilt, higher levels of shame-proneness were associated with thinner posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) thickness and smaller amygdala volume. Higher levels of shame-proneness were also associated with attenuated age-related reductions in thickness of lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC). Our findings highlight the complexities in understanding brain-behavior relationships during the adolescent/young adult period. Results were consistent with growing evidence that accelerated cortical thinning during adolescence may be associated with superior socioemotional functioning. Further research is required to understand the implications of these findings for mental disorders characterized by higher levels of guilt and shame. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Different Types of Laughter Modulate Connectivity within Distinct Parts of the Laughter Perception Network

PubMed Central

Ethofer, Thomas; Brück, Carolin; Alter, Kai; Grodd, Wolfgang; Kreifelts, Benjamin

2013-01-01

Laughter is an ancient signal of social communication among humans and non-human primates. Laughter types with complex social functions (e.g., taunt and joy) presumably evolved from the unequivocal and reflex-like social bonding signal of tickling laughter already present in non-human primates. Here, we investigated the modulations of cerebral connectivity associated with different laughter types as well as the effects of attention shifts between implicit and explicit processing of social information conveyed by laughter using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Complex social laughter types and tickling laughter were found to modulate connectivity in two distinguishable but partially overlapping parts of the laughter perception network irrespective of task instructions. Connectivity changes, presumably related to the higher acoustic complexity of tickling laughter, occurred between areas in the prefrontal cortex and the auditory association cortex, potentially reflecting higher demands on acoustic analysis associated with increased information load on auditory attention, working memory, evaluation and response selection processes. In contrast, the higher degree of socio-relational information in complex social laughter types was linked to increases of connectivity between auditory association cortices, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and brain areas associated with mentalizing as well as areas in the visual associative cortex. These modulations might reflect automatic analysis of acoustic features, attention direction to informative aspects of the laughter signal and the retention of those in working memory during evaluation processes. These processes may be associated with visual imagery supporting the formation of inferences on the intentions of our social counterparts. Here, the right dorsolateral precentral cortex appears as a network node potentially linking the functions of auditory and visual associative sensory cortices with those of the mentalizing-associated anterior mediofrontal cortex during the decoding of social information in laughter. PMID:23667619

Different types of laughter modulate connectivity within distinct parts of the laughter perception network.

PubMed

Wildgruber, Dirk; Szameitat, Diana P; Ethofer, Thomas; Brück, Carolin; Alter, Kai; Grodd, Wolfgang; Kreifelts, Benjamin

2013-01-01

Laughter is an ancient signal of social communication among humans and non-human primates. Laughter types with complex social functions (e.g., taunt and joy) presumably evolved from the unequivocal and reflex-like social bonding signal of tickling laughter already present in non-human primates. Here, we investigated the modulations of cerebral connectivity associated with different laughter types as well as the effects of attention shifts between implicit and explicit processing of social information conveyed by laughter using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Complex social laughter types and tickling laughter were found to modulate connectivity in two distinguishable but partially overlapping parts of the laughter perception network irrespective of task instructions. Connectivity changes, presumably related to the higher acoustic complexity of tickling laughter, occurred between areas in the prefrontal cortex and the auditory association cortex, potentially reflecting higher demands on acoustic analysis associated with increased information load on auditory attention, working memory, evaluation and response selection processes. In contrast, the higher degree of socio-relational information in complex social laughter types was linked to increases of connectivity between auditory association cortices, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and brain areas associated with mentalizing as well as areas in the visual associative cortex. These modulations might reflect automatic analysis of acoustic features, attention direction to informative aspects of the laughter signal and the retention of those in working memory during evaluation processes. These processes may be associated with visual imagery supporting the formation of inferences on the intentions of our social counterparts. Here, the right dorsolateral precentral cortex appears as a network node potentially linking the functions of auditory and visual associative sensory cortices with those of the mentalizing-associated anterior mediofrontal cortex during the decoding of social information in laughter.

Racial Differences in Mental Health Recovery among Veterans with Serious Mental Illness

PubMed Central

Ali, Mana K.; Hack, Samantha M.; Brown, Clayton H.; Medoff, Deborah; Fang, Lijuan; Klingaman, Elizabeth; Park, Stephanie G.; Dixon, Lisa B.; Kreyenbuhl, Julie A.

2017-01-01

Black consumers with serious mental illness (SMI) face significant challenges in obtaining quality mental health care and are at risk for experiencing significant disparities in mental health care outcomes, including recovery from mental illness. Patient-provider interactions may partly contribute to this disparity. The purpose of the current study was to understand the effects of race, psychosis, and therapeutic alliance on mental health recovery orientation among Veterans with SMI. Participants were Veterans who had an SMI being treated at two Veteran Affairs outpatient mental health clinics by a psychiatrist or nurse practitioner. Participants completed the Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-24), Mental Health Recovery Measure, and patient-report Scale to Assess the Therapeutic Relationship (STAR-P) which includes three subscales: positive collaboration, positive clinician input, and non-supportive clinician input. Regression analyses were used to determine interactive effects of race, psychosis severity, and therapeutic alliance variables. The sample was 226 Veterans (50% black, 50% white). Black participants were slightly older (p < .05), had higher baseline psychosis (p < .05), higher mental health recovery (p < .05), and perceived less non-supportive clinician input (p < .01) than white participants. Regression analyses indicated a significant three-way interaction among race, psychosis, and positive collaboration (p < .01). Greater positive collaboration attenuated the negative effect of higher levels of psychosis on mental health recovery orientation for black participants. Conversely, for white participants, positive collaboration had little effect on the negative relationship between psychosis severity and mental health recovery orientation. Increased levels of psychosis may inhibit patients’ perceptions of their ability to recover from SMI. However, for black participants, positive collaboration with mental health providers may moderate the effects of psychotic symptomatology. PMID:28411327

Fundamentally Distributed Information Processing Integrates the Motor Network into the Mental Workspace during Mental Rotation.

PubMed

Schlegel, Alexander; Konuthula, Dedeepya; Alexander, Prescott; Blackwood, Ethan; Tse, Peter U

2016-08-01

The manipulation of mental representations in the human brain appears to share similarities with the physical manipulation of real-world objects. In particular, some neuroimaging studies have found increased activity in motor regions during mental rotation, suggesting that mental and physical operations may involve overlapping neural populations. Does the motor network contribute information processing to mental rotation? If so, does it play a similar computational role in both mental and manual rotation, and how does it communicate with the wider network of areas involved in the mental workspace? Here we used multivariate methods and fMRI to study 24 participants as they mentally rotated 3-D objects or manually rotated their hands in one of four directions. We find that information processing related to mental rotations is distributed widely among many cortical and subcortical regions, that the motor network becomes tightly integrated into a wider mental workspace network during mental rotation, and that motor network activity during mental rotation only partially resembles that involved in manual rotation. Additionally, these findings provide evidence that the mental workspace is organized as a distributed core network that dynamically recruits specialized subnetworks for specific tasks as needed.

Need for Cognition and False Memory: Can One's Natural Processing Style Be Manipulated by External Factors?

PubMed

Wootan, Samantha S; Leding, Juliana K

2015-01-01

The purpose of this experiment was to provide an enhanced understanding of need for cognition (NFC) and its influence on one's memory accuracy. People who are high in NFC tend to put more cognitive effort into their mental processes than their low-NFC counterparts. To determine whether one's natural processing tendencies, as determined by NFC, can be influenced by external factors, manipulations to levels of processing were added. Participants viewed word lists from the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm and were instructed to process half of the DRM lists deeply and the other half shallowly. After all the lists were presented, participants completed 3 successive recall tests. The deep processing condition produced higher rates of false memories for both NFC groups than the shallow processing condition. In addition, the high-NFC group produced higher rates of target recall in both the deep and shallow conditions than the low-NFC group. However, the high-NFC group also produced higher rates of false recall for the shallowly processed lists. These data indicate that high-NFC people exhibit enhanced target recall for word lists, which may come at the expense of overall accuracy due to the increase of false recall.

Why Does Disaster Recovery Work Influence Mental Health?: Pathways through Physical Health and Household Income.

PubMed

Lowe, Sarah R; Kwok, Richard K; Payne, Julianne; Engel, Lawrence S; Galea, Sandro; Sandler, Dale P

2016-12-01

Disaster recovery work increases risk for mental health problems, yet the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. We explored links from recovery work to post-traumatic stress (PTS), major depression (MD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms through physical health symptoms and household income in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. As part of the NIEHS GuLF STUDY, participants (N = 10,141) reported on cleanup work activities, spill-related physical health symptoms, and household income at baseline, and mental health symptoms an average of 14.69 weeks (SD = 16.79) thereafter. Cleanup work participation was associated with higher physical health symptoms, which in turn were associated with higher PTS, MD, and GAD symptoms. Similar pattern of results were found in models including workers only and investigating the influence of longer work duration and higher work-related oil exposure on mental health symptoms. In addition, longer worker duration and higher work-related oil exposure were associated with higher household income, which in turn was associated with lower MD and GAD symptoms. These findings suggest that physical health symptoms contribute to workers' risk for mental health symptoms, while higher household income, potentially from more extensive work, might mitigate risk. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

Co-occurring Mental Disorders in Substance Abuse Treatment: the Current Health Care Situation in Germany.

PubMed

Dauber, Hanna; Braun, Barbara; Pfeiffer-Gerschel, Tim; Kraus, Ludwig; Pogarell, Oliver

2018-01-01

Aim of this study was to investigate the current health care situation for patients with co-occurring mental disorders in addiction treatment. Therefore, data from the German Substance Abuse Treatment System ( N  = 194,406) was analysed with regard to the prevalence of comorbid mental disorders, treatment characteristics and outcomes of patients with comorbid psychiatric diagnosis. In outpatient setting, the prevalence of comorbid diagnoses was considerably lower (4.6%) than in inpatient setting (50.7%), but mood and anxiety disorders were the most prevalent additional diagnoses in both settings. In the treatment of patients with these comorbid disorders, we found higher rates of complementary internal and external (psychiatric) treatment, more co-operations and referrals after treatment, and positive treatment process outcomes. Findings indicate that the knowledge of an additional diagnosis influences the health care provision of affected patients and can therefore be seen as the essential precondition for providing adequate and comprehensive treatment. This highlights the importance of a sufficient consideration and diagnostic assessment of mental disorders in addiction treatment to further improve the health care situation of comorbid patients.

Development of project wings home visits, a mental health intervention for Latino families using community-based participatory research.

PubMed

Garcia, Carolyn; Hermann, Denise; Bartels, Anna; Matamoros, Pablo; Dick-Olson, Linda; Guerra de Patino, Janeth

2012-11-01

As the Latino population in the United States experiences rapid growth, the well-being of Latino adolescents is a growing concern because of their high rates of mental health problems. Latino adolescents have higher rates of mental health problems than their peers, including depressive symptoms, suicide attempts, and violence. Sophisticated, realistic health promotion efforts are needed to reduce these risk behaviors and enhance protective factors. Parents and schools can be key protective factors, or assets, in adolescents' lives. This article details the steps undertaken to develop Project Wings Home Visits, a collaborative school-based, community-linked mental health promotion intervention for Latino adolescents and their families. Core to the intervention is the use of a community health worker model to provide home-based outreach and education to parents of Latino adolescents. The intervention was developed using a community-based participatory research approach that involved the cooperation of a community health care system, a public high school, and a university. Our process demonstrates the benefits, strengths, and challenges of using community-based participatory research in creating and implementing health promotion interventions.

Anticipating the Future of Mental Health Needs on Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonfiglio, Robert A.

2016-01-01

The provision of college mental health services is undergoing a dynamic evolution. The ability of mental health practitioners and administrators to balance multiple and sometimes opposing trends may determine the future course of mental health services in higher education.

Food insecurity and mental illness: disproportionate impacts in the context of perceived stress and social isolation.

PubMed

Martin, M S; Maddocks, E; Chen, Y; Gilman, S E; Colman, I

2016-03-01

Food insecurity is associated with elevated risk of mental illness. This risk may be further compounded by stressful life events and by social isolation. This study investigated whether the risk of mental illness is higher among individuals experiencing food insecurity along with greater stress and social isolation. Cross-sectional self-report survey data from the 2009-10 Canadian Community Health Survey (N = 100,401). We estimated prevalence differences of the risk of self-reported mental illness associated with food insecurity alone and in combination with stressful life events and social isolation. Sensitivity analyses were conducted on a sub-sample who completed a structured diagnostic interview. Overall, the prevalence of mental illness was 18.4% [95% CI 16.7-20.1] higher for women and 13.5% higher [95% CI 11.9, 15.2] for men in severely food insecure households compared to those reporting food security. The increased risk of mental illness associated with food insecurity was more pronounced among females and those reporting higher stress and social isolation. Individuals reporting food insecurity are at increased risk of mental illness. This increased risk is further exacerbated in high stress and socially isolated environments. Policies, clinical and public health interventions must address broader constellations of risks that exist when food insecurity is present. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Mental Health, Mental Well-Being and Help-Seeking Behaviour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laidlaw, Anita; McLellan, Julie; Ozakinci, Gozde

2016-01-01

Despite relatively high levels of psychological distress, many students in higher education do not seek help for difficulties. This study explored undergraduate student understanding of the concepts of mental health and mental well-being and where undergraduate students would seek help for mental well-being difficulties. Semi-structured interviews…

Mental health status and healthcare utilization among community dwelling older adults.

PubMed

Adepoju, Omolola; Lin, Szu-Hsuan; Mileski, Michael; Kruse, Clemens Scott; Mask, Andrew

2018-04-27

Shifts in mental health utilization patterns are necessary to allow for meaningful access to care for vulnerable populations. There have been long standing issues in how mental health is provided, which has caused problems in that care being efficacious for those seeking it. To assess the relationship between mental health status and healthcare utilization among adults ≥65 years. A negative binomial regression model was used to assess the relationship between mental health status and healthcare utilization related to office-based physician visits, while a two-part model, consisting of logistic regression and negative binomial regression, was used to separately model emergency visits and inpatient services. The receipt of care in office-based settings were marginally higher for subjects with mental health difficulties. Both probabilities and counts of inpatient hospitalizations were similar across mental health categories. The count of ER visits was similar across mental health categories; however, the probability of having an emergency department visit was marginally higher for older adults who reported mental health difficulties in 2012. These findings are encouraging and lend promise to the recent initiatives on addressing gaps in mental healthcare services.

Research on Relationship Among Internet-Addiction, Personality Traits and Mental Health of Urban Left-Behind Children

PubMed Central

Ge, Ying; Se, Jun; Zhang, Jingfu

2015-01-01

Aim: In this research, we attempted at exploring the relationships among urban left-behind children’s internet-addiction, personality traits and mental health. Methods: In the form of three relevant questionnaires (Adolescent Pathological Internet Use Scale, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Children’s Edition in Chinese and Mental Health Test), 796 urban left-behind children in China were investigated, concerning internet-addiction, personality traits and mental health. Results: (1) The internet-addiction rate of urban left-behind children in China reached10.8%—a relatively high figure, with the rate among males higher than that among females. In terms of internet-addition salience, the figure of urban left-behind children was obviously higher than that of non-left-behind children. (2) In China, the personality deviation rate of the overall left-behind children was 15.36%; while the personality deviation rate of the internet-addicted urban left-behind children was 38.88%, a figure prominently higher than that of the non-addicted urban left-behind children group, with the rate among females higher than that among males. (3) The mental health problem rate of the overall urban left-behind children in China was 8.43%; while the rate of the internet-addicted urban left-behind children was 27.77%, a figure significantly higher than that of the non-addicted urban left-behind children. (4) There were significant relationships among internet-addiction, personality traits and mental health. The total score of internet-addiction and its related dimensions can serve as indicators of personality neuroticism, psychoticism and the total scores of mental health. PMID:25946911

Comorbidity profile and healthcare utilization in elderly patients with serious mental illnesses.

PubMed

Hendrie, Hugh C; Lindgren, Donald; Hay, Donald P; Lane, Kathleen A; Gao, Sujuan; Purnell, Christianna; Munger, Stephanie; Smith, Faye; Dickens, Jeanne; Boustani, Malaz A; Callahan, Christopher M

2013-12-01

Patients with serious mental illness are living longer. Yet, there remain few studies that focus on healthcare utilization and its relationship with comorbidities in these elderly mentally ill patients. Comparative study. Information on demographics, comorbidities, and healthcare utilization was taken from an electronic medical record system. Wishard Health Services senior care and community mental health clinics. Patients age 65 years and older-255 patients with serious mental illness (schizophrenia, major recurrent depression, and bipolar illness) attending a mental health clinic and a representative sample of 533 nondemented patients without serious mental illness attending primary care clinics. Patients having serious mental illness had significantly higher rates of medical emergency department visits (p = 0.0027) and significantly longer lengths of medical hospitalizations (p <0.0001) than did the primary care control group. The frequency of medical comorbidities such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, thyroid disease, and cancer was not significantly different between the groups. Hypertension was lower in the mentally ill group (p <0.0001). Reported falls (p <0.0001), diagnoses of substance abuse (p = 0.02), and alcoholism (p = 0.0016) were higher in the seriously mentally ill. The differences in healthcare utilization between the groups remained significant after adjusting for comorbidity levels, lifestyle factors, and attending primary care. Our findings of higher rates of emergency care, longer hospitalizations, and increased frequency of falls, substance abuse, and alcoholism suggest that seriously mentally ill older adults remain a vulnerable population requiring an integrated model of healthcare. Copyright © 2013 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A three generation study of the mental health relationships between grandparents, parents and children

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background It is well known that children of parents with mental illness are at greater risk of mental illness themselves. However the patterns of familial mental health problems across multiple generations in families are less clear. This study aimed to examine mental health relationships across three generations of Australian families. Methods Mental health data, along with a range of family demographic information, were collected from over 4600 families in Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a nationally representative cohort study. The social and emotional wellbeing of two cohorts of children aged 4–5 years and 8–9 years was measured using the parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The mental health of mothers and fathers was measured using the Kessler 6-item K6 scale, and the mental health history of maternal and paternal grandmothers and grandfathers was measured using a dichotomous parent-report item. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used assess the relationships between grandparent and parent mental health and child social and emotional wellbeing at ages 4–5 years and 8–9 years. Results Both cohorts of children had greater mental health distress with higher SDQ scores on average if their mother or father had a mental health problem. For children aged 8–9 years, a history of mental health problems in maternal grandmothers and grandfathers was associated with higher SDQ scores in grandchildren, after controlling for maternal and paternal mental health and other family characteristics. For children aged 4–5 years, only a mental health history in paternal grandfathers was associated with higher SDQ scores. Conclusions The mental health histories of both parents and grandparents play an important role in the social and emotional wellbeing of young children. PMID:24206921

One Size Does Not Fit All in Psychotherapy: Understanding Depression Among Patients of Turkish Origin in Europe

PubMed Central

BALKIR NEFTÇİ, Nazlı; BARNOW, Sven

2016-01-01

Over the last decades, Europe has become an immigration country hosting an estimated 56 million international immigrants. Yet, a large amount of literature suggests that migration is associated with a higher risk of common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety. As representatives of one of the largest immigrant groups in Europe, various studies have shown that Turkish immigrants exhibit a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders than do the background population. Nevertheless, it is also well demonstrated that this particular patient group is more likely to terminate treatment prematurely and displays lower rates of treatment compliance than their native counterparts. This reluctance for service utilization might be partially because of the fact that people from non-Western ethno-cultural backgrounds (e.g., Turkey) often have a different notion and comprehension of mental health and illness as compared with those of the people from Western societies. Such mismatch often results in discrepancies between the needs and expectations of immigrant patients and clinicians, which attenuate the communication and effectiveness of treatment and lead to unexplained high dropout rates. To provide continued provision of culture-sensitive, high quality, evidence-based mental health care, the advancement of researches exploring such sociocultural differences between the patients’ and the clinicians’ notions of mental health must occur. In response to these problems, the current review aims to explore the interplay between culture and mental processes that associate with the etiology, maintenance, and management of depression among Turkish immigrant patients. This is to inform clinicians regarding culture-specific correlates of depression among Turkish patients to enable them to present interventions that fit the needs and expectations of this particular patient group. PMID:28360770

Perspectives on perceived stigma and self-stigma in adult male patients with depression.

PubMed

Latalova, Klara; Kamaradova, Dana; Prasko, Jan

2014-01-01

There are two principal types of stigma in mental illness, ie, "public stigma" and "self-stigma". Public stigma is the perception held by others that the mentally ill individual is socially undesirable. Stigmatized persons may internalize perceived prejudices and develop negative feelings about themselves. The result of this process is "self-stigma". Stigma has emerged as an important barrier to the treatment of depression and other mental illnesses. Gender and race are related to stigma. Among depressed patients, males and African-Americans have higher levels of self-stigma than females and Caucasians. Perceived stigma and self-stigma affect willingness to seek help in both genders and races. African-Americans demonstrate a less positive attitude towards mental health treatments than Caucasians. Religious beliefs play a role in their coping with mental illness. Certain prejudicial beliefs about mental illness are shared globally. Structural modeling indicates that conformity to dominant masculine gender norms ("boys don't cry") leads to self-stigmatization in depressed men who feel that they should be able to cope with their illness without professional help. These findings suggest that targeting men's feelings about their depression and other mental health problems could be a more successful approach to change help-seeking attitudes than trying to change those attitudes directly. Further, the inhibitory effect of traditional masculine gender norms on help-seeking can be overcome if depressed men feel that a genuine connection leading to mutual understanding has been established with a health care professional.

Speed of mental processing in the middle of the night

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Monk, T. H.; Carrier, J.

1997-01-01

This study aimed to determine whether human mental processing actually slows down during the night hours, separately from the previously documented microsleeps, lapses in attention, and general slowing of motor responses. Eighteen healthy young adults were studied during 36 hours of constant wakeful bedrest. Every 2 hours, they performed a logical reasoning task. Items phrased in the negative voice took reliably longer to respond to than items phrased in the positive voice, indicating the need for more mental processing in those items. By subtracting "negative" from "positive" reaction times at each time of day, we were able to plot a circadian rhythm in the time taken for this extra mental processing to be done separately from microsleeps, psychomotor slowing, and inattention. The extra mental processing took longer at night and on the day following sleep loss than it did during the day before the sleep loss, suggesting that human mental processing slows down during the night under sleep deprivation.

Mental Health Services Utilization and Expenditures Among Children Enrolled in Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.

PubMed

Walter, Angela Wangari; Yuan, Yiyang; Cabral, Howard J

2017-05-01

Mental illness in children increases the risk of developing mental health disorders in adulthood, and reduces physical and emotional well-being across the life course. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA, 2008) aimed to improve access to mental health treatment by requiring employer-sponsored health plans to include insurance coverage for behavioral health services. Investigators used IBM Watson/Truven Analytics MarketScan claims data (2007-2013) to examine: (1) the distribution of mental illness; (2) trends in utilization and out-of-pocket expenditures; and (3) the overall effect of the MHPAEA on mental health services utilization and out-of-pocket expenditures among privately-insured children aged 3 to 17 with mental health disorders. Multivariate Poisson regression and linear regression modeling techniques were used. Mental health services use for outpatient behavioral health therapy (BHT) was higher in the years after the implementation of the MHPAEA (2010-2013). Specifically, before the MHPAEA implementation, the annual total visits for BHT provided by mental health physicians were 17.1% lower and 2.5% lower for BHT by mental health professionals, compared to years when MHPAEA was in effect. Children covered by consumer-driven and high-deductible plans had significantly higher out-of-pocket expenditures for BHT compared to those enrolled PPOs. Our findings demonstrate increased mental health services use and higher out-of-pocket costs per outpatient visit after implementation of the MHPAEA. As consumer-driven and high-deductible health plans continue to grow, enrollees need to be cognizant of the impact of health insurance benefit designs on health services offered in these plans. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Influence of Effortful Thought and Cognitive Proficiencies on the Conjunction Fallacy: Implications for Dual-Process Theories of Reasoning and Judgment.

PubMed

Scherer, Laura D; Yates, J Frank; Baker, S Glenn; Valentine, Kathrene D

2017-06-01

Human judgment often violates normative standards, and virtually no judgment error has received as much attention as the conjunction fallacy. Judgment errors have historically served as evidence for dual-process theories of reasoning, insofar as these errors are assumed to arise from reliance on a fast and intuitive mental process, and are corrected via effortful deliberative reasoning. In the present research, three experiments tested the notion that conjunction errors are reduced by effortful thought. Predictions based on three different dual-process theory perspectives were tested: lax monitoring, override failure, and the Tripartite Model. Results indicated that participants higher in numeracy were less likely to make conjunction errors, but this association only emerged when participants engaged in two-sided reasoning, as opposed to one-sided or no reasoning. Confidence was higher for incorrect as opposed to correct judgments, suggesting that participants were unaware of their errors.

Mental illness stigma, secrecy and suicidal ideation.

PubMed

Oexle, N; Ajdacic-Gross, V; Kilian, R; Müller, M; Rodgers, S; Xu, Z; Rössler, W; Rüsch, N

2017-02-01

Whether the public stigma associated with mental illness negatively affects an individual, largely depends on whether the person has been labelled 'mentally ill'. For labelled individuals concealing mental illness is a common strategy to cope with mental illness stigma, despite secrecy's potential negative consequences. In addition, initial evidence points to a link between stigma and suicidality, but quantitative data from community samples are lacking. Based on previous literature about mental illness stigma and suicidality, as well as about the potential influence of labelling processes and secrecy, a theory-driven model linking perceived mental illness stigma and suicidal ideation by a mediation of secrecy and hopelessness was established. This model was tested separately among labelled and unlabelled persons using data derived from a Swiss cross-sectional population-based study. A large community sample of people with elevated psychiatric symptoms was examined by interviews and self-report, collecting information on perceived stigma, secrecy, hopelessness and suicidal ideation. Participants who had ever used mental health services were considered as labelled 'mentally ill'. A descriptive analysis, stratified logistic regression models and a path analysis testing a three-path mediation effect were conducted. While no significant differences between labelled and unlabelled participants were observed regarding perceived stigma and secrecy, labelled individuals reported significantly higher frequencies of suicidal ideation and feelings of hopelessness. More perceived stigma was associated with suicidal ideation among labelled, but not among unlabelled individuals. In the path analysis, this link was mediated by increased secrecy and hopelessness. Results from this study indicate that among persons labelled 'mentally ill', mental illness stigma is a contributor to suicidal ideation. One explanation for this association is the relation perceived stigma has with secrecy, which introduces negative emotional consequences. If our findings are replicated, they would suggest that programmes empowering people in treatment for mental illness to cope with anticipated and experienced discrimination as well as interventions to reduce public stigma within society could improve suicide prevention.

[Mental health of Polish immigrants compared to that of the Polish and German populations].

PubMed

Morawa, Eva; Senf, Wolfgang; Erim, Yesim

2013-01-01

This survey examines the mental health of immigrants of Polish origin compared to samples from the Polish and German populations. In a sample of 513 subjects (261 persons with Polish migration background and 252 autochthone Poles) depression (BDI), anxiety (BAI), and somatic complaints (GBB-24) were measured. Immigrants of Polish origin showed a significantly higher level of anxiety as well as somatic complaints but only a tendency toward higher depressiveness than the German normvalue, but not than that of the native Poles. Female immigrants showed an overall higher number of symptoms in the three domains in question compared to German women and - except for depressiveness - also compared to male immigrants. Persons with a Polish migration background present levels of mental distress higher than the general German population, but similar to the population of their country of origin. Further research is needed to clarify the special structure of the mental morbidity in Polish immigrants.

Functional Connectivity of the Precuneus in Female University Students with Long-Term Musical Training.

PubMed

Tanaka, Shoji; Kirino, Eiji

2016-01-01

Conceiving concrete mental imagery is critical for skillful musical expression and performance. The precuneus, a core component of the default mode network (DMN), is a hub of mental image processing that participates in functions such as episodic memory retrieval and imagining future events. The precuneus connects with many brain regions in the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital cortices. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of long-term musical training on the resting-state functional connectivity of the precuneus. Our hypothesis was that the functional connectivity of the precuneus is altered in musicians. We analyzed the functional connectivity of the precuneus using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data recorded in female university students majoring in music and nonmusic disciplines. The results show that the music students had higher functional connectivity of the precuneus with opercular/insular regions, which are associated with interoceptive and emotional processing; Heschl's gyrus (HG) and the planum temporale (PT), which process complex tonal information; and the lateral occipital cortex (LOC), which processes visual information. Connectivity of the precuneus within the DMN did not differ between the two groups. Our finding suggests that functional connections between the precuneus and the regions outside of the DMN play an important role in musical performance. We propose that a neural network linking the precuneus with these regions contributes to translate mental imagery into information relevant to musical performance.

Functional Connectivity of the Precuneus in Female University Students with Long-Term Musical Training

PubMed Central

Tanaka, Shoji; Kirino, Eiji

2016-01-01

Conceiving concrete mental imagery is critical for skillful musical expression and performance. The precuneus, a core component of the default mode network (DMN), is a hub of mental image processing that participates in functions such as episodic memory retrieval and imagining future events. The precuneus connects with many brain regions in the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital cortices. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of long-term musical training on the resting-state functional connectivity of the precuneus. Our hypothesis was that the functional connectivity of the precuneus is altered in musicians. We analyzed the functional connectivity of the precuneus using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data recorded in female university students majoring in music and nonmusic disciplines. The results show that the music students had higher functional connectivity of the precuneus with opercular/insular regions, which are associated with interoceptive and emotional processing; Heschl’s gyrus (HG) and the planum temporale (PT), which process complex tonal information; and the lateral occipital cortex (LOC), which processes visual information. Connectivity of the precuneus within the DMN did not differ between the two groups. Our finding suggests that functional connections between the precuneus and the regions outside of the DMN play an important role in musical performance. We propose that a neural network linking the precuneus with these regions contributes to translate mental imagery into information relevant to musical performance. PMID:27445765

Numerical Processing Efficiency Improved in Experienced Mental Abacus Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Yunqi; Geng, Fengji; Hu, Yuzheng; Du, Fenglei; Chen, Feiyan

2013-01-01

Experienced mental abacus (MA) users are able to perform mental arithmetic calculations with unusual speed and accuracy. However, it remains unclear whether their extraordinary gains in mental arithmetic ability are accompanied by an improvement in numerical processing efficiency. To address this question, the present study, using a numerical…

Monitoring and predicting cognitive state and performance via physiological correlates of neuronal signals.

PubMed

Russo, Michael B; Stetz, Melba C; Thomas, Maria L

2005-07-01

Judgment, decision making, and situational awareness are higher-order mental abilities critically important to operational cognitive performance. Higher-order mental abilities rely on intact functioning of multiple brain regions, including the prefrontal, thalamus, and parietal areas. Real-time monitoring of individuals for cognitive performance capacity via an approach based on sampling multiple neurophysiologic signals and integrating those signals with performance prediction models potentially provides a method of supporting warfighters' and commanders' decision making and other operationally relevant mental processes and is consistent with the goals of augmented cognition. Cognitive neurophysiological assessments that directly measure brain function and subsequent cognition include positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, mass spectroscopy, near-infrared spectroscopy, magnetoencephalography, and electroencephalography (EEG); however, most direct measures are not practical to use in operational environments. More practical, albeit indirect measures that are generated by, but removed from the actual neural sources, are movement activity, oculometrics, heart rate, and voice stress signals. The goal of the papers in this section is to describe advances in selected direct and indirect cognitive neurophysiologic monitoring techniques as applied for the ultimate purpose of preventing operational performance failures. These papers present data acquired in a wide variety of environments, including laboratory, simulator, and clinical arenas. The papers discuss cognitive neurophysiologic measures such as digital signal processing wrist-mounted actigraphy; oculometrics including blinks, saccadic eye movements, pupillary movements, the pupil light reflex; and high-frequency EEG. These neurophysiological indices are related to cognitive performance as measured through standard test batteries and simulators with conditions including sleep loss, time on task, and aviation flight-induced fatigue.

Rural Mental Health

MedlinePlus

... Toolkits Economic Impact Analysis Tool Community Health Gateway Sustainability Planning Tools Testing New Approaches Rural Health IT ... Mental Health Professional Shortage in the United States reports that higher levels of unmet need for mental ...

The Cognitive Side of M1

PubMed Central

Tomasino, Barbara; Gremese, Michele

2016-01-01

The primary motor cortex (M1) is traditionally implicated in voluntary movement control. In order to test the hypothesis that there is a functional topography of M1 activation in studies where it has been implicated in higher cognitive tasks we performed activation-likelihood-estimation (ALE) meta-analyses of functional neuroimaging experiments reporting M1 activation in relation to six cognitive functional categories for which there was a sufficient number of studies to include, namely motor imagery, working memory, mental rotation, social/emotion/empathy, language, and auditory processing. The six categories activated different sub-sectors of M1, either bilaterally or lateralized to one hemisphere. Notably, the activations found in the M1 of the left or right hemisphere detected in our study were unlikely due to button presses. In fact, all contrasts were selected in order to eliminate M1 activation due to activity related to the finger button press. In addition, we identified the M1 sub-region of Area 4a commonly activated by 4/6 categories, namely motor imagery and working memory, emotion/empathy, and language. Overall, our findings lend support to the idea that there is a functional topography of M1 activation in studies where it has been found activated in higher cognitive tasks and that the left Area 4a can be involved in a number of cognitive processes, likely as a product of implicit mental simulation processing. PMID:27378891

Urban Mind: Using Smartphone Technologies to Investigate the Impact of Nature on Mental Well-Being in Real Time

PubMed Central

Bakolis, Ioannis; Hammoud, Ryan; Smythe, Michael; Gibbons, Johanna; Davidson, Neil; Tognin, Stefania

2018-01-01

Abstract Existing evidence on the beneficial effects of nature on mental health comes from studies using cross-sectional designs. We developed a smartphone-based tool (Urban Mind; www.urbanmind.info) to examine how exposure to natural features within the built environment affects mental well-being in real time. The tool was used to monitor 108 individuals who completed 3013 assessments over a 1-week period. Significant immediate and lagged associations with mental well-being were found for several natural features. These associations were stronger in people with higher trait impulsivity, a psychological measure of one's tendency to behave with little forethought or consideration of the consequences, which is indicative of a higher risk of developing mental-health issues. Our investigation suggests that the benefits of nature on mental well-being are time-lasting and interact with an individual's vulnerability to mental illness. These findings have potential implications from the perspectives of global mental health as well as urban planning and design. PMID:29599549

Diabetes Prevalence Among Racial-Ethnic Minority Group Members With Severe Mental Illness Taking Antipsychotics: Double Jeopardy?

PubMed

Mangurian, Christina; Keenan, Walker; Newcomer, John W; Vittinghoff, Eric; Creasman, Jennifer M; Schillinger, Dean

2017-08-01

This study assessed differences in diabetes prevalence based on race-ethnicity among people with severe mental illnesses. This retrospective cohort study examined diabetes prevalence in 2009 among California Medicaid enrollees with severe mental illness who were screened for diabetes (N=19,364). Poisson regression assessed differences in diabetes prevalence by race-ethnicity. The sample was standardized to the U.S. The overall prevalence of diabetes was 32.0%. The adjusted prevalence for all minority groups with severe mental illness, except for Asians, was significantly higher than for whites (1.21-1.28 adjusted prevalence ratios). With inverse probability weighting to reduce selection bias captured by measured factors, estimated prevalence of diabetes among screened participants was 27.3%. The prevalence of diabetes in minority groups with severe mental illness was significantly higher than among whites with severe mental illness. Mental health administrators should implement universal diabetes screening with specific outreach efforts targeting minority populations with severe mental illness.

Veterans' Mental Health in Higher Education Settings: Services and Clinician Education Needs.

PubMed

Niv, Noosha; Bennett, Lauren

2017-06-01

Utilization of the GI Bill and attendance at higher education institutions among student veterans have significantly increased since passage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Campus counseling centers should be prepared to meet the mental health needs of student veterans. This study identified the mental health resources and services that colleges provide student veterans and the education needs of clinical staff on how to serve student veterans. Directors of mental health services from 80 California colleges completed a semistructured phone interview. Few schools track the number, demographic characteristics, or presenting needs of student veterans who utilize campus mental health services or offer priority access or special mental health services for veterans. Directors wanted centers to receive education for an average of 5.8 veteran-related mental health topics and preferred workshops and lectures to handouts and online training. Significant training needs exist among clinical staff of campus mental health services to meet the needs of student veterans.

Housing index, urbanisation level and lifetime prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders: a cross-sectional analysis of the Colombian national mental health survey.

PubMed

de Vries, Esther; Rincon, Carlos Javier; Tamayo Martínez, Nathalie; Rodriguez, Nelcy; Tiemeier, Henning; Mackenbach, Johan P; Gómez-Restrepo, Carlos; Guarnizo-Herreño, Carol C

2018-06-07

To study socioeconomic inequalities in mental health in rural and urban Colombia, a country with a history of internal conflict and large socioeconomic inequalities. Recent survey data are available to study this understudied topic in a middle-income country. Using data from 9656 respondents from the 2015 Colombian Mental Health survey, we investigated the association between lifetime prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders and quality of dwellings and access to public services housing score (HS). We calculated the relative index of inequality (RII) and slope index of inequality (SII) for HS in urban and rural areas, adjusting for potential confounders and mediating factors. The lifetime prevalence of anxiety and depression (combined) was 9.6% in urban versus 6.9% in rural areas (p<0.001). HS was not associated with prevalence of anxiety and depression in urban settings, whereas a higher HS (poorer housing quality) was associated with fewer mental disorders in rural areas in both univariate and multivariate models (multivariate RII urban 0.96 (95% CI 0.51 to 1.81); RII rural 0.11 (95% CI 0.04 to 0.32)). In rural areas, the prevalence of mental health problems was 12% points lower in persons living in the poorest quality dwellings than in those living in high-quality dwellings (SII -0.12 (95% CI -0.18 to -0.06)). Interestingly, within rural areas, persons living in 'populated centres' (small towns, villages) had a higher lifetime prevalence of any mental health disorder (9.8% (95% CI 6.9 to 13.6)) compared with those living in more isolated, dispersed areas (6.0% (95% CI 4.6 to 7.7)). In rural Colombia, those living in the poorest houses and in dispersed areas had a lower prevalence of mental health problems. Further understanding of this phenomenon of a seemingly inverse association of prevalence of mental disorders with poverty and/or urbanisation in rural areas is needed. Particularly, considering the progressive urbanisation process in Colombia, it is important to monitor mental health in populations migrating to the cities. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Mental Health Stigma and Communication and Their Intersections with Education. Wicked Problems Forum: Mental Health Stigma

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Rachel A.; Applegate, Amanda

2018-01-01

Roughly one in four Americans will experience a mental health issue during his or her lifetime (National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016). The consequences of mental disorders can be profound: people with mental disorders experience higher rates of disability and mortality. People with depression and schizophrenia have a…

Factors associated with experienced discrimination among people using mental health services in England.

PubMed

Hamilton, S; Corker, E; Weeks, C; Williams, P; Henderson, C; Pinfold, V; Rose, D; Thornicroft, G

2016-08-01

Research has found considerable variation in how far individuals with a diagnosis of mental illness experience discrimination. This study tested four hypotheses: (i) a diagnosis of schizophrenia will be associated with more discrimination than depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder; (ii) people with a history of involuntary treatment will report more discrimination than people without; (iii) higher levels of avoidance behaviour due to anticipated discrimination will be associated with higher levels of discrimination and (iv) longer time in contact with services will be associated with higher levels of discrimination. Three thousand five hundred and seventy-nine people using mental health services in England took part in structured telephone interviews about discrimination experiences. A multiple regression model found that study year, age, employment status, length of time in mental health services, disagreeing with the diagnosis, anticipating discrimination in personal relationships and feeling the need to conceal a diagnosis from others were significantly associated with higher levels of experienced discrimination. Findings suggest that discrimination is not related to specific diagnoses but rather is associated with mental health problems generally. An association between unemployment and discrimination may indicate that employment protects against experiences of discrimination, supporting efforts to improve access to employment among people with a diagnosis of mental illness.

Anxiety, stress and depression in family caregivers of the mentally ill.

PubMed

Cabral, Lídia; Duarte, João; Ferreira, Manuela; dos Santos, Carlos

2014-11-01

The current policy guidelines on mental health aim to keep the mentally ill within the community, with the development of social support, including families, hence the emergence of the role of the family caregiver. To identify socio-demographic variables influencing anxiety, depression and stress for the informal caregivers of the mentally ill; to determine the influence of family background variables on caregiver anxiety, depression and stress; to analyse the relationship between social support and caregiver overload with caregiver anxiety, depression and stress. Cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational study with 104 caregivers, mostly female (62.5%), aged between 22 and 77 years with a mean age of 52.03 years. The following were used as instruments: the Family Apgar Scale; the Satisfaction with Social Support Scale (ESSS); the Caregiver Overload Scale (ESC); the Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scales (EADS-21). We found that females have higher rates (P<.05) of anxiety, depression and stress; participants with less education have more anxiety than those with higher and secondary education (P=.001); caregivers living in rural areas have higher levels of depression (P=.044) and stress (P=.041); those who perceive belonging to families with marked dysfunctions have higher levels of depression (P=.0.001) and stress (P=.000); the higher the overload, the higher the levels of anxiety (P=.002), depression and stress (P=.000). I tis necessary to develop strategies for local and community intervention to promote mental health and prevent mental illness. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

International Student Mental Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prieto-Welch, Susan L.

2016-01-01

This chapter describes the mental health status of international students in institutions of higher education, unique challenges these students face and their impact on mental health, and suggestions for ways to address these challenges.

Context matters: community characteristics and mental health among war-affected youth in Sierra Leone.

PubMed

Betancourt, Theresa S; McBain, Ryan; Newnham, Elizabeth A; Brennan, Robert T

2014-03-01

Worldwide, over one billion children and adolescents live in war-affected settings. At present, only limited research has investigated linkages between disrupted social ecology and adverse mental health outcomes among war-affected youth. In this study, we examine three community-level characteristics - social disorder and collective efficacy within the community, as reported by caregivers, and perceived stigma as reported by youth - in relation to externalizing behaviors and internalizing symptoms among male and female former child soldiers in postconflict Sierra Leone. A total of 243 former child soldiers (30% female, mean age at baseline: 16.6 years) and their primary caregivers participated in interviews in 2004 and 2008, as part of a larger prospective cohort study of war-affected youth in Sierra Leone. Two-point growth models were estimated to examine the relationship between community-level characteristics and externalizing and internalizing outcomes across the time points. Both social disorder within the community, reported by caregivers, and perceived stigma, reported by youth, positively covaried with youths' externalizing and internalizing scores - indicating that higher levels of each at baseline and follow-up were associated with higher levels of mental health problems at both time points (p < .05). The relationship between collective efficacy and mental health outcomes was nonsignificant (p > .05). This study offers a rare glimpse into the role that the postconflict social context plays in shaping the mental health among former child soldiers. Results indicate that both social disorder and perceived stigma within the community demonstrate an important relationship to externalizing and internalizing problems among adolescent ex-combatants. Moreover, these relationships persisted over a 4-year period of follow-up. These results underscore the importance of the postconflict social environment and the need to develop postconflict interventions that address community-level processes in addition to the needs of families and individuals. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2013 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

The Function of Executive Function: Everyday Manifestations of Regulated Thinking in Preschool Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moreno, Amanda J.; Shwayder, Irena; Friedman, Ilana Dvorin

2017-01-01

Executive function (EF) encompasses higher-order mental processes necessary for the conscious control of thought and action in the service of goals. Once thought not to apply to children at all, EF is now at the center of a burgeoning body of research on young children over the last 10-15 years indicating that it is a critical foundation of school…

Disentangling neural processes of egocentric and allocentric mental spatial transformations using whole-body photos of self and other.

PubMed

Ganesh, Shanti; van Schie, Hein T; Cross, Emily S; de Lange, Floris P; Wigboldus, Daniël H J

2015-08-01

Mental imagery of one's body moving through space is important for imagining changing visuospatial perspectives, as well as for determining how we might appear to other people. Previous neuroimaging research has implicated the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) in this process. It is unclear, however, how neural activity in the TPJ relates to the rotation perspectives from which mental spatial transformation (MST) of one's own body can take place, i.e. from an egocentric or an allocentric perspective. It is also unclear whether TPJ involvement in MST is self-specific or whether the TPJ may also be involved in MST of other human bodies. The aim of the current study was to disentangle neural processes involved in egocentric versus allocentric MSTs of human bodies representing self and other. We measured functional brain activity of healthy participants while they performed egocentric and allocentric MSTs in relation to whole-body photographs of themselves and a same-sex stranger. Findings indicated higher blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in bilateral TPJ during egocentric versus allocentric MST. Moreover, BOLD response in the TPJ during egocentric MST correlated positively with self-report scores indicating how awkward participants felt while viewing whole-body photos of themselves. These findings considerably advance our understanding of TPJ involvement in MST and its interplay with self-awareness. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The real mental illnesses: Susan Nolen-Hoeksema (1959-2013) in memoriam.

PubMed

Seligman, Martin E P

2014-02-01

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema's life work concerned rumination, gender differences in depression, and the "transdiagnostic" processes in mental illness. The articles in this special section expand on these themes. Her work on transdiagnostic processes leads us to consider that the real mental illnesses are not the congeries of symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but these processes themselves. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Adjustment after miscarriage: Predicting positive mental health trajectories among young Australian women.

PubMed

Rowlands, Ingrid; Lee, Christina

2010-01-01

Understanding predictors of adjustment after miscarriage can assist in the development of supportive interventions. This article uses data from three waves of the Younger Cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (1996, 2000, 2003) to examine predictors of positive Mental Health trajectories among 998 women who had experienced miscarriages. Using the five-item Mental Health subscale of the SF-36 (MHI-5) as an outcome, a multilevel model of change showed a general positive trend in Mental Health over time; also, higher education and satisfaction with the primary care physician were associated with higher Mental Health scores at each survey. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, stress and negative life events were negatively associated with Mental Health. A history of medically diagnosed depression or anxiety was a significant predictor of change in Mental Health across the surveys, with women with such a history showing downward trajectories in Mental Health over time. The data suggest that greater targeted support and monitoring for women who have a history of mental health problems may assist those women to cope following miscarriage.

Self-reported sitting time and physical activity: interactive associations with mental well-being and productivity in office employees.

PubMed

Puig-Ribera, Anna; Martínez-Lemos, Iván; Giné-Garriga, Maria; González-Suárez, Ángel Manuel; Bort-Roig, Judit; Fortuño, Jesús; Muñoz-Ortiz, Laura; McKenna, Jim; Gilson, Nicholas D

2015-01-31

Little is known about how sitting time, alone or in combination with markers of physical activity (PA), influences mental well-being and work productivity. Given the need to develop workplace PA interventions that target employees' health related efficiency outcomes; this study examined the associations between self-reported sitting time, PA, mental well-being and work productivity in office employees. Descriptive cross-sectional study. Spanish university office employees (n = 557) completed a survey measuring socio-demographics, total and domain specific (work and travel) self-reported sitting time, PA (International Physical Activity Questionnaire short version), mental well-being (Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale) and work productivity (Work Limitations Questionnaire). Multivariate linear regression analyses determined associations between the main variables adjusted for gender, age, body mass index and occupation. PA levels (low, moderate and high) were introduced into the model to examine interactive associations. Higher volumes of PA were related to higher mental well-being, work productivity and spending less time sitting at work, throughout the working day and travelling during the week, including the weekends (p < 0.05). Greater levels of sitting during weekends was associated with lower mental well-being (p < 0.05). Similarly, more sitting while travelling at weekends was linked to lower work productivity (p < 0.05). In highly active employees, higher sitting times on work days and occupational sitting were associated with decreased mental well-being (p < 0.05). Higher sitting times while travelling on weekend days was also linked to lower work productivity in the highly active (p < 0.05). No significant associations were observed in low active employees. Employees' PA levels exerts different influences on the associations between sitting time, mental well-being and work productivity. The specific associations and the broad sweep of evidence in the current study suggest that workplace PA strategies to improve the mental well-being and productivity of all employees should focus on reducing sitting time alongside efforts to increase PA.

The Complexity of Jokes Is Limited by Cognitive Constraints on Mentalizing

PubMed Central

Launay, Jacques; Curry, Oliver

2016-01-01

Although laughter is probably of deep evolutionary origin, the telling of jokes, being language-based, is likely to be of more recent origin within the human lineage. In language-based communication, speaker and listener are engaged in a process of mutually understanding each other’s intentions (mindstates), with a conversation minimally requiring three orders of intentionality. Mentalizing is cognitively more demanding than non-mentalizing cognition, and there is a well-attested limit at five orders in the levels of intentionality at which normal adult humans can work. Verbal jokes commonly involve commentary on the mindstates of third parties, and each such mindstate adds an additional level of intentionality and its corresponding cognitive load. We determined the number of mentalizing levels in a sample of jokes told by well-known professional comedians and show that most jokes involve either three or five orders of intentionality on the part of the comedian, depending on whether or not the joke involves other individuals’ mindstates. Within this limit there is a positive correlation between increasing levels of intentionality and subjective ratings of how funny the jokes are. The quality of jokes appears to peak when they include five to six levels of intentionality, which suggest that audiences appreciate higher mentalizing complexity whilst working within their natural cognitive constraints. PMID:26597196

The Role of Visual Noise in Influencing Mental Load and Fatigue in a Steady-State Motion Visual Evoked Potential-Based Brain-Computer Interface.

PubMed

Xie, Jun; Xu, Guanghua; Luo, Ailing; Li, Min; Zhang, Sicong; Han, Chengcheng; Yan, Wenqiang

2017-08-14

As a spatial selective attention-based brain-computer interface (BCI) paradigm, steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) BCI has the advantages of high information transfer rate, high tolerance to artifacts, and robust performance across users. However, its benefits come at the cost of mental load and fatigue occurring in the concentration on the visual stimuli. Noise, as a ubiquitous random perturbation with the power of randomness, may be exploited by the human visual system to enhance higher-level brain functions. In this study, a novel steady-state motion visual evoked potential (SSMVEP, i.e., one kind of SSVEP)-based BCI paradigm with spatiotemporal visual noise was used to investigate the influence of noise on the compensation of mental load and fatigue deterioration during prolonged attention tasks. Changes in α , θ , θ + α powers, θ / α ratio, and electroencephalography (EEG) properties of amplitude, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and online accuracy, were used to evaluate mental load and fatigue. We showed that presenting a moderate visual noise to participants could reliably alleviate the mental load and fatigue during online operation of visual BCI that places demands on the attentional processes. This demonstrated that noise could provide a superior solution to the implementation of visual attention controlling-based BCI applications.

Stigma towards mental illness: A hospital-based cross-sectional study among caregivers in West Bengal.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Shrabani; Mukhopadhyay, Dipta Kanti

2018-01-01

Stigma among caregivers of people with mental illness has a serious impact on the disease outcome and lives of people with mental illness as well as other family members. The objectives of this study were (i) To determine the level of self-perceived stigma toward mental illness, (ii) To measure perception to it among caregivers of people with mental illness, and (iii) To identify the factors associated with self-perceived stigma of caregivers. In this cross-sectional study, a structured interview was conducted among 200 caregivers of people with mental illness in the psychiatry outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India. Stigma and perception regarding mental illness were assessed with a validated 12-item Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue and 20-item perception scale, respectively. Information on their sociodemographic characteristics was also collected. Average stigma score (53.3 ± 13.2) was higher than 50% of maximum attainable score. Caregivers of higher age, female gender, low income, higher education, manual job, rural residence, and those who are single or widowed scored higher in stigma scale. Caregivers with female gender (P = 0.007) and rural residence (P = 0.01) were more likely to have stigma while the perception score was negatively associated (P < 0.001) with stigma score. The study highlighted that health-care providers can play a pivotal role to address caregivers' stigma in order to alleviate its effect on the course of illness and improve family life.

Criminal justice system contact and mortality among offenders with mental illness in British Columbia: an assessment of mediation.

PubMed

McCandless, Lawrence C; Stewart, Lauren C; Rempel, Emily S; Venners, Scott A; Somers, Julian M

2015-05-01

Persons with mental illness are over-represented in prison populations around the world. They are more vulnerable to arrest and more likely to experience repeated encounters with the criminal justice system. Whether criminal justice involvement, in and of itself, is associated with higher mortality, particularly among offenders with mental illness, is unknown. The authors conducted a mediation analysis of mortality rates in a cohort of 79,088 offenders from British Columbia using administrative records spanning 2001-2010, where the mediating variable was the individual-level rate of criminal sentencing. During 339,506 person-years of follow-up, there were 1841 deaths. The diagnosis of mental illness had no direct association with higher mortality after adjustment for confounders (HR=0.98, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.06). However, mental illness had an indirect association with mortality that was mediated through more frequent criminal justice involvement (HR=1.02, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.04). These findings support the hypothesis that offenders with mental illness experience higher mortality that is mediated by higher rates of criminal justice contact. The results of our study indicate that criminal justice diversion programmes are further warranted because they may contribute to the prevention of mortality among offenders with mental illness. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Impact of health literacy on depressive symptoms and mental health-related: quality of life among adults with addiction.

PubMed

Lincoln, Alisa; Paasche-Orlow, Michael K; Cheng, Debbie M; Lloyd-Travaglini, Christine; Caruso, Christine; Saitz, Richard; Samet, Jeffrey H

2006-08-01

Health literacy has been linked to health status in a variety of chronic diseases. However, evidence for a relationship between health literacy and mental health outcomes is sparse. We hypothesized that low literacy would be associated with higher addiction severity, higher levels of depressive symptoms, and worse mental health functioning compared with those with higher literacy in adults with alcohol and drug dependence. The association of literacy with multiple mental health outcomes was assessed using multivariable analyses. Measurement instruments included the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale, the Mental Component Summary scale of the Short Form Health Survey, and the Addiction Severity Index for drug and alcohol addiction. Subjects included 380 adults recruited during detoxification treatment and followed prospectively at 6-month intervals for 2 years. Based on the REALM, subjects were classified as having either low (< or = 8th grade) or higher (> or = 9th grade) literacy levels. In longitudinal analyses, low literacy was associated with more depressive symptoms. The adjusted mean difference in CES-D scores between low and high literacy levels was 4 (P<.01). Literacy was not significantly associated with mental health-related quality of life or addiction severity. In people with alcohol and drug dependence, low literacy is associated with worse depressive symptoms. The mechanisms underlying the relationship between literacy and mental health outcomes should be explored to inform future intervention efforts.

From social liminality to cultural negotiation: Transformative processes in immigrant mental wellbeing.

PubMed

Simich, Laura; Maiter, Sarah; Ochocka, Joanna

2009-12-01

The underlying psychosocial processes that produce immigrant mental wellbeing are understudied in anthropology and medicine. This paper provides insights into these processes by describing culturally diverse immigrants' perceptions of mental health and adaptation strategies. Qualitative data were collected from 21 focus groups as part of a large, multidisciplinary, participatory action research project about mental health with five ethnolinguistic groups (Mandarin-speaking Chinese, Polish, Punjabi Sikh, Somali and Spanish-speaking Latin American) in Ontario, Canada. In framing the analysis, transformative concepts are applied to address dimensions of power and culture - social liminality and cultural negotiation - to the ongoing psychosocial processes of coping with mental distress. 'Social liminality' describes how immigrants perceive themselves to be in a psychologically stressful, transitional state, whereas 'cultural negotiation' describes how they actively cope with cultural tensions and respond to mental health challenges. Study findings show that while social liminality and cultural negotiation are stressful, they also have the potential to help individuals adapt by producing a positive synthesis of ideas about mental health in new social and cultural contexts. The study contributes to the shift from problem identification using a biomedical model of mental illness to a more psychosocial and ecological approach that reveals the potential for resolving some mental health problems experienced in immigrant communities. Describing active psychosocial process of adaptation also reinforces the therapeutic and educational value of partnerships between practitioners and clients and immigrant communities and mental health systems.

Shift work, mental distress and job satisfaction among Palestinian nurses.

PubMed

Jaradat, Y M; Nielsen, M B; Kristensen, P; Bast-Pettersen, R

2017-01-01

Associations between shift work (SW) schedules, mental distress and job satisfaction have never been completely described. To examine gender-specific associations of SW with mental distress and job satisfaction in nurses in Hebron District, Palestine, in 2012. Detailed information on work schedules (day versus shift), socio-demographic status, mental distress (General Health Questionnaire, GHQ-30) and job satisfaction (Generic Job Satisfaction Scale) in nurses employed in Hebron District, Palestine, was obtained through a questionnaire survey. Associations of SW and outcomes were examined by linear regression analysis. Of 372 nurses eligible for the study, 309 and 338 completed surveys regarding mental distress and job satisfaction, respectively. The sample comprised 62% women and 38% men. After adjusting for covariates, women working shifts reported significantly higher levels of mean mental distress [β coefficient 3.6; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.3-7.0] compared with women working regular day shifts. Men working shifts reported significantly lower levels of job satisfaction (-3.3; 95% CI -6.2 to -0.5) than men working regular day shifts. Women reported higher levels of mental distress than men, but this was unrelated to work schedule. In this study, nurses working shifts reported higher levels of mental distress and lower levels of job satisfaction, although these associations were weaker when adjusted for potential covariates. There was no evidence of a gender differential in the association between SW and mental distress and job satisfaction. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine.

How mental health literacy and experience of mental illness relate to stigmatizing attitudes and social distance towards people with depression or psychosis: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Svensson, Bengt; Hansson, Lars

2016-01-01

Background Evidence suggests that mental health literacy among the public is low, and stigmatizing attitudes are widespread. So far the effects of anti-stigma campaigns are small, and studies demonstrate that negative attitudes have been quite stable through recent decades. Aims To investigate the relationships between mental health literacy, experience of mental illness and stigmatizing attitudes/social distance towards people with depression or psychosis. Methods A cross-sectional study in which staff members from public services in Sweden (n = 1027) completed questionnaires covering demographic data, self-reported experience of mental illness, identification of a vignette for depression or psychosis, beliefs about helpful interventions for the illness presented in the vignette, and attitudes and social distance towards people with the illness. Results About 50% of participants could identify depression and less than 40% psychosis. A higher degree of mental health literacy was related to less stigma and social distance but mainly towards people with depression. A similar relationship was shown for having personal or family experience of mental illness and attitudes/social distance. Negative attitudes and social distance were significantly higher in all aspects measured towards a person with psychosis than a person with depression. Conclusions A higher degree of mental health literacy relates to more positive attitudes and less desire for social distance towards people with depression. The differences between depression and psychosis should be taken into account in anti-stigma interventions.

The self-esteem and anxiety of children with and without mentally retarded siblings.

PubMed

Saban, Fatma; Arıkan, Duygu

2013-11-01

The study was carried out with the aim of determining the factors affecting and to evaluate anxiety situations and self-esteem of children with and without mentally retarded siblings. The sampling included 227 healthy children: 108 of them have mental retarded sibling and 119 of them do not have mental retarded sibling. The context of this study consisted of 15-18 year of age healthy children with mentally retarded siblings and 15-18 year of aged healthy children having at least one sibling between the dates February 15(st) and June 26(st) 2010. Personal Information Form, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Trait Anxiety Scale were used. It was found out that trait anxiety of 17-18 aged of children with mental retarded sibling (47.04 ± 7.3) was higher than that of the children without mental retarded siblings (44.05 ± 11.23) (P < 0.05). It was observed that self-esteem of children with mentally retarded sibling was not affected from the handicap of their siblings (P > 0.05). Trait anxiety score averages of children with mentally retarded sibling and experience some difficulties due to his or her siblings's handicap (47.00 ± 7.76) were found higher than those of those of the children without any problem with the environment (42.61 ± 7.48) (P < 0.05). Although the average score of trait anxiety and self-esteem in both groups were not significant different, score of trait anxiety for children with mentally disabled siblings was higher in comparison. It was concluded that anxiety of children with and without mentally retarded siblings increased as self-esteem of these children decreased.

The self-esteem and anxiety of children with and without mentally retarded siblings

PubMed Central

Saban, Fatma; Arıkan, Duygu

2013-01-01

Background: The study was carried out with the aim of determining the factors affecting and to evaluate anxiety situations and self-esteem of children with and without mentally retarded siblings. Materials and Methods: The sampling included 227 healthy children: 108 of them have mental retarded sibling and 119 of them do not have mental retarded sibling. The context of this study consisted of 15-18 year of age healthy children with mentally retarded siblings and 15-18 year of aged healthy children having at least one sibling between the dates February 15st and June 26st 2010. Personal Information Form, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Trait Anxiety Scale were used. Results: It was found out that trait anxiety of 17-18 aged of children with mental retarded sibling (47.04 ± 7.3) was higher than that of the children without mental retarded siblings (44.05 ± 11.23) (P < 0.05). It was observed that self-esteem of children with mentally retarded sibling was not affected from the handicap of their siblings (P > 0.05). Trait anxiety score averages of children with mentally retarded sibling and experience some difficulties due to his or her siblings's handicap (47.00 ± 7.76) were found higher than those of those of the children without any problem with the environment (42.61 ± 7.48) (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Although the average score of trait anxiety and self-esteem in both groups were not significant different, score of trait anxiety for children with mentally disabled siblings was higher in comparison. It was concluded that anxiety of children with and without mentally retarded siblings increased as self-esteem of these children decreased. PMID:24523782

The association of birth weight with cardiovascular risk factors and mental problems among Iranian school-aged children: the CASPIAN-III study.

PubMed

Azadbakht, Leila; Kelishadi, Roya; Saraf-Bank, Sahar; Qorbani, Mostafa; Ardalan, Gelayol; Heshmat, Ramin; Taslimi, Mahnaz; Motlagh, Mohammad Esmaeil

2014-02-01

Both high and low birth weights (HBW and LBW) are risk factors for adulthood diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of birth weight with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and mental problems among Iranian school-aged children. This national multicenter study of school-aged children entitled CASPIAN III was conducted among 5528 students in ranging from ages 10 to 18 y. Biochemical indices and anthropometric measurements were collected. Mental health was assessed by questionnaire. To investigate the association between birth weight categories and CVD risk factors and mental problems, multivariate logistic regression was used. HBW adolescents were at higher risk for elevated diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (Ptrend < 0.05), low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (Ptrend < 0.05), and lower risk for general obesity (Ptrend < 0.05) compared with the LBW category. HBW had no significant association with mental problems (Ptrend > 0.05) compared with LBW adolescents. The results of regression analysis, which considered normal birth weight as the reference group, showed that LBW students had lower risk for overweight and obesity (P < 0.01), as well as higher DBP (P < 0.05) but they were at higher risk for lower levels of HDL-C (P < 0.01). Furthermore, birth-weight categories had a U-shaped relationship with mental problems and sleep disorders (P < 0.05). Risk for confusion was higher among the LBW group (P < 0.05). Findings from this population-based study revealed a positive relation between birth weight categories and CVD risk factors. Compared with students born with normal weight, those born with HBW and LBW were at higher risk for mental problems, sleep disorders, and confusion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Responding to the Needs of Students with Mental Health Difficulties in Higher Education: An Irish Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Esther

2017-01-01

This article presents findings from a recent national study supported by Association for Higher Education Access & Disability and the National Learning Network (2016) to investigate the experiences of students with mental health difficulties in higher education in Ireland. The data investigation was a combination of both survey and qualitative…

The burden of mental disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 1990-2015: findings from the global burden of disease 2015 study.

PubMed

2017-08-03

Mental disorders are among the leading causes of nonfatal burden of disease globally. We used the global burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors study 2015 to examine the burden of mental disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR). We defined mental disorders according to criteria proposed in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders IV and the 10th International Classification of Diseases. Mental disorders contributed to 4.7% (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 3.7-5.6%) of total disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), ranking as the ninth leading cause of disease burden. Depressive disorders and anxiety disorders were the third and ninth leading causes of nonfatal burden, respectively. Almost all countries in the EMR had higher age-standardized mental disorder DALYs rates compared to the global level, and in half of the EMR countries, observed mental disorder rates exceeded the expected values. The burden of mental disorders in the EMR is higher than global levels, particularly for women. To properly address this burden, EMR governments should implement nationwide quality epidemiological surveillance of mental disorders and provide adequate prevention and treatment services.

Stigma and Student Mental Health in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Jennifer Marie

2010-01-01

Stigma is a powerful force in preventing university students with mental health difficulties from gaining access to appropriate support. This paper reports on an exploratory study of university students with mental health difficulties that found most students did not disclose their mental health problems to staff at university. This was primarily…

The mental health gender-gap in urban India: patterns and narratives.

PubMed

Das, Jishnu; Das, Ranendra Kumar; Das, Veena

2012-11-01

Women report significantly higher levels of mental distress than men in community studies around the world. We provide further evidence on the origins of this mental health gender-gap using data from 789 adults, primarily spousal pairs, from 300 families in Delhi, India. These data were collected between 2001 and 2003. We first confirm that, like in other studies, women report higher levels of mental distress and that gender differences in education, household expenditures and age do not explain the mental health gender-gap. In contrast, women report significantly higher levels of distress than men in families with adverse reproductive outcomes, particularly the death of a child. Controlling for adverse reproductive outcomes sharply reduces the mental health gender-gap. Finally, mental health is strongly correlated with physical health for both men and women, but there is little evidence of a differential response by sex. We complement this empirical description with anthropological analysis based on ethnographic interviews with 100 men and 100 women. With the help of these ethnographic interviews we show how adverse life events for women are experienced as the inability to maintain the domestic, which seems to be at stake within their life worlds. We raise issues for further research on the apparent finding that the mental health of women and men are differentially affected by adverse reproductive events in the family in this sample. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urban and non-urban differences in community living and participation among individuals with serious mental illnesses.

PubMed

Townley, Greg; Brusilovskiy, Eugene; Salzer, Mark S

2017-03-01

Despite a wealth of studies examining the relationship between urbanicity (i.e., living in an urban area) and psychological distress, there is a paucity of research examining the relationship between urbanicity, community living, and community participation of adults with serious mental illnesses. This study addresses this knowledge gap by assessing urban and non-urban differences in community participation, sense of community, mental health stigma, and perceptions of the neighborhood environment among individuals with serious mental illnesses living independently throughout the United States. A total of 300 individuals with serious mental illnesses recruited from 21 outpatient mental health service organizations in 15 states completed a phone survey about their community living and participation experiences. Urbanicity was examined at two spatial scales (block group and county), and independent-samples t-tests were employed to assess urban and non-urban differences in community living and participation variables. Levels of community participation and perceptions of neighborhood quality and crime were higher in urban block groups; sense of community was higher in urban counties; and perceptions of mental health stigma were higher in non-urban counties. Results inform the methodological literature on best practices for assessing urbanicity, as well as interventions aimed at increasing community participation and improving aspects of the built and social environment that affect individuals who experience mental health distress. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mental Health Help-Seeking Intentions and Preferences of Rural Chinese Adults

PubMed Central

Yu, Yu; Liu, Zi-wei; Hu, Mi; Liu, Hui-ming; Yang, Joyce P.; Zhou, Liang; Xiao, Shui-yuan

2015-01-01

Purpose We aimed to investigate mental health help-seeking intentions and preferences of rural Chinese adults and determine predictors of the intentions. Methods A total of 2052 representative rural residents aged 18–60 completed a cross-sectional survey by face-to-face interviews. The survey included seven questions asking about respondents’ help-seeking intentions and preferences, and a series of internationally validated instruments to assess self-perceived health status, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, mental health literacy, and attitudes towards mental illness. Results Nearly 80% of respondents were willing to seek psychological help if needed, and 72.4% preferred to get help from medical organizations, yet only 12% knew of any hospitals or clinics providing such help. A multivariate analysis of help-seeking intention revealed that being female, having lower education, higher social health, higher mental health knowledge, and physical causal attribution for depression were positive predictors of help-seeking intention. Conclusion A huge gap exists between the relatively higher intention for help-seeking and significantly lower knowledge of helpful resources. Predictors of help-seeking intention for mental problems in the current study are consistent with previous studies. Interventions to increase help-seeking for mental problems by Chinese rural adults may be best served by focusing on increasing public awareness of help sources, as well as improving residents’ mental health literacy and social health, with special focus on males and those more educated. PMID:26545095

Attachment and eating disorders: a research update.

PubMed

Tasca, Giorgio A

2018-03-16

Prominent models of eating disorders tend to focus on cognitive and behavioral features, but tend not to consider important developmental issues related to affect regulation, interpersonal style, self concept, and mentalization-all of which are well conceptualized within attachment theory. Higher levels of attachment insecurity across diagnoses are related to greater eating disorder symptoms. Low parental care and early trauma may lead to attachment insecurity that then might lead to greater eating disorder symptoms. The association between insecure attachment and eating disorder severity is likely mediated by affect dysregulation and perfectionism. Recent research using the Adult Attachment Interview highlights the importance of reflective functioning in predicting treatment response and therapeutic processes, and on the utility of therapies that increase mentalization. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Self-focused processing after severe traumatic brain injury: Relationship to neurocognitive functioning and mood symptoms.

PubMed

Ownsworth, Tamara; Gooding, Kynan; Beadle, Elizabeth

2018-05-28

To investigate the impact of neurocognitive functioning on the self-focused processing styles of rumination and reflection, and the relationship to mood symptoms after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). A cross-sectional design with a between-group component comparing self-focused processing styles and mood symptoms of adults with TBI and age- and gender-matched controls. Fifty-two participants with severe TBI (75% male, M age = 36.56, SD = 12.39) completed cognitive tests of attention, memory, executive functioning and the Awareness Questionnaire, Reflection and Rumination Questionnaire (RRQ), and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS - 21). Fifty age- and gender-matched controls completed the RRQ and DASS-21. TBI participants reported significantly greater mood symptoms than controls (p < .05); however, levels of rumination and reflection did not significantly differ. TBI participants high on both reflection and rumination had significantly greater mood symptoms than those with high reflection and low rumination (p < .001). Higher levels of rumination and reflection were associated with better working memory and immediate and delayed verbal memory (r = .36-.43, p < .01). Higher levels of rumination were also associated with greater verbal fluency, self-awareness, and mood symptoms (r = .36-.70, p < .01). Individuals with better memory functioning may be more likely to engage in self-focused processing after severe TBI. Reflection without ruminative tendencies is more adaptive for mental health than reflection with rumination. Individuals with severe TBI report more mood symptoms than non-injured controls but do not differ on self-focused processing. Poorer memory function is related to lower levels of rumination and reflection. Reflection without ruminative tendencies is adaptive for mental health after severe TBI. Individuals with greater self-awareness and ruminative tendencies are at increased risk of mental health problems following severe TBI. Rumination and reflection were assessed using a self-report measure which assumes that people with severe TBI are able to reliably report on self-focused processing styles. The direction of associations between self-focused processing, self-awareness, and mood symptoms could not be determined due to the cross-sectional design. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

PubMed

Belhdj Kouider, Esmahan; Dupont, Marc; Koglin, Ute; Lorenz, Alfred L; Petermann, Franz

2014-04-01

Interethnic Analyses of Distributions in Children and Adolescents Mental Disorders in a Health Care Utilization The study examines ethnic differences in mental disorders in a child and adolescent psychiatry population in a major German city from 2007 to 2011 (N = 5,680). Risks of developing specific mental disorders were calculated. African migrant children and adolescents showed higher risk in traumatic stress and adjustment disorders (F 43 in ICD-10), the Asiatic group in dissociative disorders (F 44-45). Compared to other European migrants the German children and adolescents without migration background had a higher risk of affective disorders (F 3). Adolescents (N = 3,556) with Russian and Polish background had a higher risk of disorders induced by psychotropic substances (F 1). Turkish and Arabic adolescents had a 4- to 5-times increasing risk in schizophrenia as well as schizotypal or delusional disorders (F 2). In addition, mental disorders were influenced by gender and nationality. These study results suggest that a different vulnerability to specific mental disorders is associated to ethnicity.

[Interethnic analyses of distributions in children and adolescents mental disorders in a health care utilization].

PubMed

Kouider, Esmahan Belhadj; Koglin, Ute; Lorenz, Alfred L; Dupont, Marc; Petermann, Franz

2014-01-01

The study examines ethnic differences in mental disorders in a child and adolescent psychiatry population in a major German city from 2007 to 2011 (N = 5,680). Risks of developing specific mental disorders were calculated. African migrant children and adolescents showed higher risk in traumatic stress and adjustment disorders (F 43 in ICD-10), the Asiatic group in dissociative disorders (F 44-45). Compared to other European migrants the German children and adolescents without migration background had a higher risk of affective disorders (F 3). Adolescents (N = 3,556) with Russian and Polish background had a higher risk of disorders induced by psychotropic substances (F 1). Turkish and Arabic adolescents had a 4- to 5-times increasing risk in schizophrenia as well as schizotypal or delusional disorders (F 2). In addition, mental disorders were influenced by gender and nationality. These study results suggest that a different vulnerability to specific mental disorders is associated to ethnicity.

Inhibition: Mental Control Process or Mental Resource?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Im-Bolter, Nancie; Johnson, Janice; Ling, Daphne; Pascual-Leone, Juan

2015-01-01

The current study tested 2 models of inhibition in 45 children with language impairment and 45 children with normally developing language; children were aged 7 to 12 years. Of interest was whether a model of inhibition as a mental-control process (i.e., executive function) or as a mental resource would more accurately reflect the relations among…

Exploring identity within the recovery process of people with serious mental illnesses.

PubMed

Buckley-Walker, Kellie; Crowe, Trevor; Caputi, Peter

2010-01-01

To examine self-identity within the recovery processes of people with serious mental illnesses using a repertory grid methodology. Cross-sectional study involving 40 mental health service consumers. Participants rated different "self" and "other" elements on the repertory grid against constructs related to recovery, as well as other recovery focused measures. Perceptions of one's "ideal self" represented more advanced recovery in contrast to perceptions of "a person mentally unwell." Current perceptions of self were most similar to perceptions of "usual self" and least similar to "a person who is mentally unwell." Increased identification with one's "ideal self" reflected increased hopefulness in terms of recovery. The recovery repertory grid shows promise in clinical practice, in terms of exploring identity as a key variable within mental health recovery processes. Distance measures of similarity between various self-elements, including perceptions of others, maps logically against the recovery process of hope.

Understanding the Stress Process of Chinese- and Korean-American Breast Cancer Survivors.

PubMed

Paek, Min-So; Lim, Jung-Won

2016-10-01

Guided by the stress process model (SPM), this study investigated the direct and indirect pathways of primary (negative self-image and life stress), secondary stressors (family communication strain) and family coping (external and internal) on mental health outcomes among Chinese- and Korean-American breast cancer survivors (BCS). A total of 156 Chinese- and Korean-American BCS were surveyed. Results showed primary and secondary stressors had a negative effect on better mental health outcomes. External coping was associated with better mental health. Family communication strain mediated the relationship between life stress and mental health outcomes. External coping mediated the relationship between family communication strain and mental health outcomes. Multi-group analysis revealed the stress process did not differ across ethnic groups. Findings suggest the SPM may be applicable to understand the stress process of Chinese- and Korean-American BCS and provide valuable insight into the role of family communication and external coping on mental health outcomes.

Does Mental Status Impact Therapist and Patient Communication in Emergency Department Brief Interventions Addressing Alcohol Use?

PubMed Central

Borsari, Brian; Apodaca, Timothy R.; Yurasek, Ali; Monti, Peter M.

2016-01-01

Motivational interviewing (MI) is often incorporated into screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) interventions in critical care settings to address alcohol and other drug use. However, cognitive status has been linked to differential response to MI sessions in emergency department (ED) settings. The current study examined one possible explanation for this differential response: whether higher versus lower mental status impacts patient response to clinician statements during MI sessions conducted in an ED. Participants were 126 patients receiving an MI-based single-session alcohol brief intervention, and 13 therapists who provided treatment. Participants completed a mental status exam (MSE) as part of the screening process, and intervention sessions were audio-taped, and transcribed and coded using the Motivational Interviewing Skills Code (MISC 2.0; Miller, Moyers, Ernst, & Amrhein, 2003). The MISC 2.0 coded therapist behaviors that are related to the use of motivational interviewing, and patient language reflecting movement toward (change talk) or away from (sustain talk) changing personal alcohol use. Overall, patients responded in a similar manner to therapist MI behaviors regardless of high versus low level of mental functioning at the time of the intervention. Group differences emerged on patient response to only three specific therapist skills: giving information, open questions, and complex reflection. Thus, the differential effects of SBIRT in critical care settings do not appear to be a result of differences in the therapist and patient communication process. PMID:28017179

The association between perceived social support, socio-economic status and mental health in young Malaysian adults.

PubMed

Tam, C L; Foo, Y C; Lee, T H

2011-06-01

To examine gender differences in mental health and perceived social support, relationship between parents' income and mental health, and differences in mental health across education levels. A total of 303 students aged 16 to 26 years were recruited from Selangor, Malaysia. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and General Health Questionnaire were used to measure the level of perceived social support and the mental health status. Demographic data, including education level and parents' income, were also obtained. Females perceived significantly higher levels of overall social support than males (t = -2.7; p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in mental health status between males and females (t = -1.8; p > 0.05), as well as mental health status among different parental income groups (chi2 = 5.0; p > 0.05) and the education levels of the subjects (chi2 = 0.7; p > 0.05). A more favourable mental health status of the subjects was associated with higher parental incomes (r = -0.1; p < 0.05). There were gender differences for perceived social support, but not for mental health status in older adolescents and young adults. There was also a relationship between parental income and an individual's mental health status, but mental health was not related to their education level.

Unconscious learning processes: mental integration of verbal and pictorial instructional materials.

PubMed

Kuldas, Seffetullah; Ismail, Hairul Nizam; Hashim, Shahabuddin; Bakar, Zainudin Abu

2013-12-01

This review aims to provide an insight into human learning processes by examining the role of cognitive and emotional unconscious processing in mentally integrating visual and verbal instructional materials. Reviewed literature shows that conscious mental integration does not happen all the time, nor does it necessarily result in optimal learning. Students of all ages and levels of experience cannot always have conscious awareness, control, and the intention to learn or promptly and continually organize perceptual, cognitive, and emotional processes of learning. This review suggests considering the role of unconscious learning processes to enhance the understanding of how students form or activate mental associations between verbal and pictorial information. The understanding would assist in presenting students with spatially-integrated verbal and pictorial instructional materials as a way of facilitating mental integration and improving teaching and learning performance.

Effects of caffeine ingestion on endurance performance in mentally fatigued individuals.

PubMed

Azevedo, Rafael; Silva-Cavalcante, Marcos David; Gualano, Bruno; Lima-Silva, Adriano E; Bertuzzi, Romulo

2016-12-01

To examine the effects of caffeine ingestion on physiological and perceptual responses in mentally fatigued individuals. Eight male physically active subjects completed four cycling constant-workload tests in four experimental conditions at 80 % of maximal power output: control (C), mental fatigue (MF), mental fatigue plus caffeine ingestion (5 mg/kg) (MF-CAF), and mental fatigue plus placebo (MF-PLA). The mental fatigue was induced by a continuous performance task A-X version (AX-CPT). Before and after the AX-CPT, the profile of mood state (POMS) and blood samples for lactate measurement were collected. Oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text]), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and electromyography (EMG) activity were measured during the cycling test. The time to exhaustion in C, MF, MF-PLA, and MF-CAF were 251 ± 30, 222 ± 23, 248 ± 28, and 285 ± 42 s, respectively. Delta values (corrected by C condition) were higher in MF-CAF than MF (P = 0.031). MF-CAF reported higher Vigor scores when compared with C (P = 0.046) and MF (P = 0.020). RPE at the first minute was significantly higher in MF-PLA than in C (P = 0.050); at the second minute, RPE was higher in MF-PLA than in C (P = 0.049) and MF-CAF (P = 0.048). EMG activity was not different between the conditions. Caffeine ingestion increased approximately 14 % endurance performance after the induction of mental fatigue. This effect was accompanied by a tendency to improvement in mood state (i.e., vigor). Therefore, caffeine ingestion can promote a beneficial effect on endurance performance in mentally fatigued individuals.

Interactive dualism as a partial solution to the mind-brain problem for psychiatry.

PubMed

McLaren, N

2006-01-01

With the collapse of the psychoanalytic and the behaviorist models, and the failure of reductive biologism to account for mental life, psychiatry has been searching for a broad, integrative theory on which to base daily practice. The most recent attempt at such a model, Engel's 'biopsychosocial model', has been shown to be devoid of any scientific content, meaning that psychiatry, alone among the medical disciplines, has no recognised scientific basis. It is no coincidence that psychiatry is constantly under attack from all quarters. In order to develop, the discipline requires an integrative and interactive model which can take account of both the mental and the physical dimensions of human life, yet still remain within the materialist scientific ethos. This paper proposes an entirely new model of mind based in Chalmers' 'interactive dualism' which satisfies those needs. It attributes the causation of all behaviour to mental life, but proposes a split in the nature of mentality such that mind becomes a composite function with two, profoundly different aspects. Causation is assigned to a fast, inaccessible cognitive realm operating within the brain machinery while conscious experience is seen as the outcome of a higher order level of brain processing. The particular value of this model is that it immediately offers a practical solution to the mind-brain problem in that, while all information-processing takes place in the mental realm, it is not in the same order of abstraction as perception. This leads to a model of rational interaction which acknowledges both psyche and soma. It can fill the gap left by the demise of Engel's empty 'biopsychosocial model'.

Higher theta and alpha1 coherence when listening to Vedic recitation compared to coherence during Transcendental Meditation practice.

PubMed

Travis, Frederick; Parim, Niyazi; Shrivastava, Amrita

2017-03-01

This study compared subjective experiences and EEG patterns in 37 subjects when listening to live Vedic recitation and when practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM). Content analysis of experiences when listening to Vedic recitation yielded three higher-order code. Experiences during Vedic recitation were: (1) deeper than during TM practice; (2) experienced as an inner process; and (3) characterized by lively silence. EEG patterns support these higher-order codes. Theta2 and alpha1 frontal, parietal, and frontal-parietal coherence were significantly higher when listening to Vedic recitation, than during TM practice. Theta2 coherence is seen when attending to internal mental processes. Higher theta2 coherence supports subjects' descriptions that the Vedic recitations were "not external sounds but internal vibrations." Alpha1 coherence is reported during pure consciousness experiences during TM practice. Higher alpha1 coherence supports subjects' descriptions that they "experienced a depth of experience, rarely experienced even during deep TM practice." These data support the utility of listening to Vedic recitation to culture deep inner experiences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stimulus Load and Oscillatory Activity in Higher Cortex

PubMed Central

Kornblith, Simon; Buschman, Timothy J.; Miller, Earl K.

2016-01-01

Exploring and exploiting a rich visual environment requires perceiving, attending, and remembering multiple objects simultaneously. Recent studies have suggested that this mental “juggling” of multiple objects may depend on oscillatory neural dynamics. We recorded local field potentials from the lateral intraparietal area, frontal eye fields, and lateral prefrontal cortex while monkeys maintained variable numbers of visual stimuli in working memory. Behavior suggested independent processing of stimuli in each hemifield. During stimulus presentation, higher-frequency power (50–100 Hz) increased with the number of stimuli (load) in the contralateral hemifield, whereas lower-frequency power (8–50 Hz) decreased with the total number of stimuli in both hemifields. During the memory delay, lower-frequency power increased with contralateral load. Load effects on higher frequencies during stimulus encoding and lower frequencies during the memory delay were stronger when neural activity also signaled the location of the stimuli. Like power, higher-frequency synchrony increased with load, but beta synchrony (16–30 Hz) showed the opposite effect, increasing when power decreased (stimulus presentation) and decreasing when power increased (memory delay). Our results suggest roles for lower-frequency oscillations in top-down processing and higher-frequency oscillations in bottom-up processing. PMID:26286916

[Subjective, physical and mental health of children and adolescents in Thuringia : Representative results of the Thuringia state module in KiGGS wave 1].

PubMed

Krause, Laura; Mauz, Elvira

2018-07-01

Children and adolescents from Thuringia have higher health care needs compared with peers in Germany overall. It was investigated whether this is due to a higher disease process. The data basis was the Thuringia state module (2010-2012; n = 4884; 0-17 years), which was conducted in KiGGS wave 1 (2009-2012). The health situation of children and adolescents is described in terms of various indicators of subjective, physical, and mental health. Prevalences with 95% confidence intervals were reported, and with logistic regressions, the significance of the group differences was examined. Whether children and adolescents in Thuringia and Germany overall differ in the examined health indicators, was tested with chi-square tests and the p values are corrected according to Bonferroni. With 93.8%, the majority of children and adolescents in Thuringia had very good or good subjective health. One-fifth of children and adolescents (20.4%) had a chronic illness or a long-standing health condition. Hay fever (13.6%) and atopic dermatitis (17.6%) were the most common medically diagnosed chronic diseases. In addition, one-fifth of children and adolescents (20.6%) had symptoms of mental health problems; a medical ADHD diagnosis was found in 5.6% of children and adolescents in Thuringia. Compared with peers from Germany overall, there were only a few differences in the incidence of disease. According to these results, the higher degree of care provided to Thuringian girls and boys cannot be attributed to a higher incidence of disease. Other factors such as greater parental willingness of utilization or a better supply structure must be taken into account.

Predictors of prescribed medication use for depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep problems in mid-aged Australian women.

PubMed

Schofield, Margot J; Khan, Asaduzzaman

2014-11-01

The study examined prevalence of self-reported use of medication recommended or prescribed by a doctor for depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep problems; and modelled baseline factors that predicted use over 3 years for each condition. Analyses were undertaken on the 2001 and 2004 surveys of mid-aged women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Dependent variables were self-reported use in past 4 weeks of medications recommended or prescribed by a doctor for depression, anxiety, stress, or sleep problems in 2001 and 2004. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) were used to predict medication use for each condition over 3 years. Prevalence of prescribed medication use (2001, 2004) for each condition was depression (7.2, 8.9 %), anxiety (7.4, 9.0 %), stress (4.8, 5.7 %), and sleep problems (8.7, 9.5 %). Multivariable analyses revealed that odds of medication use across 3 years in all four conditions were higher for women with poorer mental and physical health, using hormone replacement therapy (HRT), or having seen a counsellor; and increased over time for depression, anxiety, and stress models. Medication use for depression was also higher for overweight/obese women, ex-smokers, and unmarried. Medication use for anxiety was higher for unmarried and non-working/low occupational women. Medication use for stress was higher for non-working women. Additional predictors of medication for sleep were surgical menopause, and area of residence. Self-reported use of prescribed medication for four mental health conditions is increased over time after controlling for mental and physical health and other variables. Research needs to explore decision-making processes influencing differential rates of psychoactive medication use and their relationship with health outcomes.

Public Stigma against People with Mental Illness in the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center (GGFRC) in Southwest Ethiopia

PubMed Central

Girma, Eshetu; Tesfaye, Markos; Froeschl, Guenter; Möller-Leimkühler, Anne Maria; Müller, Norbert; Dehning, Sandra

2013-01-01

Background Public understanding about mental illnesses and attitudes towards people with mental illness (PWMI) play a paramount role in the prevention and treatment of mental illness and the rehabilitation of PWMI. The aim of this study was to measure public stigma against PWMI and the factors associated with stigma in the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center (GGFRC) in Southwest Ethiopia. Methods This community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2012 among 845 randomly selected respondents by using the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale, an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data was entered with EPI-DATA and then exported to STATA for analysis. Simple descriptive and linear regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of stigma against PWMI. Results Of the total of 845 respondents, 68.17% were from rural districts. The mean stigma score was 2.62 on a 5-point score. The majority of the respondents (75.27%) believed that mental illness can be cured. Stress, poverty, and rumination were the most often perceived causes of mental illness. Rural residents had significantly higher stigma scores (std. β = 0.61, P<0.001). A statistically significant inverse relationship was found between the level of education and degree of stigma (std. β = −0.14, P<0.01), while higher income was significantly associated with more stigma (std. β = 0.07, P<0.05). Respondents with higher scores for perceived supernatural causes (std. β = −0.09, P<0.01) and perceived psychosocial and biological causes (std. β = −0.14, P<0.001) had significantly lower stigma levels. Conclusions The study found a more undermining but less avoidant attitude towards PWMI. Rural residents showed higher levels of stigma. Stigma against PWMI was lower in people with an explanatory concept about the causes of mental illness and a higher level of education. Information, education, and communication about the causes, signs, and nature of mental illnesses would help to reduce stigma. PMID:24324756

Public stigma against people with mental illness in the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center (GGFRC) in Southwest Ethiopia.

PubMed

Girma, Eshetu; Tesfaye, Markos; Froeschl, Guenter; Möller-Leimkühler, Anne Maria; Müller, Norbert; Dehning, Sandra

2013-01-01

Public understanding about mental illnesses and attitudes towards people with mental illness (PWMI) play a paramount role in the prevention and treatment of mental illness and the rehabilitation of PWMI. The aim of this study was to measure public stigma against PWMI and the factors associated with stigma in the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center (GGFRC) in Southwest Ethiopia. This community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2012 among 845 randomly selected respondents by using the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale, an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data was entered with EPI-DATA and then exported to STATA for analysis. Simple descriptive and linear regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of stigma against PWMI. Of the total of 845 respondents, 68.17% were from rural districts. The mean stigma score was 2.62 on a 5-point score. The majority of the respondents (75.27%) believed that mental illness can be cured. Stress, poverty, and rumination were the most often perceived causes of mental illness. Rural residents had significantly higher stigma scores (std. β = 0.61, P<0.001). A statistically significant inverse relationship was found between the level of education and degree of stigma (std. β = -0.14, P<0.01), while higher income was significantly associated with more stigma (std. β = 0.07, P<0.05). Respondents with higher scores for perceived supernatural causes (std. β = -0.09, P<0.01) and perceived psychosocial and biological causes (std. β = -0.14, P<0.001) had significantly lower stigma levels. The study found a more undermining but less avoidant attitude towards PWMI. Rural residents showed higher levels of stigma. Stigma against PWMI was lower in people with an explanatory concept about the causes of mental illness and a higher level of education. Information, education, and communication about the causes, signs, and nature of mental illnesses would help to reduce stigma.

[Evaluation of mental and communication functions in mapuche and non mapuche elderly subjects in rural communities in Southern Chile].

PubMed

Mella, Rebeca; Alvear, María; Carrillo, Berta; Caire, Victor

2003-11-01

The main predictors of functional impairment in the elderly are alterations in mental or communication functions. To study mental and communication functions in rural elderly subjects of Mapuche and non Mapuche origin. Elderly subjects coming from a rural Mapuche community and a non Mapuche community were studied. Subjects were interviewed at their homes. The communication and mental function assessments of the Functional Autonomy Measurement System were applied. Fifty one Mapuche and 49 non Mapuche subjects with a mean age of 71 +/- 7 and 74 +/- 8 years respectively, were studied. Fifty four percent were female and 31% were illiterate. Twenty six percent had impairment in mental functions. The item with the highest difficulty was memory. The visual function was the most severely impaired among communication items. Mapuche elderly subjects had significantly higher degrees of impairment in mental and communication functions. There is a higher degree of mental and communication impairment among rural Mapuche elderly subjects than in their non Mapuche counterparts.

Trends in work disability with mental diagnoses among social workers in Finland and Sweden in 2005-2012.

PubMed

Rantonen, O; Alexanderson, K; Pentti, J; Kjeldgård, L; Hämäläinen, J; Mittendorfer-Rutz, E; Kivimäki, M; Vahtera, J; Salo, P

2017-12-01

Aims Social workers report high levels of stress and have an increased risk for hospitalisation with mental diagnoses. However, it is not known whether the risk of work disability with mental diagnoses is higher among social workers compared with other human service professionals. We analysed trends in work disability (sickness absence and disability pension) with mental diagnoses and return to work (RTW) in 2005-2012 among social workers in Finland and Sweden, comparing with such trends in preschool teachers, special education teachers and psychologists. Records of work disability (>14 days) with mental diagnoses (ICD-10 codes F00-F99) from nationwide health registers were linked to two prospective cohort projects: the Finnish Public Sector study, years 2005-2011 and the Insurance Medicine All Sweden database, years 2005-2012. The Finnish sample comprised 4849 employees and the Swedish 119 219 employees covering four occupations: social workers (Finland 1155/Sweden 23 704), preschool teachers (2419/74 785), special education teachers (832/14 004) and psychologists (443/6726). The reference occupations were comparable regarding educational level. Risk of work disability was analysed with negative binomial regression and RTW with Cox proportional hazards. Social workers in Finland and Sweden had a higher risk of work disability with mental diagnoses compared with preschool teachers and special education teachers (rate ratios (RR) 1.43-1.91), after adjustment for age and sex. In Sweden, but not in Finland, social workers also had higher work disability risk than psychologists (RR 1.52; 95% confidence interval 1.28-1.81). In Sweden, in the final model special education teachers had a 9% higher probability RTW than social workers. In Sweden, in the final model the risks for work disability with depression diagnoses and stress-related disorder diagnoses were similar to the risk with all mental diagnoses (RR 1.40-1.77), and the probability of RTW was 6% higher in preschool teachers after work disability with depression diagnoses and 9% higher in special education teachers after work disability with stress-related disorder diagnoses compared with social workers. Social workers appear to be at a greater risk of work disability with mental diagnoses compared with other human service professionals in Finland and Sweden. It remains to be studied whether the higher risk is due to selection of vulnerable employees to social work or the effect of work-related stress in social work. Further studies should focus on these mechanisms and the risk of work disability with mental diagnoses among human service professionals.

What is a mental illness? Public views and their effects on attitudes and disclosure.

PubMed

Rüsch, Nicolas; Evans-Lacko, Sara; Thornicroft, Graham

2012-07-01

'Mental illness' is a common label. However, the general public may or may not consider various conditions, ranging from major psychiatric disorders to stress, as mental illnesses. It is unclear how such public views affect attitudes towards people with mental illness and reactions to one's own potential mental illness, e.g. in terms of help-seeking or disclosure. In representative English population surveys the classification of six conditions (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, drug addiction, stress, grief) as a mental illness was assessed as well as attitudes towards, and contact with, people with mental illness, intentions to disclose a mental illness and to seek treatment. A factor analysis of how strongly respondents perceived the six conditions as a mental illness yielded two factors: (i) major psychiatric disorders and (ii) stress- and behaviour-related conditions including drug addiction. In regression analyses, higher scores on the first, but not the second, factor predicted less perceived responsibility of people with mental illness for their actions, and more support for a neurobiological illness model and help-seeking. Classifying stress-related/behaviour-related conditions as mental illnesses, as well as not referring to major psychiatric disorders as mental illnesses, was associated with more negative attitudes and increased social distance, but also with stronger intentions to disclose a mental illness to an employer. Negative attitudes and social distance were also related to ethnic minority status and lower social grade. Referring to major psychiatric disorders as mental illnesses may reflect higher mental health literacy, better attitudes towards people with mental illness and help-seeking. A broader concept of mental illness could, although increasing negative attitudes, facilitate disclosure in the workplace. Public views on what is a mental illness may have context-dependent effects and should be taken into account in anti-stigma campaigns.

[Common mental disorders and self-esteem in pregnancy: prevalence and associated factors].

PubMed

Silva, Ricardo Azevedo da; Ores, Liliane da Costa; Mondin, Thaíse Campos; Rizzo, Raquel Nolasco; Moraes, Inácia Gomes da Silva; Jansen, Karen; Pinheiro, Ricardo Tavares

2010-09-01

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of common mental disorders and the association with self-esteem and other factors in pregnant women. A nested cross-sectional study was performed in a cohort of pregnant women treated in the public health system in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to screen for common mental disorders and the Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale for self-esteem. The sample consisted of 1,267 pregnant women with a mean age of 25 years (SD = 6.53). Mean self-esteem was 9.3 points (SD = 4.76), and prevalence of common mental disorders was 41.4%. Lower self-esteem was associated with higher odds of common mental disorders (p < 0.001). There was a significant association between higher prevalence of common mental disorders and low self-esteem.

Computer Experience and Gender Differences in Undergraduate Mental Rotation Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Lisi, Richard; Cammarano, Diane M.

1996-01-01

This study surveyed undergraduates (27 men, 83 women) to investigate gender differences in mental rotation. It compared pretesting on the Vandenberg Test of Mental Rotation (VTMR) and posttesting after two sessions of computer games. Men typically scored higher on pretest VTMR. After playing a game requiring mental rotation of figures, women…

The Mental Health of Young Offenders Serving Orders in the Community: Implications for Rehabilitation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenny, Dianna T.; Lennings, Christopher J.; Nelson, Paul K.

2007-01-01

Young offenders internationally have a higher incidence of mental health problems compared with adolescents in the general population. Mental health issues, particularly comorbid presentations, affect the response to and outcome of rehabilitation and hence recidivism of offending. Most information on the mental health of young offenders has…

Neuroticism influences pupillary responses during an emotional interference task.

PubMed

Prehn, Kristin; Heekeren, Hauke R; Blasek, Katharina; Lapschies, Katharina; Mews, Isabella; van der Meer, Elke

2008-10-01

We used behavioral and pupillary measures during an analogical reasoning task to investigate the processing of conceptual and emotional relations as well as their interaction. In particular, we examined how mental resource consumption is modulated by individual differences in neuroticism in healthy participants during conditions with emotional interference. Two word pairs were presented simultaneously, each with a conceptual and an emotional relation. In one experimental block, participants had to decide whether conceptual relations between the two word pairs were corresponding (conceptual task). In the other block, participants had to decide whether emotional relations were corresponding (emotional task). When participants had to focus on the correspondence of emotional relations, they were faster, more accurate, and showed greater pupillary responses than during the conceptual task. Moreover, participants with comparably higher neuroticism scores showed increased pupillary responses during conditions with emotional interference (i.e., during the conceptual task when they had to ignore incongruent information on the correspondence provided by the task-irrelevant emotional relations). These results demonstrate that affective aspects of stimuli (here: emotional relations) are preferentially selected for information processing. Moreover, increased mental resource consumption due to emotional interference in participants with comparably higher neuroticism scores might reflect a possible mechanism making these individuals more vulnerable to mood or anxiety disorders.

The Role of Motor Processes in Three-Dimensional Mental Rotation: Shaping Cognitive Processing via Sensorimotor Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moreau, David

2012-01-01

An extensive body of literature has explored the involvement of motor processes in mental rotation, yet underlying individual differences are less documented and remain to be fully understood. We propose that sensorimotor experience shapes spatial abilities such as assessed in mental rotation tasks. Elite wrestlers' and non-athletes' mental…

Perspectives on perceived stigma and self-stigma in adult male patients with depression

PubMed Central

Latalova, Klara; Kamaradova, Dana; Prasko, Jan

2014-01-01

There are two principal types of stigma in mental illness, ie, “public stigma” and “self-stigma”. Public stigma is the perception held by others that the mentally ill individual is socially undesirable. Stigmatized persons may internalize perceived prejudices and develop negative feelings about themselves. The result of this process is “self-stigma”. Stigma has emerged as an important barrier to the treatment of depression and other mental illnesses. Gender and race are related to stigma. Among depressed patients, males and African-Americans have higher levels of self-stigma than females and Caucasians. Perceived stigma and self-stigma affect willingness to seek help in both genders and races. African-Americans demonstrate a less positive attitude towards mental health treatments than Caucasians. Religious beliefs play a role in their coping with mental illness. Certain prejudicial beliefs about mental illness are shared globally. Structural modeling indicates that conformity to dominant masculine gender norms (“boys don’t cry”) leads to self-stigmatization in depressed men who feel that they should be able to cope with their illness without professional help. These findings suggest that targeting men’s feelings about their depression and other mental health problems could be a more successful approach to change help-seeking attitudes than trying to change those attitudes directly. Further, the inhibitory effect of traditional masculine gender norms on help-seeking can be overcome if depressed men feel that a genuine connection leading to mutual understanding has been established with a health care professional. PMID:25114531

Reducing perceived stigma: Work integration of people with severe mental disorders in Italian social enterprise.

PubMed

Villotti, Patrizia; Zaniboni, Sara; Corbière, Marc; Guay, Stéphane; Fraccaroli, Franco

2018-06-01

People with mental illnesses face stigma that hinders their full integration into society. Work is a major determinant of social inclusion, however, people with mental disorders have fewer opportunities to work. Emerging evidence suggests that social enterprises help disadvantaged people with their work integration process. The purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding about how perceptions of stigma can be decreased for people with mental disorders throughout their work experience in a social enterprise. Using a longitudinal study design, 310 individuals with mental disorders employed in Italian social enterprises completed a battery of questionnaires on individual (e.g., severity of symptoms; occupational self-efficacy) and environmental (e.g., social support; organizational constraints) variables. Of the 223 individuals potentially eligible at the 12-month follow up, 139 completed a battery of questionnaires on social and working skills, perceived work productivity and perceived stigma. Path analyses were used to test a model delineating how people with mental disorders working in social enterprises improve social and work outcomes (i.e., motivation, skills and productivity), and reduce the perception of being stigmatized. Working in a social enterprise enhances working social skills, which leads to a perception of higher productivity and, consequently, the perception of being discriminated against and stigmatized is reduced. Social enterprise provides a context in which people with mental disorders reach a sense of work-related and social competence. This sense of competence helps them to reduce perceived stigma, which is a crucial step toward social inclusion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Discrimination, perceived social inequity, and mental health among rural-to-urban migrants in China.

PubMed

Lin, Danhua; Li, Xiaoming; Wang, Bo; Hong, Yan; Fang, Xiaoyi; Qin, Xiong; Stanton, Bonita

2011-04-01

Status-based discrimination and inequity have been associated with the process of migration, especially with economics-driven internal migration. However, their association with mental health among economy-driven internal migrants in developing countries is rarely assessed. This study examines discriminatory experiences and perceived social inequity in relation to mental health status among rural-to-urban migrants in China. Cross-sectional data were collected from 1,006 rural-to-urban migrants in 2004-2005 in Beijing, China. Participants reported their perceptions and experiences of being discriminated in daily life in urban destination and perceived social inequity. Mental health was measured using the symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90). Multivariate analyses using general linear model were performed to test the effect of discriminatory experience and perceived social inequity on mental health. Experience of discrimination was positively associated with male gender, being married at least once, poorer health status, shorter duration of migration, and middle range of personal income. Likewise, perceived social inequity was associated with poorer health status, higher education attainment, and lower personal income. Multivariate analyses indicate that both experience of discrimination and perceived social inequity were strongly associated with mental health problems of rural-to-urban migrants. Experience of discrimination in daily life and perceived social inequity have a significant influence on mental health among rural-to-urban migrants. The findings underscore the needs to reduce public or societal discrimination against rural-to-urban migrants, to eliminate structural barriers (i.e., dual household registrations) for migrants to fully benefit from the urban economic development, and to create a positive atmosphere to improve migrant's psychological well-being.

Understanding adolescent mental health: the influence of social processes, doing gender and gendered power relations.

PubMed

Landstedt, Evelina; Asplund, Kenneth; Gillander Gådin, Katja

2009-11-01

Despite a well-documented gender pattern in adolescent mental health, research investigating possible explanatory factors from a gender-theoretical approach is scarce. This paper reports a grounded theory study based on 29 focus groups. The aim was to explore 16- to 19-year-old students' perceptions of what is significant for mental health, and to apply a gender analysis to the findings in order to advance understanding of the gender pattern in adolescent mental health. Significant factors were identified in three social processes categories, including both positive and negative aspects: (1) social interactions, (2) performance and (3) responsibility. Girls more often experienced negative aspects of these processes, placing them at greater risk for mental health problems. Boys' more positive mental health appeared to be associated with their low degree of responsibility-taking and beneficial positions relative to girls. Negotiating cultural norms of femininity and masculinity seemed to be more strenuous for girls, which could place them at a disadvantage with regard to mental health. Social factors and processes (particularly responsibility), gendered power relations and constructions of masculinities and femininities should be acknowledged as important for adolescent mental health.

Social anxiety in physical activity participation in patients with mental illness: a cross-sectional multicenter study.

PubMed

De Herdt, Amber; Knapen, Jan; Vancampfort, Davy; De Hert, Marc; Brunner, Emanuel; Probst, Michel

2013-08-01

Social anxiety (SA) is a frequent comorbid condition in patients with mental illness. However, no data exist regarding SA in physical activity (PA) situations. The aim of the present study was to measure the level of self-reported SA in PA participation in patients with mental illness compared to healthy controls. Six hundred ninety-three patients with mental illness and 2,888 controls aged between 18 and 65 years completed the Physical Activity and Sport Anxiety Scale (PASAS). Group and gender differences in PASAS scores were tested by ANOVA and Scheffé's post hoc test. After controlling for gender (P < .05), the patient group (men 40.2 ± 14.4; women 49.2 ± 17) scored higher on the PASAS compared to control group (men 30.6 ± 12.2; women 37.3 ± 13.7). Within both groups, women reported higher levels of SA compared to men. Our data indicate that patients with mental illness reported higher levels of SA in PA situations compared to healthy control subjects. Health professionals should consider SA when trying to improve outcome and adherence of patients with mental illness to PA interventions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The role of mental health in the inmate disciplinary process: a national survey.

PubMed

Krelstein, Michael S

2002-01-01

An effective system of inmate discipline is an important aspect of a safely run prison or jail. Historically, mentally ill inmates have had few or no protections against discipline routinely applied to their non-mentally ill peers. Arising from recent class action lawsuits challenging the quality of mental health care delivery in the nation's prisons, prison mental health professionals have been called on to play an increasing role in the inmate disciplinary process. Referral questions include whether an inmate is competent to proceed with disciplinary proceedings and whether mental illness may have contributed to the rule violation. Prison mental health professionals participating in inmate disciplinary proceedings must therefore be familiar with relevant clinical, legal, and ethics issues. Little has been written in the psychiatric literature, however, examining this important role for prison mental health professionals. After first reviewing core legal and constitutional concepts, the author presents the results of a nationwide survey examining the role for mental health professionals in the inmate disciplinary process. To the author's knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive review of this subject.

Dissociating object-based from egocentric transformations in mental body rotation: effect of stimuli size.

PubMed

Habacha, Hamdi; Moreau, David; Jarraya, Mohamed; Lejeune-Poutrain, Laure; Molinaro, Corinne

2018-01-01

The effect of stimuli size on the mental rotation of abstract objects has been extensively investigated, yet its effect on the mental rotation of bodily stimuli remains largely unexplored. Depending on the experimental design, mentally rotating bodily stimuli can elicit object-based transformations, relying mainly on visual processes, or egocentric transformations, which typically involve embodied motor processes. The present study included two mental body rotation tasks requiring either a same-different or a laterality judgment, designed to elicit object-based or egocentric transformations, respectively. Our findings revealed shorter response times for large-sized stimuli than for small-sized stimuli only for greater angular disparities, suggesting that the more unfamiliar the orientations of the bodily stimuli, the more stimuli size affected mental processing. Importantly, when comparing size transformation times, results revealed different patterns of size transformation times as a function of angular disparity between object-based and egocentric transformations. This indicates that mental size transformation and mental rotation proceed differently depending on the mental rotation strategy used. These findings are discussed with respect to the different spatial manipulations involved during object-based and egocentric transformations.

Enrollment of Specialty Mental Health Clinics in a State Medicaid Program to Promote Physical Health Services

PubMed Central

Breslau, Joshua; Yu, Hao; Horvitz-Lennon, Marcela; Leckman-Westin, Emily; Scharf, Deborah M.; Connor, Kathryn; Finnerty, Molly T.

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE To promote integrated physical health care for individuals with serious mental illness, the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYOMH) established regulations allowing specialty mental health clinics to provide Medicaid-reimbursable health monitoring (HM) and health physicals (HP). This paper examines clinics’ enrollment in this program to understand its potential to reach individuals with serious mental illness. METHODS Information on enrollment and clinic characteristics (N=500) were drawn from NYOMH administrative databases. Clinic enrollment in the HM/HP program was examined from the program’s first five years (2010–2015). Logistic regression models accounting for the clustering of multiple clinics within agencies were used to examine characteristics associated with enrollment. RESULTS Two-hundred ninety one of 500 clinics (58%) enrolled in the HM/HP program, potentially reaching 62.5% of all Medicaid enrollees with serious mental illness seen in specialty mental health clinics in the state. State-operated clinics were required to participate, and had 91.8% enrollment. Over half of hospital-affiliated and freestanding mental health clinics elected to enroll in the program (52.6% and 53.7% respectively). In adjusted models, enrollment was higher among freestanding clinics relative to hospital-affiliated clinics, higher in larger relative to smaller clinics, and higher in county-operated relative to private non-profit clinics. CONCLUSIONS The high level of enrollment in the HM/HP program indicates strong interest among mental health clinics in providing physical health care services. However, supplemental policies may be needed to extend the program to areas of the mental health system where barriers to physical health care services are highest. PMID:27524372

Patterns in mortality among people with severe mental disorders across birth cohorts: a register-based study of Denmark and Finland in 1982-2006.

PubMed

Gissler, Mika; Laursen, Thomas Munk; Ösby, Urban; Nordentoft, Merete; Wahlbeck, Kristian

2013-09-11

Mortality among patients with mental disorders is higher than in general population. By using national longitudinal registers, we studied mortality changes and excess mortality across birth cohorts among people with severe mental disorders in Denmark and Finland. A cohort of all patients admitted with a psychiatric disorder in 1982-2006 was followed until death or 31 December 2006. Total mortality rates were calculated for five-year birth cohorts from 1918-1922 until 1983-1987 for people with mental disorder and compared to the mortality rates among the general population. Mortality among patients with severe mental disorders declined, but patients with mental disorders had a higher mortality than general population in all birth cohorts in both countries. We observed two exceptions to the declining mortality differences. First, the excess mortality stagnated among Finnish men born in 1963-1987, and remained five to six times higher than at ages 15-24 years in general. Second, the excess mortality stagnated for Danish and Finnish women born in 1933-1957, and remained six-fold in Denmark and Finland at ages 45-49 years and seven-fold in Denmark at ages 40-44 years compared to general population. The mortality gap between people with severe mental disorders and the general population decreased, but there was no improvement for young Finnish men with mental disorders. The Finnish recession in the early 1990s may have adversely affected mortality of adolescent and young adult men with mental disorders. Among women born 1933-1957, the lack of improvement may reflect adverse effects of the era of extensive hospitalisation of people with mental disorders in both countries.

The effects of fatigue on performance in simulated nursing work.

PubMed

Barker, Linsey M; Nussbaum, Maury A

2011-09-01

Fatigue is associated with increased rates of medical errors and healthcare worker injuries, yet existing research in this sector has not considered multiple dimensions of fatigue simultaneously. This study evaluated hypothesised causal relationships between mental and physical fatigue and performance. High and low levels of mental and physical fatigue were induced in 16 participants during simulated nursing work tasks in a laboratory setting. Task-induced changes in fatigue dimensions were quantified using both subjective and objective measures, as were changes in performance on physical and mental tasks. Completing the simulated work tasks increased total fatigue, mental fatigue and physical fatigue in all experimental conditions. Higher physical fatigue adversely affected measures of physical and mental performance, whereas higher mental fatigue had a positive effect on one measure of mental performance. Overall, these results suggest causal effects between manipulated levels of mental and physical fatigue and task-induced changes in mental and physical performance. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Nurse fatigue and performance has implications for patient and provider safety. Results from this study demonstrate the importance of a multidimensional view of fatigue in understanding the causal relationships between fatigue and performance. The findings can guide future work aimed at predicting fatigue-related performance decrements and designing interventions.

Public stigma towards mental illness in the Greek culture.

PubMed

Tzouvara, V; Papadopoulos, C

2014-12-01

Mental illness stigma negatively affects the lives of individuals with mental health disorders. Studies have indicated that the type and degree of stigma significantly varies across cultures. This study aimed to add to this body of knowledge by examining the prevalence and the type of mental illness stigma among individuals who identified themselves as Greek. It also examined the influence of a range of potential within-culture stigma moderating factors, including levels of previous experience with mental illness and mental illness knowledge. A cross-sectional quantitative design was employed, and 111 participants living in England and Greece were sampled through the snowball sampling technique. Stigma prevalence was measured using the 'Community Attitudes to Mental Illness' questionnaire. The findings revealed that participants showed a high degree of sympathy for people with mental illness but also considered them to be inferior and of a lower social class, and needing strict societal control. Higher stigma was significantly associated with being educated in England (instead of Greece), higher religiosity, lower knowledge levels and lower levels personal experience of mental illness. Targeted antistigma campaigns specifically tailored for the Greek culture are required in order to help reduce stigmatizing attitudes. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Patient-Clinician Ethnic Concordance and Communication in Mental Health Intake Visits

PubMed Central

Alegría, Margarita; Roter, Debra L.; Valentine, Anne; Chen, Chih-nan; Li, Xinliang; Lin, Julia; Rosen, Daniel; Lapatin, Sheri; Normand, Sharon-Lise; Larson, Susan; Shrout, Patrick E.

2013-01-01

Objective This study examines how communication patterns vary across racial and ethnic patient-clinician dyads in mental health intake sessions and its relation to continuance in treatment, defined as attending the next scheduled appointment. Methods Observational study of communication patterns among ethnically/racially concordant and discordant patient-clinician dyads. Primary analysis included 93 patients with 38 clinicians in race/ethnic concordant and discordant dyads. Communication was coded using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) and the Working Alliance Inventory Observer (WAI-O) bond scale; continuance in care was derived from chart reviews. Results Latino concordant dyad patients were more verbally dominant (p<.05), engaged in more patient-centered communication (p<.05) and scored higher on the (WAI-O) bond scale (all p<.05) than other groups. Latino patients had higher continuance rates than other patients in models that adjusted for non-communication variables. When communication, global affect, and therapeutic process variables were adjusted for, differences were reversed and white dyad patients had higher continuance in care rates than other dyad patients. Conclusion Communication patterns seem to explain the role of ethnic concordance for continuance in care. Practice Implications Improve intercultural communication in cross cultural encounters appears significant for retaining minorities in care. PMID:23896127

Outcomes of a 4-year program with higher education and employment goals for individuals diagnosed with mental illness.

PubMed

Schindler, Victoria P; Sauerwald, Camille

2013-01-01

This study examined outcomes of the first four years (2005-2009) of the Bridge Program, an occupational therapy (OT) program that incorporates principles of supported education and supported employment. This program was developed to assist individuals with mental illness to achieve higher education and employment goals. Forty-eight adult participants with various mental health diagnoses. A quantitative one-group pretest-posttest survey design and posttest qualitative focus groups were used. Participants enrolled in higher education increased from 7 to 11 (pretest=15%; posttest=23%), participants employed increased from 5 to 19 (pretest=10%; posttest=40%), and the combined category of higher education/employment increased from 12 to 30 (pretest=25%; posttest=63%) Statistical significance was achieved from pre to posttest in the employment sample (p<0.000), and in the combined sample of higher education/employment (p< 0.000), but was not achieved in the higher education sample from pre to posttest (p=0.125). Quantitative and qualitative results support that an OT program incorporating principles of supported education and employment can assist individuals with mental illness to achieve higher education and employment goals. Results also outlined items participants found to be supports and barriers to achieving goals.

A cross-sectional examination of psychological distress, positive mental health and their predictors in medical students in their clinical clerkships.

PubMed

van Dijk, Inge; Lucassen, Peter L B J; van Weel, Chris; Speckens, Anne E M

2017-11-17

Medical students can experience the transition from theory to clinical clerkships as stressful. Scientific literature on the mental health of clinical clerkship students is scarce and mental health is usually defined as absence of psychological distress without assessing psychological, emotional and social wellbeing, together called 'positive mental health'. This cross-sectional study examines the prevalence of psychological distress and positive mental health and explores possible predictors in a Dutch sample of clinical clerkship students. Fourth-year medical students in their first year of clinical clerkships were invited to complete an online questionnaire assessing demographics, psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory), positive mental health (Mental Health Continuum- SF), dysfunctional cognitions (Irrational Beliefs Inventory) and dispositional mindfulness skills (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore relationships between psychological distress, positive mental health (dependent variables) and demographics, dysfunctional cognitions and dispositional mindfulness skills (predictors). Of 454 eligible students, 406 (89%) completed the assessment of whom 21% scored in the clinical range of psychological distress and 41% reported a flourishing mental health. These proportions partially overlap each other. Female students reported a significantly higher mean level of psychological distress than males. In the regression analysis the strongest predictors of psychological distress were 'acting with awareness' (negative) and 'worrying' (positive). Strongest predictors of positive mental health were 'problem avoidance' (negative) and 'emotional irresponsibility' (negative). The prevalence of psychopathology in our sample of Dutch clinical clerkship students is slightly higher than in the general population. Our results support conclusions of previous research that psychological distress and positive mental health are not two ends of one continuum but partially overlap. Although no conclusion on causality can be drawn, this study supports the idea that self-awareness and active, nonavoidant coping strategies are related to lower distress and higher positive mental health.

Mental health of Aboriginal children and adolescents in violent school environments: protective mediators of violence and psychological/nervous disorders.

PubMed

Kaspar, Violet

2013-03-01

The effect of school violence on mental health was examined among 12,366 Aboriginal children and adolescents, primarily First Nations, Métis, and Inuit residing off reservations in the Canadian provinces and territories. Analyses were based on the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples' Survey, a postcensal national survey of Aboriginal youth aged 6-14 years. More than one-fifth of students in the sample attended schools where violence was perceived as a problem. The occurrence of psychological or nervous disorders was about 50% higher among students exposed to school violence than among other students. School violence was a significant predictor of mental health difficulties, irrespective of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Virtually the entire effect was mediated by interpersonal processes, or negative quality of parent-child and peer relationships, while the effect was not explained by cultural detachment through lack of interactions with Elders and traditional language ability/use. Results underscored school violence as a significant public health concern for Aboriginal elementary and high school students, and the need for evidence-based mental health interventions for at-risk populations. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stereotype awareness, self-esteem and psychopathology in people with psychosis.

PubMed

van Zelst, Catherine; van Nierop, Martine; Oorschot, Margreet; Myin-Germeys, Inez; van Os, Jim; Delespaul, Philippe

2014-01-01

Stigma is an important environmental risk factor for a variety of outcomes in schizophrenia. In order to understand and remediate its effects, research is required to assess how stigma experiences are processed at the level of the individual. To this end, stereotype awareness (SA) with respect to people with mental illness and their families was explored in persons with psychotic disorder. Data from the Dutch Genetic Risk and OUtcome of Psychosis project (GROUP) were analyzed. SA was measured using scales that assess a respondent's perception of common opinions about people with a mental illness and their families. People with higher level of self-esteem were less aware of stereotypes about patients and families. People with more severe psychopathology reported more awareness of stereotypes about families, not about patients. Enhancing psychological resources, by increasing self-esteem and the ability to cope with symptoms, can be targeted to diminish stereotype threat and improve stigma resilience. Interventions can be tailored to individual differences to increase their impact. Furthermore, in order to diminish detrimental consequences of negative stereotypes, mental health professionals, health educators and experts by experience can inform the public about mental illness and stigma.

Stereotype Awareness, Self-Esteem and Psychopathology in People with Psychosis

PubMed Central

van Zelst, Catherine; van Nierop, Martine; Oorschot, Margreet; Myin-Germeys, Inez; van Os, Jim; Delespaul, Philippe

2014-01-01

Introduction Stigma is an important environmental risk factor for a variety of outcomes in schizophrenia. In order to understand and remediate its effects, research is required to assess how stigma experiences are processed at the level of the individual. To this end, stereotype awareness (SA) with respect to people with mental illness and their families was explored in persons with psychotic disorder. Method Data from the Dutch Genetic Risk and OUtcome of Psychosis project (GROUP) were analyzed. SA was measured using scales that assess a respondent's perception of common opinions about people with a mental illness and their families. Results People with higher level of self-esteem were less aware of stereotypes about patients and families. People with more severe psychopathology reported more awareness of stereotypes about families, not about patients. Conclusion Enhancing psychological resources, by increasing self-esteem and the ability to cope with symptoms, can be targeted to diminish stereotype threat and improve stigma resilience. Interventions can be tailored to individual differences to increase their impact. Furthermore, in order to diminish detrimental consequences of negative stereotypes, mental health professionals, health educators and experts by experience can inform the public about mental illness and stigma. PMID:24523918

Adolescents' suicidal thinking and reluctance to consult general medical practitioners.

PubMed

Wilson, Coralie J; Deane, Frank P; Marshall, Kellie L; Dalley, Andrew

2010-04-01

Appropriate help-seeking is widely recognized as a protective factor, and vital for early treatment and prevention of mental health problems during adolescence. General medical practitioners (GPs), that is, family doctors, provide a vital role in the identification of adolescents with mental health problems and the provision of treatment as well as access to other specialists in mental health care services. The current study examined the association between suicidal ideation and intentions to seek help from a GP for suicidal thoughts, emotional problems and physical health problems, using a sample of 590 Australian high school students that was 56.7% female and aged 13-18 years (M = 15.56 years, SD = .66 years). Higher levels of suicidal ideation and general psychological distress were related to lower intentions to seek help from a GP for suicidal and physical problems. The results suggest that even at subclinical levels, increases in suicidal ideation or psychological distress may lead to help avoidance. School personnel and other gatekeepers need to be aware of this trend in order to be more assertive in encouraging and supporting appropriate help-seeking for mental health problems. School health promotion programs should consider including information to explicitly address the help-negation process.

Psychological morbidity, quality of life, and self-rated health in the military personnel

PubMed Central

Chou, Han-Wei; Tzeng, Wen-Chii; Chou, Yu-Ching; Yeh, Hui-Wen; Chang, Hsin-An; Kao, Yu-Cheng; Tzeng, Nian-Sheng

2014-01-01

Objective The mental health of military personnel varies as a result of different cultural, political, and administrative factors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychological morbidity and quality of life of military personnel in Taiwan. Materials and methods This cross-sectional study utilized the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, brief version, Taiwan version, the General Health Questionnaire-12, Chinese version, and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) in several military units. Results More than half of the subjects (55.3%) identified themselves as mentally unhealthy on the General Health Questionnaire-12, Chinese version; however, a higher percentage of officers perceived themselves as healthy (57.4%) than did noncommissioned officers (38.5%) or enlisted men (42.2%). Officers also had higher total quality of life (QOL) scores (83.98) than did enlisted men (79.67). Scores on the VAS also varied: officers: 72.5; noncommissioned officers: 67.7; and enlisted men: 66.3. The VAS and QOL were positively correlated with perceived mental health among these military personnel. Conclusion Our subjects had higher rates of perceiving themselves as mentally unhealthy compared to the general population. Those of higher rank perceived themselves as having better mental health and QOL. Improving mental health could result in a better QOL in the military. The VAS may be a useful tool for the rapid screening of self-reported mental health, which may be suitable in cases of stressful missions, such as in disaster rescue; however, more studies are needed to determine the optimal cut-off point of this measurement tool. PMID:24570587

Using organizational and clinical performance data to increase the value of mental health care.

PubMed

Schmidt, Eric M; Krahn, Dean D; McGuire, Marsden H; Tavakoli, Sara; Wright, David M; Solares, Hugo E; Lemke, Sonne; Trafton, Jodie

2017-02-01

U.S. health systems, policy makers, and patients increasingly demand high-value care that improves health outcomes at lower cost. This study describes the initial design and analysis of the Mental Health Management System (MHMS), a performance data and quality improvement tool used by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to increase the value of its mental health care. The MHMS evaluates access to and quality of mental health care, organizational structure and efficiency, implementation of innovative treatment options, and, in collaboration with management, resource needs for delivering care. Performance on 31 measures was calculated for all U.S. VHA facilities (N = 139). Pearson correlations revealed that better access to care was significantly associated with fewer mental health provider staffing vacancies (r = -.24) and higher staff-to-patient ratios for psychiatrists (r = .19) and other outpatient mental health providers (r = .27). Higher staff-to-patient ratios were significantly associated with higher performance on a number of patient and provider satisfaction measures (range of r = .18-.51) and continuity of care measures (range of r = .26-.43). Relationships observed between organizational and clinical performance measures suggest that the MHMS is a robust informatics and quality improvement tool that can serve as a model for health systems planning to adopt a value perspective. Future research should expand the MHMS framework to measure patient and health systems costs and psychosocial outcomes, as well as evaluate whether quality improvement solutions implemented as a result of using organizational information leads to higher-value mental health care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Perceived stigma of mental illness: A comparison between two metropolitan cities in India

PubMed Central

Zieger, Aron; Mungee, Aditya; Schomerus, Georg; Ta, Thi Minh Tam; Dettling, Michael; Angermeyer, Matthias C.; Hahn, Eric

2016-01-01

Purpose: An increasing number of comparative studies are conducted on the stigmatization of persons with mental illness, in particular with regard to regional and diachronic variation. So far, there have been no studies comparing stigmatization of persons with mental illness in two different regions of India. Therefore, we examined the differences in perception of stigma attached to mental illnesses in Kolkata and Chennai, with regard to cultural and geographical differences to better understand the roots and origins of this issue. Materials and Methods: Explorative surveys in the context of public attitudes toward people with mental disorders were conducted among conveniently selected members of the general population in Chennai (n = 166) and Kolkata (n = 158) with identical methodology. Link's perceived devaluation-discrimination measure was used. The samples were matched for age, gender, and education. Results: The calculated sum score indicated that respondents from Kolkata had a higher level of perceived discrimination toward persons with mental illness than respondents from Chennai (P = 0.043). Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that lower perceived stigma was associated with stronger religious devotion (P = 0.049) and higher educational attainment (P = 0.001) in both cities. Discussion: The results showed that perceived stigma was higher in Kolkata than in Chennai. The correlation of higher stigma with lower education was in line with the previous research, and interestingly, it was found that higher stigma correlated with weaker religious devotion. Further studies exploring a wider variety of factors may provide us with a better understanding of the roots of perceived stigma in India. PMID:28197001

Mental Fatigue Impairs Intermittent Running Performance.

PubMed

Smith, Mitchell R; Marcora, Samuele M; Coutts, Aaron J

2015-08-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of mental fatigue on intermittent running performance. Ten male intermittent team sports players performed two identical self-paced, intermittent running protocols. The two trials were separated by 7 d and preceded, in a randomized-counterbalanced order, by 90 min of either emotionally neutral documentaries (control) or the AX-continuous performance test (AX-CPT; mental fatigue). Subjective ratings of fatigue and vigor were measured before and after these treatments, and motivation was recorded before the intermittent running protocol. Velocity, heart rate, oxygen consumption, blood glucose and lactate concentrations, and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured throughout the 45-min intermittent running protocol. Session RPE was recorded 30 min after the intermittent running protocol. Subjective ratings of fatigue were higher after the AX-CPT (P = 0.005). This mental fatigue significantly reduced velocity at low intensities (1.28 ± 0.18 m·s vs 1.31 ± 0.17 m·s; P = 0.037), whereas high-intensity running and peak velocities were not significantly affected. Running velocity at all intensities significantly declined over time in both conditions (P < 0.001). Oxygen consumption was significantly lower in the mental fatigue condition (P = 0.007). Other physiological variables, vigor and motivation, were not significantly affected. Ratings of perceived exertion during the intermittent running protocol were not significantly different between conditions despite lower overall velocity in the mental fatigue condition. Session RPE was significantly higher in the mental fatigue condition (P = 0.013). Mental fatigue impairs intermittent running performance. This negative effect of mental fatigue seems to be mediated by higher perception of effort.

Mental Fatigue: Impairment of Technical Performance in Small-Sided Soccer Games.

PubMed

Badin, Oliver O; Smith, Mitchell R; Conte, Daniele; Coutts, Aaron J

2016-11-01

To assess the effects of mental fatigue on physical and technical performance in small-sided soccer games. Twenty soccer players (age 17.8 ± 1.0 y, height 179 ± 5 cm, body mass 72.4 ± 6.8 kg, playing experience 8.3 ± 1.4 y) from an Australian National Premier League soccer club volunteered to participate in this randomized crossover investigation. Participants played 15-min 5-vs-5 small-sided games (SSGs) without goalkeepers on 2 occasions separated by 1 wk. Before the SSG, 1 team watched a 30-min emotionally neutral documentary (control), while the other performed 30 min of a computer-based Stroop task (mental fatigue). Subjective ratings of mental and physical fatigue were recorded before and after treatment and after the SSG. Motivation was assessed before treatment and SSG; mental effort was assessed after treatment and SSG. Player activity profiles and heart rate (HR) were measured throughout the SSG, whereas ratings of perceived exertion (RPEs) were recorded before the SSG and immediately after each half. Video recordings of the SSG allowed for notational analysis of technical variables. Subjective ratings of mental fatigue and effort were higher after the Stroop task, whereas motivation for the upcoming SSG was similar between conditions. HR during the SSG was possibly higher in the control condition, whereas RPE was likely higher in the mental-fatigue condition. Mental fatigue had an unclear effect on most physical-performance variables but impaired most technical-performance variables. Mental fatigue impairs technical but not physical performance in small-sided soccer games.

Social Support and Mental Health in LGBTQ Adolescents: A review of the literature.

PubMed

McDonald, Kari

2018-01-01

LGBTQ adolescents experience higher rates of mental health disorders than their heterosexual peers. The purpose of this systematic review of the literature was to examine studies evaluating social support and its effects on mental health in the LGBTQ adolescent population. Higher levels of social support were associated with positive self-esteem. Lack of social support (or low social support) was associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, alcohol or drug misuse, risky sexual behaviors, shame, and low self-esteem. Interdisciplinary research teams from multiple and diverse professions could provide valuable insight supporting the development of inclusive and comprehensive interventions programs for this population.

Mercury health effects among the workers extracting gold from carpets and dusted clays through amalgamation and roasting processes.

PubMed

Gul, Nayab; Khan, Sardar; Khan, Abbas; Ahmad, Sheikh Saeed

2015-11-01

Mercury (Hg) is a highly toxic metal which can cause serious health effects. The aim of this research was to determine the concentrations of total Hg (T-Hg), methyl Hg (Me-Hg), and inorganic Hg (I-Hg) in the biological samples (plasma, red blood cells (RBCs), urine, hair, and nails) of the exposed goldsmith workers. This is the first study that determines the detailed Hg concentrations in the biological samples (plasma, RBCs, urine, hair, and nails) of the exposed goldsmith workers and correlates them with the diseases noted among the workers in a single paper. Biological samples were collected from goldsmith workers (n = 40) and analyzed for T-Hg, Me-Hg, and I-Hg using atomic absorption spectrometer equipped with mercury hydride system. The mean T-Hg concentration in RBCs (33 μg L(-1)), plasma (11.8 μg L(-1)), urine (167 μg L(-1)), hair (4.21 μg g(-1)), and nails (5.91 μg g(-1)) were higher than the control RBCs (1.64 μg L(-1)), plasma (0.55 μg L(-1)), urine (2.72 μg L(-1)), hair (0.35 μg g(-1)), and nails (0.51 μg g(-1)). All workers participated in this study were suffering from physical and mental diseases. The concentration of Hg was found higher among the workers suffering from mental diseases as compared to those suffering from physical diseases. Among the physical diseases, the most serious diseases were sexual dysfunction, skin diseases, and fatigue because the workers suffering from these diseases had higher concentration of Hg than the workers with other diseases. The occurrence of physical diseases (88%) was greater than the mental diseases (53%) among the workers. The correlations of physical and mental diseases with experience (years of work) and exposure time were significant (p < 0.05), while nonsignificant (p > 0.05) correlation was observed between demographic parameters and Hg concentrations in the biological samples of the workers. The burning process of amalgamated gold is a significant source of Hg exposure to goldsmith workers; therefore, awareness and precautionary measures are needed to provide protection to them.

Attitude similarity and familiarity and their links to mental health: An examination of potential interpersonal mediators.

PubMed

Moore, Shannon M; Uchino, Bert N; Baucom, Brian R W; Behrends, Arwen A; Sanbonmatsu, David

2017-01-01

Similarity and familiarity with partner's attitudes are linked to positive relationship outcomes, while interpersonal variables have been linked to mental health. Using multilevel models (MLMs), we modeled the associations between these attitudinal variables and mental health outcomes in 74 married couples. We found that higher levels of attitude similarity in couples were linked to lower depression, while higher levels of attitude familiarity in couples were associated with greater satisfaction with life. Mediational analyses indicated marital satisfaction and interpersonal stress mediated the link between attitude similarity and depression. Marital satisfaction also mediated the link between familiarity and satisfaction with life. This study is the first linking attitude familiarity to mental health and provides evidence that familiarity and similarity have mental health effects partly due to their interpersonal consequences.

Addressing the Need for Mental Health Screening of Newly Resettled Refugees: A Pilot Project.

PubMed

Polcher, Kelly; Calloway, Susan

2016-07-01

Refugees resettling to the United States are at increased risk for mental health disorders, which can lead to difficulty with adaptation and poor health outcomes. Standardized mental health screening of refugees is often neglected at primary care and community health clinics. A pilot project aimed to initiate early mental health screening for newly resettled adult refugees was implemented at a community health center in Fargo, North Dakota. Current refugee screening processes were evaluated to determine appropriate timing for refugee mental health screening. This took into consideration time, staffing, interpreter availability and the refugee "honeymoon" phase following resettlement. The Refugee Health Screener-15 (RHS-15) was identified as an efficient, valid, and reliable tool for assessing emotional distress in this population and was integrated into refugee health screening practices. The RHS-15 was administered to 178 adult refugees with arrival dates between August 1, 2013 and July 31, 2014. Of those screened, 51 (28.6%) screened positive for risk of emotional distress. Follow-up with primary care provider was completed with 30 (59%) of those who screened positive. Half (15) requested mental health treatment. Although the largest group of refugees during this period of time were resettling from Bhutan, refugees from Iraq had greater incidence of positive screening compared with those from Bhutan. Refugees from Iraq were also found to have significantly higher scores on the RHS-15. Although there are some challenges to implementing a standardized mental health screening for refugees, this pilot reiterates the need for standardized mental health screening of refugees. Routine mental health screening should be a part of the overall comprehensive health assessment provided to refugees nationwide. Considerations should be taken in regards to how refugees from Iraq have even greater risk of mental health disorders compared to other refugee groups. © The Author(s) 2016.

Recovery and recurrence of mental sickness absence among production and office workers in the industrial sector.

PubMed

Norder, Giny; Bültmann, Ute; Hoedeman, Rob; de Bruin, Johan; van der Klink, Jac J L; Roelen, Corné A M

2015-06-01

Manual workers in the public sector have previously been found to be at risk of mental sickness absence (SA). As the impact of mental illness differs across economic sectors, this study investigated mental SA in the industrial sector, differentiating between office and production workers. Ten-year observational cohort study including 14 369 (8164 production and 6205 office) workers with a total of 101 118 person years. SA data were retrieved from an occupational health register. Mental SA episodes were medically certified as emotional disturbances [10th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10 R45)] or mental and behavioural disorders (ICD-10 F00-F99). The first mental SA episode since baseline was called index mental SA. Recurrences were defined as any mental SA episode occurring >28 days after recovery from index mental SA. The incidence of mental SA was higher in production workers than in office workers, but office workers needed longer time to recover from mental SA. Mental SA recurred as frequently in production workers as in office workers. The median time to recurrence was 15.9 months and tangibly shorter in office workers (14.9 months) than in production workers (16.7 months). Production and office workers aged >55 years were at increased risk of recurrent mental SA within 12 months of recovery from index mental SA. The incidence of mental SA was higher in production workers than in office workers, whereas recurrence rates did not differ between them. Occupational health providers should pay special attention to older workers as they are at increased risk of recurrent mental SA. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Late life changes in mental health: a longitudinal study of 9683 women.

PubMed

Leigh, Lucy; Byles, Julie E; Chojenta, Catherine; Pachana, Nancy A

2016-10-01

To identify latent subgroups of women in late life who are alike in terms of their mental health trajectories. Longitudinal data are for 9683 participants in the 1921-1926 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, who completed at least two surveys between 1999 (aged 73-78 years) and 2008 (aged 82-87 years). Mental health was measured using the five-item mental health inventory (MHI-5). Latent profile analysis uncovered patterns of change in MHI-5 scores. Three patterns of change were identified for women who were still alive in 2008 (n = 7061), and three similar patterns for deceased women (n = 2622): (1) 'poor mental health' representing women with low MHI-5 scores, (2) 'good mental health' and (3) 'excellent' mental health, where scores remained very high. Deceased women had lower mental health scores for each class. Remote areas of residence, higher education, single marital status, higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and falls were the covariates associated with mental health in the survivor group. For the deceased group, education, BMI and falls were significant. Arthritis, stroke, heart disease, bronchitis/emphysema, diabetes and osteoporosis were associated with worse mental health for both groups, while asthma increased these odds significantly for the survivor group only. Hypertension and cancer were not significant predictors of poor mental health. The results show associations between chronic disease and level of mental health in older age, but no evidence of a large decline in mental health in the period prior to death.

Elementary teachers' mental models of engineering design processes: A comparison of two communities of practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMahon, Ann P.

Educating K-12 students in the processes of design engineering is gaining popularity in public schools. Several states have adopted standards for engineering design despite the fact that no common agreement exists on what should be included in the K-12 engineering design process. Furthermore, little pre-service and in-service professional development exists that will prepare teachers to teach a design process that is fundamentally different from the science teaching process found in typical public schools. This study provides a glimpse into what teachers think happens in engineering design compared to articulated best practices in engineering design. Wenger's communities of practice work and van Dijk's multidisciplinary theory of mental models provide the theoretical bases for comparing the mental models of two groups of elementary teachers (one group that teaches engineering and one that does not) to the mental models of design engineers (including this engineer/researcher/educator and professionals described elsewhere). The elementary school teachers and this engineer/researcher/educator observed the design engineering process enacted by professionals, then answered questions designed to elicit their mental models of the process they saw in terms of how they would teach it to elementary students. The key finding is this: Both groups of teachers embedded the cognitive steps of the design process into the matrix of the social and emotional roles and skills of students. Conversely, the engineers embedded the social and emotional aspects of the design process into the matrix of the cognitive steps of the design process. In other words, teachers' mental models show that they perceive that students' social and emotional communicative roles and skills in the classroom drive their cognitive understandings of the engineering process, while the mental models of this engineer/researcher/educator and the engineers in the video show that we perceive that cognitive understandings of the engineering process drive the social and emotional roles and skills used in that process. This comparison of mental models with the process that professional designers use defines a problem space for future studies that investigate how to incorporate engineering practices into elementary classrooms. Recommendations for engineering curriculum development and teacher professional development based on this study are presented.

Social inequalities in mental disorders and substance misuse in young adults : A birth cohort study in Southern Brazil.

PubMed

Barros, Fernando C; Matijasevich, Alicia; Santos, Iná S; Horta, Bernardo L; da Silva, Bruna Gonçalves C; Munhoz, Tiago N; Fazel, Seena; Stein, Alan; Pearson, Rebecca M; Anselmi, Luciana; Rohde, Luis Augusto

2018-05-02

To investigate the association between mental disorders and substance misuse at 30 years of age with gender, socioeconomic position at birth, and family income trajectories. The 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort was used; all 5914 children born alive at hospital were originally enrolled (99.2% of all city births). In 2012, 3701 subjects were located and interviewed (68% retention rate). Mental disorders and substance misuse were assessed, and their prevalence analysed according to gender, socioeconomic status at birth, and four different income trajectories: always poor, never poor, poor at birth/non-poor at age 30, and non-poor at birth/poor at age 30. While women presented higher prevalence of mental disorders, substance misuse was much more frequent among men. Individuals in the lowest income quintile at birth presented 2-5 times more mental disorders and substance misuse than those in the highest quintile. Young adults who were always poor or were not poor at birth but were poor at 30 years of age had a higher prevalence of mental disorders than the other groups. The high rates of mental disorders and lifetime suicide attempts in young adults, especially those who were always poor or became poor after childhood, suggest that recent socioeconomic-related stressful situations may have a higher impact on the current mental health than events earlier in life. However, we could not identify at what specific ages socioeconomic changes were more important.

Transient hypofrontality as a mechanism for the psychological effects of exercise.

PubMed

Dietrich, Arne

2006-11-29

Although exercise is known to promote mental health, a satisfactory understanding of the mechanism underlying this phenomenon has not yet been achieved. A new mechanism is proposed that is based on established concepts in cognitive psychology and the neurosciences as well as recent empirical work on the functional neuroanatomy of higher mental processes. Building on the fundamental principle that processing in the brain is competitive and the fact that the brain has finite metabolic resources, the transient hypofrontality hypothesis suggests that during exercise the extensive neural activation required to run motor patterns, assimilate sensory inputs, and coordinate autonomic regulation results in a concomitant transient decrease of neural activity in brain structures, such as the prefrontal cortex, that are not pertinent to performing the exercise. An exercise-induced state of frontal hypofunction can provide a coherent account of the influences of exercise on emotion and cognition. The new hypothesis is proposed primarily on the strength of its heuristic value, as it suggests several new avenues of research.

Thinking as the control of imagination: a conceptual framework for goal-directed systems.

PubMed

Pezzulo, Giovanni; Castelfranchi, Cristiano

2009-07-01

This paper offers a conceptual framework which (re)integrates goal-directed control, motivational processes, and executive functions, and suggests a developmental pathway from situated action to higher level cognition. We first illustrate a basic computational (control-theoretic) model of goal-directed action that makes use of internal modeling. We then show that by adding the problem of selection among multiple action alternatives motivation enters the scene, and that the basic mechanisms of executive functions such as inhibition, the monitoring of progresses, and working memory, are required for this system to work. Further, we elaborate on the idea that the off-line re-enactment of anticipatory mechanisms used for action control gives rise to (embodied) mental simulations, and propose that thinking consists essentially in controlling mental simulations rather than directly controlling behavior and perceptions. We conclude by sketching an evolutionary perspective of this process, proposing that anticipation leveraged cognition, and by highlighting specific predictions of our model.

Mental health inequalities in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents explained by personal social position and family socioeconomic status.

PubMed

Klanšček, Helena Jeriček; Ziberna, Janina; Korošec, Aleš; Zurc, Joca; Albreht, Tit

2014-03-28

Mental health inequalities are an increasingly important global problem. This study examined the association between mental health status and certain socioeconomic indicators (personal social position and the socioeconomic status of the family) in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents. Data originate from the WHO-Collaborative cross-national 'Health Behavior in School-aged Children' study conducted in Slovenia in 2010 (1,815 secondary school pupils, aged 15). Mental health status was measured by: KIDSCREEN-10, the Strength and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), a life satisfaction scale, and one question about feelings of depression. Socioeconomic position was measured by the socioeconomic status of the family (Family Affluence Scale, perceived material welfare, family type, occupational status of parents) and personal social position (number of friends and the type of school). Logistic regression and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were performed. Girls had 2.5-times higher odds of suffering feelings of depression (p < 0.001), 1.5-times higher odds of low life satisfaction (p = 0.008), and a greater chance of a lower quality of life and a higher SDQ score than boys (p = 0.001). The adolescents who perceived their family's material welfare as worse had 4-times higher odds (p < 0.001) of a low life satisfaction, a greater chance of a low quality of life, and a higher SDQ score than those who perceived it as better (p < 0.001). Adolescents with no friends had lower KIDSCREEN-10 and higher SDQ scores than those who had more than three friends. Despite the fact that Slovenia is among the EU members with the lowest rates of social inequalities, it was found that adolescents with a lower socioeconomic position have poorer mental health than those with a higher socioeconomic position. Because of the financial crisis, we can expect an increase in social inequalities and a greater impact on adolescents' mental health status in Slovenia in the future.

Associations between maternal long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid concentrations and child cognition at 7 years of age: The MEFAB birth cohort.

PubMed

Brouwer-Brolsma, E M; van de Rest, O; Godschalk, R; Zeegers, M P A; Gielen, M; de Groot, R H M

2017-11-01

Concentrations of the fish fatty acids EPA and DHA are low among Dutch women of reproductive age. As the human brain incorporates high concentrations of these fatty acids in utero, particularly during third trimester of gestation, these low EPA and DHA concentrations may have adverse consequences for fetal brain development and functioning. Analyses were conducted using longitudinal observational data of 292 mother-child pairs participating in the MEFAB cohort. Maternal AA, DHA, and EPA were determined in plasma phospholipids - obtained in three trimesters - by gas-liquid chromatography. Cognitive function was assessed at 7 years of age, using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, resulting in three main outcome parameters: sequential processing (short-term memory), simultaneous processing (problem-solving skills), and the mental processing composite score. Spline regression and linear regression analyses were used to analyse the data, while adjusting for potential relevant covariates. Only 2% of the children performed more than one SD below the mental processing composite norm score. Children with lower test scores (<25%) were more likely to have a younger mother with a higher pre-gestational BMI, less likely to be breastfed, and more likely to be born with a lower birth weight, compared to children with higher test scores (≥25%). Fully-adjusted linear regression models did not show associations of maternal AA, DHA, or EPA status during any of the pregnancy trimesters with childhood sequential and simultaneous processing. Maternal fatty acid status during pregnancy was not associated with cognitive performance in Dutch children at age 7. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Seeking Comfort: Women Mental Health Process in I. R. Iran: A Grounded Theory Study

PubMed Central

Mohammadi, Farahnaz; Eftekhari, Monir Baradaran; Dejman, Masoumeh; Forouzan, Ameneh Setareh; Mirabzadeh, Arash

2014-01-01

Background: Psychosocial factor is considered as intermediate social determinant of health, because it has powerful effects on health especially in women. Hence deeper understanding of the mental-health process needed for its promotion. The aim of this study was to explore women's experience of the mental-health problem and related action-interactions activities to design the appropriate interventions. Methods: In-depth interviews with women 18-65 years were analyzed according to the grounded theory method. The selection of Participants was based on purposeful and theoretical sampling. Results: In this study, a substantive theory was generated; explaining how female with the mental-health problem handled their main concern, which was identified as their effort to achieve comfort (core variable). The other six categories are elements in this process. Daily stress as a trigger, satisfaction is the end point, marriage is the key point and action - interaction activities in this process are strengthening human essence, Developing life skills and help seeking. Conclusions: Better understanding the mental-health process might be useful to design the interventional program among women with mental-health problems. PMID:24627750

Service Development for Intellectual Disability Mental Health: A Human Rights Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Evans, E.; Howlett, S.; Kremser, T.; Simpson, J.; Kayess, R.; Trollor, J.

2012-01-01

Background: People with intellectual disability (ID) experience higher rates of major mental disorders than their non-ID peers, but in many countries have difficulty accessing appropriate mental health services. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of mental health services for people with ID using Australia as a case example, and…

42 CFR 483.108 - Relationship of PASARR to other Medicaid processes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... mental health or mental retardation authorities cannot be countermanded by the State Medicaid agency... of this part may overturn a PASARR determination made by the State mental health or mental retardation authorities. (b) In making their determinations, however, the State mental health and mental...

42 CFR 483.108 - Relationship of PASARR to other Medicaid processes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... mental health or mental retardation authorities cannot be countermanded by the State Medicaid agency... of this part may overturn a PASARR determination made by the State mental health or mental retardation authorities. (b) In making their determinations, however, the State mental health and mental...

Utilization of Mental Health Services in School-Based Health Centers.

PubMed

Bains, Ranbir M; Cusson, Regina; White-Frese, Jesse; Walsh, Stephen

2017-08-01

We summarize utilization patterns for mental health services in school-based health centers. Administrative data on school-based health center visits in New Haven, Connecticut were examined for the 2007-2009 school years. Relative frequencies of mental health visits by age were calculated as a percentage of all visits and were stratified by sex, ethnicity/race, and insurance status. Mental health visits accounted for the highest proportion of visits (31.8%). The proportion of mental health visits was highest at 8 years (42.8%) and at 13 years (39.0%). The proportion of mental health visits among boys (38.4%) was higher than among girls (26.7%). Hispanic students had a lower proportion of mental health visits than black students (23.5% vs 35.8%) in all but 2 age groups. Students in the white/other ethnicity category had higher proportions of mental health visits than Hispanic and black students between ages 12 and 15. Students with no health insurance (22.5%) had lower proportions of mental health visits than students covered by Medicaid (34.3%) or private insurance (33.9%). The percentage of mental health visits by students with private insurance was highest (37.2%-49%) in the 13-15 age range. Usage patterns for mental health issues show pronounced, nonrandom variation relative to age and other demographic characteristics especially with 8-year-old boys. © 2017, American School Health Association.

28 CFR 541.6 - Mentally ill inmates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... are mentally ill at any stage of the discipline process, you will be examined by mental health staff... evidence presented by mental health staff. ... Discipline Hearing Officer will make this decision based on evidence, including evidence presented by mental...

28 CFR 541.6 - Mentally ill inmates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... are mentally ill at any stage of the discipline process, you will be examined by mental health staff... evidence presented by mental health staff. ... Discipline Hearing Officer will make this decision based on evidence, including evidence presented by mental...

28 CFR 541.6 - Mentally ill inmates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... are mentally ill at any stage of the discipline process, you will be examined by mental health staff... evidence presented by mental health staff. ... Discipline Hearing Officer will make this decision based on evidence, including evidence presented by mental...

28 CFR 541.6 - Mentally ill inmates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... are mentally ill at any stage of the discipline process, you will be examined by mental health staff... evidence presented by mental health staff. ... Discipline Hearing Officer will make this decision based on evidence, including evidence presented by mental...

Rates and predictors of mental stress in Rwanda: investigating the impact of gender, persecution, readiness to reconcile and religiosity via a structural equation model.

PubMed

Heim, Lale; Schaal, Susanne

2014-01-01

As a consequence of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, prevalences of mental disorders are elevated in Rwanda. More knowledge about determinants of mental stress can help to improve mental health services and treatment in the east-central African country. The present study aimed to investigate actual rates of mental stress (posttraumatic stress disorder, syndromal depression and syndromal anxiety) in Rwanda and to examine if gender, persecution during the genocide, readiness to reconcile as well as importance given to religiosity and quality of religiosity are predictors of mental stress. The study comprised a community sample of N = 200 Rwandans from Rwanda's capital Kigali, who experienced the Rwandan genocide. By conducting structured interviews, ten local Master level psychologists examined types of potentially lifetime traumatic events, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety, readiness to reconcile and religiosity. Applying non-recursive structural equation modeling (SEM), the associations between gender, persecution, readiness to reconcile, religiosity and mental stress were investigated. Respondents had experienced an average number of 11.38 types of potentially lifetime traumatic events. Of the total sample, 11% met diagnostic criteria for PTSD, 19% presented with syndromal depression and 23% with syndromal anxiety. Female sex, persecution and readiness to reconcile were significant predictors of mental stress. Twofold association was found between centrality of religion (which captures the importance given to religiosity) and mental stress, showing, that higher mental stress provokes a higher centrality and that higher centrality reduces mental stress. The variables positive and negative religious functioning (which determine the quality of religiosity) respectively had an indirect negative and positive effect on mental stress. Study results provide evidence that rates of mental stress are still elevated in Rwanda and that female sex, persecution, readiness to reconcile, centrality and religious functioning are predictors of mental stress. Seventeen years after the genocide, there remains a large gap between the need for and provision of mental health services in Rwanda. Results underline the importance of improving the respective infrastructure, with a focus on the requirements of women and persons, who were persecuted during the genocide. They further highlight that the consideration of readiness to reconcile, centrality and religious functioning in therapeutic interventions can aid mental health in Rwanda.

[Cooperation, Job Satisfaction and Burn Out - Sustainability in Outpatient Mental Health Care among Medical Specialists in Germany].

PubMed

Baumgardt, Johanna; Moock, Jörn; Rössler, Wulf; Kawohl, Wolfram

2017-04-01

Objective Cooperation, job satisfaction, and burn out risk are indicators of sustainability in mental health services. Thus they were assessed among registered medical specialists in outpatient mental health care in Germany. Method A postal survey consisting of three questionnaires about cooperation, job satisfaction, and burnout was carried out among all registered medical specialists in outpatient mental health care in Germany (n = 4,430). Results 14.1 % (n = 626) of the specialists responded to the survey. Quality and quantity of cooperation regarding mental health care services were rated diverse, job satisfaction was assessed medium to high, and burnout risk was low to medium. Higher job satisfaction correlated with good quality of cooperation, fewer years of practice, fewer patients' chronically ill, more patients who as well seek psychotherapy, and less time spent on cooperation. Low burn out risk correlated with good quality of cooperation, higher age, single practice setting and a higher amount of patients who as well seek psychotherapy. Conclusion Quality and quantity of cooperation in outpatient mental health care - especially regarding community mental health care institutions - should be fostered. Aspects to be considered to reinforce job satisfaction and minimize burn out risk are age, years of practice, quality and quantity of cooperation, practice setting, and the mixture of patients. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Women and mental health in India: An overview

PubMed Central

Malhotra, Savita; Shah, Ruchita

2015-01-01

Gender is a critical determinant of mental health and mental illness. The patterns of psychological distress and psychiatric disorder among women are different from those seen among men. Women have a higher mean level of internalizing disorders while men show a higher mean level of externalizing disorders. Gender differences occur particularly in the rates of common mental disorders wherein women predominate. Differences between genders have been reported in the age of onset of symptoms, clinical features, frequency of psychotic symptoms, course, social adjustment, and long-term outcome of severe mental disorders. Women who abuse alcohol or drugs are more likely to attribute their drinking to a traumatic event or a stressor and are more likely to have been sexually or physically abused than other women. Girls from nuclear families and women married at a very young age are at a higher risk for attempted suicide and self-harm. Social factors and gender specific factors determine the prevalence and course of mental disorders in female sufferers. Low attendance in hospital settings is partly explained by the lack of availability of resources for women. Around two-thirds of married women in India were victims of domestic violence. Concerted efforts at social, political, economic, and legal levels can bring change in the lives of Indian women and contribute to the improvement of the mental health of these women. PMID:26330636

Understanding the Stress Process of Chinese- and Korean-American Breast Cancer Survivors

PubMed Central

Lim, Jung-won

2017-01-01

Guided by the stress process model (SPM), this study investigated the direct and indirect pathways of primary (negative self-image and life stress), secondary stressors (family communication strain) and family coping (external and internal) on mental health outcomes among Chinese- and Korean-American breast cancer survivors (BCS). A total of 156 Chinese- and Korean-American BCS were surveyed. Results showed primary and secondary stressors had a negative effect on better mental health outcomes. External coping was associated with better mental health. Family communication strain mediated the relationship between life stress and mental health outcomes. External coping mediated the relationship between family communication strain and mental health outcomes. Multi-group analysis revealed the stress process did not differ across ethnic groups. Findings suggest the SPM may be applicable to understand the stress process of Chinese-and Korean-American BCS and provide valuable insight into the role of family communication and external coping on mental health outcomes. PMID:26223968

Neighborhood characteristics and mental health among African Americans and whites living in a racially integrated urban community.

PubMed

Gary, Tiffany L; Stark, Sarah A; LaVeist, Thomas A

2007-06-01

Aspects of the environment in which one lives are increasingly being recognized as major contributors to health, yet few empirical studies have focused on mental health. Therefore, we sought to determine if neighborhood characteristics were associated with mental health outcomes among 1408 African-American (59.3%) and white (40.7%) adults living in a socio-economically homogeneous, racially integrated, urban community in Baltimore, MD. Among African Americans and whites, the perception of severe problems in the community was associated with higher levels of stress (approximately 1.8 units higher), anxiety (approximately 1.8 units higher), and depression (OR= approximately 2.0) compared to those who perceived no or few problems (all p<0.05). Community cohesion, the perception that people generally work together, was associated with better mental health among whites only. These findings give further insight into the complex environment of inner-city communities.

Mental Health Care Providers' Views of Their Work with Consumers and Their Reports of Recovery-Orientation, Job Satisfaction, and Personal Growth.

PubMed

Osborn, Lawrence A; Stein, Catherine H

2016-10-01

The research examined the role of mental health care providers' perceptions of their professional relationships with consumers in understanding their reports of agency recovery-oriented services and their own sense of job satisfaction and personal growth. Multidisciplinary community mental health care providers (N = 105) responded to an online self-report questionnaire. Providers' reports of higher levels of working alliance and greater provider directiveness in working with consumers was significantly related to providers' reports of higher levels of agency recovery-orientation and higher levels of personal growth. Providers' reports of working alliance accounted for the largest proportion of variance in providers' reports of job satisfaction. Mental health providers' perceptions of relationships with consumers are central to understanding providers' views of agency recovery-orientation and sense of professional and personal well-being.

Prosocial family processes and the quality of life of persons with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Greenberg, Jan S; Knudsen, Kraig J; Aschbrenner, Kelly A

2006-12-01

Research on the family's contribution to the quality of life of persons with serious mental illness has largely focused on negative family interactions associated with poorer client outcomes. The purpose of this naturalistic study of aging mothers and adults with schizophrenia was to investigate prosocial family processes that potentially enhance, rather than detract from, the life satisfaction of persons with serious mental illness. The data were drawn from a longitudinal study of aging parents caring for a son or daughter with schizophrenia. This report is based on 122 mother-adult child dyads who participated in the third wave of the study. Mothers completed an in-home interview and questionnaire that included measures of the quality of the relationship between the mother and adult child, maternal warmth, and maternal praise of the adult child. The adult with schizophrenia completed a life satisfaction questionnaire. The adults with schizophrenia had higher life satisfaction when their mothers expressed greater warmth and praise of their son or daughter with schizophrenia and when their mothers reported the quality of their relationship as being close and mutually supportive. Past research has emphasized changing families, most typically by lowering expressed emotion, with little emphasis on the families' strengths, in particular, prosocial family processes that may enhance the life satisfaction of their loved one. As a recovery orientation focuses on the strengths of adults with mental illness, it also should focus equally on the supportive presence of families in the lives of clients.

Barriers to and facilitators of the acceptance process for individuals with serious mental illness.

PubMed

Mizock, Lauren; Russinova, Zlatka; Millner, Uma Chandrika

2014-09-01

The process of acceptance of mental illness is a central component of recovery and has been linked to functioning, illness management, and quality of life. A number of barriers and facilitators have been theorized as impacting this process. This study was conducted with 30 participants with serious mental illness (a major psychiatric disorder with impairment in multiple areas of functioning) to elicit the barriers to and facilitators of the acceptance of mental illness. Grounded theory methodology was utilized to analyze the 30 semistructured interviews. Results revealed barriers to and facilitators of acceptance of mental illness at the micro level (cognitive, emotional, behavioral, identity-related), meso level (relational), and macro level (cultural, systemic). Clinical and research implications are discussed with regard to facilitating acceptance of mental illness. © The Author(s) 2014.

An Exploration of Secondary Students' Mental States When Learning about Acids and Bases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Chia-Ju; Hou, I-Lin; Chiu, Houn-Lin; Treagust, David F.

2014-01-01

This study explored factors of students' mental states, including emotion, intention, internal mental representation, and external mental representation, which can affect their learning performance. In evaluating students' mental states during the science learning process and the relationship between mental states and learning…

Effects of perceived discrimination on mental health and mental health services utilization among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.

PubMed

Burgess, Diana; Tran, Alisia; Lee, Richard; van Ryn, Michelle

2007-01-01

Previous research has found that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals are at risk for a variety of mental health disorders. We examined the extent to which a recent experience of a major discriminatory event may contribute to poor mental health among LGBT persons. Data were derived from a cross-sectional strata-cluster survey of adults in Hennepin County, Minnesota, who identified as LGBT (n=472) or heterosexual (n=7,412). Compared to heterosexuals, LGBT individuals had poorer mental health (higher levels of psychological distress, greater likelihood of having a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, greater perceived mental health needs, and greater use of mental health services), more substance use (higher levels of binge drinking, greater likelihood of being a smoker and greater number of cigarettes smoked per day), and were more likely to report unmet mental healthcare needs. LGBT individuals were also more likely to report having experienced a major incident of discrimination over the past year than heterosexual individuals. Although perceived discrimination was associated with almost all of the indicators of mental health and utilization of mental health care that we examined, adjusting for discrimination did not significantly reduce mental health disparities between heterosexual and LGBT persons. LGBT individuals experienced more major discrimination and reported worse mental health than heterosexuals, but discrimination did not account for this disparity. Future research should explore additional forms of discrimination and additional stressors associated with minority sexual orientation that may account for these disparities.

Disentangling cognition and emotion in older adults: the role of cognitive control and mental health in emotional conflict adaptation.

PubMed

Hantke, Nathan C; Gyurak, Anett; Van Moorleghem, Katie; Waring, Jill D; Adamson, Maheen M; O'Hara, Ruth; Beaudreau, Sherry A

2017-08-01

Recent research suggests cognition has a bidirectional relationship with emotional processing in older adults, yet the relationship is still poorly understood. We aimed to examine a potential relationship between late-life cognitive function, mental health symptoms, and emotional conflict adaptation. We hypothesized that worse cognitive control abilities would be associated with poorer emotional conflict adaptation. We further hypothesized that a higher severity of mental health symptoms would be associated with poorer emotional conflict adaptation. Participants included 83 cognitively normal community-dwelling older adults who completed a targeted mental health and cognitive battery, and emotion and gender conflict-adaptation tasks. Consistent with our hypothesis, poorer performance on components of cognitive control, specifically attention and working memory, was associated with poorer emotional conflict adaptation. This association with attention and working memory was not observed in the non-affective-based gender conflict adaptation task. Mental health symptoms did not predict emotional conflict adaptation, nor did performance on other cognitive measures. Our findings suggest that emotion conflict adaptation is disrupted in older individuals who have poorer attention and working memory. Components of cognitive control may therefore be an important potential source of inter-individual differences in late-life emotion regulation and cognitive affective deficits. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Do unfavourable working conditions explain mental health inequalities between ethnic groups? Cross-sectional data of the HELIUS study.

PubMed

Nieuwenhuijsen, Karen; Schene, Aart H; Stronks, Karien; Snijder, Marieke B; Frings-Dresen, Monique H W; Sluiter, Judith K

2015-08-20

Ethnic inequalities in mental health have been found in many high-income countries. The purpose of this study is to test whether mental health inequalities between ethnic groups are mediated by exposure to unfavourable working conditions. Workers (n = 6278) were selected from baseline data of the multi-ethnic HELIUS study. Measures included two indices of unfavourable working conditions (lack of recovery opportunities, and perceived work stress), and two mental health outcomes (generic mental health: MCS-12 and depressive symptoms: PHQ-9). Mediation of the relationships between ethnicity and mental health by unfavourable working conditions was tested using the bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals technique. Linear models with and without the mediators included, and adjusted for gender and age. Attenuation was calculated as the change in B between the models with and without mediators. The sample comprised Dutch (1355), African Surinamese (1290), South-Asian Surinamese (1121), Turkish (1090), Ghanaian (729), and Moroccan (693) workers. After controlling for age and gender, all ethnic minorities had a higher risk of mental health problems as compared to the Dutch host population, with the exception of Ghanaians in the case of depressive symptoms, and African Surinamese workers with regard to both outcomes. The Turkish group stands out with the lowest mental health on both mental health indices, followed by Moroccan and South-Asian Surinamese workers. A lack of recovery opportunities mediated the relationship between ethnic group and a higher risk of mental health problems. Perceived work stress did not contribute to the explanation of ethnic inequalities. The higher risk of mental health problems in ethnic minority groups can be partly accounted for by a lack of recovery opportunities at work, but not by perceived work stress. This may imply that workplace prevention targeting recovery opportunities have the potential to reduce ethnic inequalities, but ethnic-specific experiences at the workplace need to be further explored.

Sexual orientation and differences in mental health, stress, and academic performance in a national sample of U.S. college students.

PubMed

Oswalt, Sara B; Wyatt, Tammy J

2011-01-01

This study examined the relationships of mental health issues and sexual orientation in a national sample of college students. Using the Fall 2009 American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment, responses from heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and unsure students (N = 27,454) relating to mental health issues and impact of these issues on academics were examined. The findings indicate that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and unsure students consistently reported higher levels of mental health issues and a more frequent impact on academics because of these issues than heterosexual students. Bisexuals frequently reported higher levels than students identifying as gay, lesbian, and unsure.

Seizures in the elderly: Impact on mental status, mood and sleep

PubMed Central

Haut, Sheryl R.; Katz, Mindy; Masur, Jonathan; Lipton, Richard B.

2009-01-01

Co-morbidities of epilepsy have not been well explored in the elderly. Herein, we examined mental status, mood, and sleep in elderly patients with epilepsy, compared to age and gender matched community controls without epilepsy from the Einstein Aging Study. Testing included a mental status test, the Blessed Information Memory and Concentration (BIMC) test; Prime-MD Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) Depression and Anxiety Modules; and Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale. Persons with epilepsy (n=31) had higher mean BIMC scores than controls (n=31, BIMC 6.3 vs.1.2; p<0.0001). Mean PHQ Depression scores were higher for cases than controls indicating more depressive symptoms (4.2 vs. 0.8; p=0.006); six cases (18%) and no controls met screening criteria for depression. Mean PHQ Anxiety scores were also higher for cases than controls (3.7 vs. 0.0; p=0.001). Cases demonstrated poorer sleep scores in the categories of somnolence (p=0.009) and shortness of breath/headache (p=0.021). Thus, co-morbidities of epilepsy in this elderly population included decreased mental status, a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety, and poorer sleep health when compared to age mates without epilepsy. Mental status impairment was not related to anti-epileptic medication or mood disturbance. Further investigation will explore these associations prospectively. PMID:19189862

Large sexual-orientation-related differences in performance on mental rotation and judgment of line orientation tasks.

PubMed

Rahman, Qazi; Wilson, Glenn D

2003-01-01

This study examined the performance of heterosexual and homosexual men and women on 2 tests of spatial processing, mental rotation (MR) and Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO). The sample comprised 60 heterosexual men, 60 heterosexual women, 60 homosexual men, and 60 homosexual women. There were significant main effects of gender (men achieving higher scores overall) and Gender x Sexual Orientation interactions. Decomposing these interactions revealed large differences between the male groups in favor of heterosexual men on JLO and MR performance. There was a modest difference between the female groups on MR total correct scores in favor of homosexual women but no differences in MR percentage correct. The evidence suggests possible variations in the parietal cortex between homosexual and heterosexual persons.

Stress and coping among gay men: age and ethnic differences.

PubMed

David, Steven; Knight, Bob G

2008-03-01

Previous studies suggest that perceived stigmatization of sexual minority status, ethnicity, and age are associated with negative mental health outcomes, and other studies suggest that coping styles may influence these outcomes. However, no studies have examined these relationships among gay men of varying ethnicities and age groups. Three hundred eighty-three Black and White, younger, middle-aged, and older adult gay men completed measures of perceived stigmatization, coping style, and mental health outcomes. Black older adult gay men reported significantly higher levels of perceived ageism than the older White group, significantly higher levels of perceived racism than the younger Black group, significantly higher levels of homonegativity than the younger Black and the White groups, and were more likely to use disengaged coping styles than White gay men. However, Black older adult gay men did not experience significantly higher levels of negative mental health outcomes. Results suggest that further research should examine how older Black gay men, who perceive higher levels of stigma while reporting greater use of less effective coping styles, do not appear to be experiencing more negative mental health outcomes as a result. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

[Mental Health, Emotional Suffering, Mental Problems and Disorders in Indigenous Colombians. Data From the National Mental Health Survey 2015].

PubMed

Gómez-Restrepo, Carlos; Rincón, Carlos Javier; Urrego-Mendoza, Zulma

2016-12-01

Indigenous people represent 5% of the world population and one-third of the poor ones. Alcoholism rates, substance abuse problems, and mental disorders are shown to be higher than the general population. An analysis was made of the data from the National Mental Health Survey 2015. In this survey, it was asked if self-recognition as a native was according to the culture, the people, or physical features. A total of 902 indigenous people were surveyed, corresponding to 8.3% of the surveyed adult population. The majority (39.5%) lived in the Pacific region, with 23.7% Atlantic region, and 20% in the Eastern region. More than one-quarter (26.6%) reported a status of poverty, 31.7% spoke the language of their people, and 17.8% reported displacement due to violence. Mental health was defined as, "having good physical health, to eat, sleep and rest, by 42.9%. As regards problems and mental disorders, 8% reported excessive consumption and 7.9% a risk consumption of alcohol. As regards general psychopathology, measured by the (Self-reporting questionnaire) SRQ, 8.1% of the population had symptoms. The life prevalences of anxiety and depressive mental disorders were reported by 6.7% women and 8.4% men, and the associated risk factors that show higher risk were: aged between 18 to 44 years, not speaking the language of their people, living in Bogota, living in urban areas, and consuming psychoactive substances and tobacco. People who recognised themselves as indigenous have higher rates of displacement by violence, report problems and common mental disorders that are associated with factors consistent with loss of cultural characteristics. Copyright © 2016. Publicado por Elsevier España.

Mental Health Service Utilization Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning or Queer College Students.

PubMed

Dunbar, Michael S; Sontag-Padilla, Lisa; Ramchand, Rajeev; Seelam, Rachana; Stein, Bradley D

2017-09-01

College students are at high risk for mental health problems, yet many do not receive treatment even when services are available. Treatment needs may be even higher among sexual minority students, but little is known about how these students differ from heterosexual peers in terms of mental health needs and service utilization. A total of 33,220 California college students completed an online survey on mental health needs (e.g., current serious psychological distress and mental health-related academic impairment) and service utilization. Using logistic regressions, we examined differences in student characteristics, mental health service use, and perceived barriers to using on-campus services by sexual minority status. Approximately 7% of students self-identified as sexual minorities. Compared with heterosexual students, sexual minority students endorsed higher rates of psychological distress (18% vs. 26%, p < .001) and mental health-related academic impairment (11% vs. 17%, p < .001) but were 1.87 (95% confidence interval: 1.50-2.34) times more likely to use any mental health services. Sexual minority students were also more likely to report using off-campus services and to endorse barriers to on-campus service use (e.g., embarrassed to use services and uncertainty over eligibility for services). Sexual minority individuals represent a sizeable minority of college students; these students use mental health services at higher rates than heterosexual peers but have high rates of unmet treatment need. Efforts to address commonly reported barriers to on-campus service use, foster sexual minority-affirmative campus environments, and promote awareness of campus services may help reduce unmet treatment need in this population. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Good Mental Health and Student Mental Health Services in Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blai, Boris, Jr.

One out of every seven people has some form of mental or emotional illness ranging from mild to severe. Fewer than one-third of those needing professional care treatment for their mental and emotional problems are receiving it. Some of the symptoms of psychosis are that the person lives in an imaginary world, hears voices, believes everyone is out…

[Pilot study on the prevalence of dual pathology in community mental health and substance misuse services in Madrid].

PubMed

Szerman Bolotner, Néstor; Arias Horcajadas, Francisco; Vega Astudillo, Pablo; Babín Vich, Francisco; Mesías Perez, Beatriz; Basurte Villamor, Ignacio; Morant, Consuelo; Ochoa Mangado, Enriqueta; Poyo Calvo, Félix

2011-01-01

To evaluate retrospectively the comorbidity of mental and addictive disorders in community mental health and substance misuse services in Madrid. The medical records of 400 patients from mental health and substance misuse services in Madrid were evaluated. Records were examined for the last 20 patients from each service unit. Dual pathology was constituted when a current diagnosis of mental and addictive disorders, excluding nicotine addiction, appeared on the patient's records. Prevalence of dual pathology was 34%. There were differences in the prevalence figures for the two kinds of service: 36.78% in substance misuse services, and 28.78% in mental health services. There was an association of dual diagnosis with alcohol or cocaine dependence, but not with opioid dependence. The mental disorders more prevalent in dually diagnosed than in non-dually diagnosed patients were mood disorders, personality disorders, and schizophrenia. There is a high prevalence of dual pathology in those seeking treatment, being higher in substance misuse services than in mental health services, and higher in patients with alcohol or cocaine dependence. These findings could be of help in the planning of care resource policies for these patients.

Measures of Physical and Mental Independence Among HIV-Positive Individuals: Impact of Substance Use Disorder.

PubMed

Christensen, Bianca; Qin, Zijian; Byrd, Desiree A; Yu, Fang; Morgello, Susan; Gelman, Benjamin B; Moore, David J; Grant, Igor; Singer, Elyse J; Fox, Howard S; Baccaglini, Lorena

2017-10-01

With the transition of HIV infection from an acute to a chronic disease after the introduction of antiretroviral medications, there has been an increased focus on long-term neurocognitive and other functional outcomes of HIV patients. Thus, we assessed factors, particularly history of a substance use disorder, associated with time to loss of measures of physical or mental independence among HIV-positive individuals. Data were obtained from the National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to estimate the time since HIV diagnosis to loss of independence, and to identify associated risk factors. HIV-positive participants who self-identified as physically (n = 698) or mentally (n = 616) independent on selected activities of daily living at baseline were eligible for analyses. A history of substance use disorder was associated with a higher hazard of loss of both physical and mental independence [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.71, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.07-2.78; adjusted HR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.11-2.52, respectively]. After adjusting for substance use disorder and other covariates, older age at diagnosis and female gender were associated with higher hazards of loss of both physical and mental independence, non-white participants had higher hazards of loss of physical independence, whereas participants with an abnormal neurocognitive diagnosis and fewer years of education had higher hazards of loss of mental independence. In summary, history of substance use disorder was associated with loss of measures of both physical and mental independence. The nature of this link and the means to prevent such loss of independence need further investigation.

Mental health status and related characteristics of Chinese male rural-urban migrant workers.

PubMed

Yang, Tingzhong; Xu, Xiaochao; Li, Mu; Rockett, Ian R H; Zhu, Waner; Ellison-Barnes, Alejandra

2012-06-01

To explore mental health status and related characteristics in a sample of Chinese male rural-urban migrants. Subjects were 1,595 male rural-urban migrant workers selected though a multi-stage sample survey conducted in two cities (Hangzhou and Guangzhou). Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Both life and work stressors were examined. Stress and mental health status were measured by the Chinese Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS) and the Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ), respectively. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with probable mental disorders. There are approximately 120 million rural-urban migrants in China. The prevalence of probable mental disorders in the sample population was 24.4% (95% CI: 23.3-25.5%), which was higher than among urban residents (20.2%, 95% CI: 18.8-21.7%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that five characteristics were positively associated with risk for probable mental disorders: originating in the South (OR = 2.00; 95% CI = 1.02, 4.00), higher life stress (OR = 7.63; 95% CI = 5.88, 10.00), staying in the city for 5-9 months each year (OR = 2.56; 95% CI = 1.67, 3.85), higher work stress (OR = 2.56; 95% CI = 1.96, 3.33), and separation from wife (OR = 2.43; 95% CI = 1.61, 3.57). Employment in machinery and transportation (OR = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.36, 0.81) and higher self-worth (OR = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.28, 0.62) were negatively associated. Findings support an urgent need to develop specific policies and programs to address mental health problems among Chinese rural-urban migrants.

[Comparison of sexual murderers in forensic psychiatric hospitals and in prison].

PubMed

Ujeyl, M; Habermann, N; Briken, P; Berner, W; Hill, A

2008-05-01

Empirical data are lacking that answer the question of how sexual murderers detained in forensic mental hospitals can be differentiated from those sentenced to prison. Psychiatric court reports and national criminal records on sexual murderers detained in a forensic mental hospital (n=45) were compared with those of prisoners (n=89) regarding diagnostic, criminologic, and prognostic characteristics and criminal recidivism rates after detention. Sexual murderers detained in forensic mental hospitals were characterized by higher psychiatric morbidity and slightly higher risk of future sexual and nonsexual violence. They were released from incarceration less often than the prison inmates but did not show higher sexual or nonsexual violence recidivism rates than those from the prison group.

Mental health problems and social resource factors among bullied children in the Nordic countries: a population based cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Bjereld, Ylva; Daneback, Kristian; Gunnarsdóttir, Hrafnhildur; Petzold, Max

2015-04-01

This study estimated internalising and externalising mental health problems among bullied-, unclear if bullied- and not bullied children aged 4-16 in the Nordic countries, and identified resource factors to bullied children's mental health. Data comes from the cross-sectional NordChild survey 2011 and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, including 6,214 children in the analyses. Mental health problems were most prevalent among children parent-reported as bullied (29.2-44.3 %), followed by children with unclear status if bullied (13.0-25.6 %) and not bullied children (5.3-7.9 %). Externalising problems were more prevalent in all groups except among bullied girls aged 7-16, where internalising problems were more prevalent. Ten potential resource factors to bullied children's mental health were analyzed, finding that (1) children with at least three close friends had higher odds to be mentally healthy than children with fewer close friends and (2) bullied boys had higher odds to be mentally healthy if they regularly practiced sport.

Sickness benefit claims due to mental disorders in Brazil: associations in a population-based study.

PubMed

Barbosa-Branco, Anadergh; Bültmann, Ute; Steenstra, Ivan

2012-10-01

This study aims to determine the prevalence and duration of sickness benefit claims due to mental disorders and their association with economic activity, sex, age, work-relatedness and income replacement using a population-based study of sickness benefit claims (> 15 days) due to mental disorders in Brazil carried out in 2008. The prevalence of mental disorders was 45.1 claims per 10,000 workers. Prevalence and duration of sickness benefit claims due to mental disorder were higher and longer in workers aged over 40 years. Prevalence of claims was 73% higher in women but duration of sickness benefit claims was longer in men. Prevalence rates for claims differed widely according to economic activity, with sewage, residential care and programming and broadcasting activities showing the highest rates. Claims were deemed to be work-related in 8.5% of cases with mental disorder showing low work-relatedness in Brazil. A wide variation of prevalence and duration between age, economic activity and work-relatedness was observed, suggesting that working conditions are a more important factor in mental disorder work disability than previously assumed.

Cultural Psychiatry: A Spotlight on the Experience of Clinical Social Workers' Encounter with Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Mental Health Clients.

PubMed

Freund, Anat; Band-Winterstein, Tova

2017-07-01

Community is a complex issue, especially in two particular populations overlap: Haredi society, which embraces cultural codes common to closed communities, and the mental health population characterized by its own unique needs. The present study explores the encounter experience of social workers with the cultural perceptions of mental health clients in the Haredi community in light of Community Cultural Psychiatry. A qualitative-phenomenological approach was adopted. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 social workers, mental health professionals, who are in contact with ultra-Orthodox Jewish clients. Three major themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) Exclusion vs. grace and compassion. (2) Mental health: A professional or cultural arena? (3) Mental health help-seeking changing processes. This study shows that the attitude in the Haredi community toward mental health therapy undergoes a process of change. It is important to strengthen this process, together with preserving existing community informal structures of help.

The role of mental health in primary prevention of sexual and gender-based violence.

PubMed

Gevers, Aník; Dartnall, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

In this short communication, we assert that mental health has a crucial role in the primary prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). However, we found that most research and practice to date has focused on the role of mental health post-violence, and SGBV primary prevention is relying on public health models that do not explicitly include mental health. Yet, key concepts, processes, and competencies in the mental health field appear essential to successful SGBV primary prevention. For example, empathy, self-esteem, compassion, emotional regulation and resilience, stress management, relationship building, and challenging problematic social norms are crucial. Furthermore, competencies such as rapport building, group processing, emotional nurturing, modelling, and the prevention of vicarious trauma among staff are important for the successful implementation of SGBV primary prevention programmes. SGBV primary prevention work would benefit from increased collaboration with mental health professionals and integration of key mental health concepts, processes, and skills in SGBV research.

Do soldiers seek more mental health care after deployment? Analysis of mental health consultations in the Netherlands Armed Forces following deployment to Afghanistan

PubMed Central

Taal, Elisabeth (Liesbeth) M.; Vermetten, Eric; van Schaik, Digna (Anneke) J. F.; Leenstra, Tjalling

2014-01-01

Background Military deployment to combat zones puts military personnel to a number of physical and mental challenges that may adversely affect mental health. Until now, few studies have been performed in Europe on mental health utilization after military deployment. Objective We compared the incidence of mental health consultations with the Military Mental Health Service (MMHS) of military deployed to Afghanistan to that of non-deployed military personnel. Method We assessed utilization of the MMHS by the full cohort of the Netherlands Armed Forces enlisted between 2008 and 2010 through linkage of mental health and human resource information systems. Results The total population consisted of 50,508 military (18,233 deployed, 32,275 non-deployed), who accounted for 1,906 new consultations with the MMHS. The follow-up was limited to the first 2 years following deployment. We observed higher mental health care utilization in deployed vs. non-deployed military personnel; hazard ratio (HR), adjusted for sex, military branch and time in service, 1.84 [95% CI 1.61–2.11] in the first and 1.28 [1.09–1.49] in the second year after deployment. An increased risk of adjustment disorders (HR 2.59 [2.02–3.32] and 1.74 [1.30–2.32]) and of anxiety disorders (2.22 [1.52–3.25] and 2.28 [1.50–3.45]) including posttraumatic stress disorder (5.15 [2.55–10.40] and 5.28 [2.42–11.50]), but not of mood disorders (1.33 [0.90–1.97] and 1.11 [0.68–1.82]), was observed in deployed personnel in the first- and second-year post-deployment, respectively. Military personnel deployed in a unit with a higher risk of confrontation with potentially traumatic events had a higher HR (2.13 [1.84–2.47] and 1.40 [1.18–1.67]). Conclusions Though absolute risk was low, in the first and second year following deployment to Afghanistan there was an 80 and 30% higher risk for mental health problems resulting in a consultation with the Dutch MMHS compared to military never deployed to Afghanistan. These observations underscore the need for an adequate mental health infrastructure for those returning from deployment. PMID:25206952

Religion and mental health among older adults: do the effects of religious involvement vary by gender?

PubMed

McFarland, Michael J

2010-09-01

Few studies explore how the relationship between religious involvement and mental health varies by gender among the aging population. This article outlines a series of arguments concerning the effects of gender in moderating the effect of religious involvement on mental health and examines them empirically. Using two waves (2001 and 2004) of the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey, this study estimates the differential effect of gender in the religion-mental health connection using multivariate analyses for a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults aged 66-95 years. Results suggest that (a) men obtain more mental health benefits from religious involvement than women, (b) women with higher levels of organizational religious involvement have similar levels of mental health as those with moderate and lower levels of organizational religious involvement, (c) men with very high levels of organizational religious involvement tend to have much higher levels of mental health than all other men. The relationship between organizational religious involvement and mental health is found to be mostly a nonlinear one such that those with the highest levels of religiosity receive all the benefits. The findings suggest a number of promising research directions on the religion-mental health connection among older Americans.

Mental health and academic attitudes and expectations in university populations: results from the healthy minds study.

PubMed

Lipson, Sarah Ketchen; Eisenberg, Daniel

2018-06-01

Mental health problems are highly prevalent in university populations and have been shown to impair academic performance. Yet little is known about the ways in which mental health influences academic outcomes in higher education. This study seeks to offer new insight into the relationship between mental health and academic performance, focusing on students' academic experience and expectations as interrelated mechanisms. Data come from 3556 students at four campuses that participated in the Healthy Minds Study. We explore unadjusted and multivariable relationships between mental health and academic experiences, expectations and impairment. We find significant differences by mental health status, including that one-in-four students with symptoms are dissatisfied with their academic experience, relative to one-in-ten without (p < 0.001). Approximately 30% with symptoms doubt whether higher education is worth their time, money and effort, compared to 15% without (p < 0.001). In multivariable models, mental health problems were a significant predictor of academic dissatisfaction and drop out intentions, while positive mental health was a significant predictor of satisfaction and persistence. This descriptive study offers further evidence of the importance of mental health for university success, identifying pathways related to students' experiences and expectations that may help to explain this relationship.

Psychosocial work characteristics and long-term sickness absence due to mental disorders.

PubMed

van Hoffen, Marieke F A; Roelen, Corné A M; van Rhenen, Willem; Schaufeli, Wilmar B; Heymans, Martijn W; Twisk, Jos W R

2018-02-09

Psychosocial work characteristics are associated with all-cause long-term sickness absence (LTSA). This study investigated whether psychosocial work characteristics such as higher workload, faster pace of work, less variety in work, lack of performance feedback, and lack of supervisor support are prospectively associated with higher LTSA due to mental disorders. Cohort study including 4877 workers employed in the distribution and transport sector in The Netherlands. Psychosocial work characteristics were included in a logistic regression model estimating the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of mental LTSA during 2-year follow-up. The ability of the regression model to discriminate between workers with and without mental LTSA was investigated with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Tow thousand seven hundred and eighty-two (57%) workers were included in the analysis; 73 (3%) had mental LTSA. Feedback about one's performance (OR = 0.82; 95% CI 0.70-0.96) was associated with mental LTSA. A prediction model including psychosocial work characteristics poorly discriminated (AUC = 0.65; 95% CI 0.56-0.74) between workers with and without mental LTSA. Feedback about one's performance is associated with lower rates of mental LTSA, but it is not useful to measure psychosocial work characteristics to identify workers at risk of mental LTSA.

[Development and Process Evaluation of the e-Mental Health Portal www.psychenet.de for the Hamburg Network for Mental Health].

PubMed

Dirmaier, Jörg; Tlach, Lisa; Liebherz, Sarah; Kocalevent, Rüya; Sänger, Sylvia; Thiel, Juliane; Härter, Martin

2015-07-01

The purpose of this project was to develop a user-centered web-portal for empowerment in mental disorders. The development of the portal included mixed-methods techniques for needs assessment to identify user-relevant content. Exposure and use of the portal was investigated as part of a process evaluation. psychenet.de informs about mental disorders and treatment option. Results of the process evaluation showed a highly accessed website, the portal was assessed as "good" or "very good" by 73 % of the respondents. Using psychenet.de attempts to raise awareness, to inform about mental disorders, and to engage patients in the course of their treatment. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Incidence and prevalence of mental disorders among immigrants and native Finns: a register-based study.

PubMed

Markkula, Niina; Lehti, Venla; Gissler, Mika; Suvisaari, Jaana

2017-12-01

Migrants appear to have a higher risk of mental disorders, but findings vary across country settings and migrant groups. We aimed to assess incidence and prevalence of mental disorders among immigrants and Finnish-born controls in a register-based cohort study. A register-based cohort study of 184.806 immigrants and 185.184 Finnish-born controls (1.412.117 person-years) was conducted. Information on mental disorders according to ICD-10 was retrieved from the Hospital Discharge Register, which covers all public health care use. The incidence of any mental disorder was lower among male (adjusted HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.77-0.87) and female (aHR 0.76, 95% CI 0.72-0.81) immigrants, being lowest among Asian and highest among North African and Middle Eastern immigrants. The incidence of bipolar, depressive and alcohol use disorders was lower among immigrants. Incidence of psychotic disorders was lower among female and not higher among male immigrants, compared with native Finns. Incidence of PTSD was higher among male immigrants (aHR 4.88, 95% CI 3.38-7.05). The risk of mental disorders varies significantly across migrant groups and disorders and is generally lower among immigrants than native Finns.

Trends and Risk Factors for Mental Health Diagnoses Among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Using Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care, 2002–2008

PubMed Central

Metzler, Thomas J.; Gima, Kristian S.; Bertenthal, Daniel; Maguen, Shira; Marmar, Charles R.

2009-01-01

Objectives. We sought to investigate longitudinal trends and risk factors for mental health diagnoses among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Methods. We determined the prevalence and predictors of mental health diagnoses among 289 328 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans entering Veterans Affairs (VA) health care from 2002 to 2008 using national VA data. Results. Of 289 328 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, 106 726 (36.9%) received mental health diagnoses; 62 929 (21.8%) were diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 50 432 (17.4%) with depression. Adjusted 2-year prevalence rates of PTSD increased 4 to 7 times after the invasion of Iraq. Active duty veterans younger than 25 years had higher rates of PTSD and alcohol and drug use disorder diagnoses compared with active duty veterans older than 40 years (adjusted relative risk = 2.0 and 4.9, respectively). Women were at higher risk for depression than were men, but men had over twice the risk for drug use disorders. Greater combat exposure was associated with higher risk for PTSD. Conclusions. Mental health diagnoses increased substantially after the start of the Iraq War among specific subgroups of returned veterans entering VA health care. Early targeted interventions may prevent chronic mental illness. PMID:19608954

Mental healthcare staff well-being and burnout: A narrative review of trends, causes, implications, and recommendations for future interventions.

PubMed

Johnson, Judith; Hall, Louise H; Berzins, Kathryn; Baker, John; Melling, Kathryn; Thompson, Carl

2018-02-01

Rising levels of burnout and poor well-being in healthcare staff are an international concern for health systems. The need to improve well-being and reduce burnout has long been acknowledged, but few interventions target mental healthcare staff, and minimal improvements have been seen in services. This review aimed to examine the problem of burnout and well-being in mental healthcare staff and to present recommendations for future research and interventions. A discursive review was undertaken examining trends, causes, implications, and interventions in burnout and well-being in healthcare staff working in mental health services. Data were drawn from national surveys, reports, and peer-reviewed journal articles. These show that staff in mental healthcare report poorer well-being than staff in other healthcare sectors. Poorer well-being and higher burnout are associated with poorer quality and safety of patient care, higher absenteeism, and higher turnover rates. Interventions are effective, but effect sizes are small. The review concludes that grounding interventions in the research literature, emphasizing the positive aspects of interventions to staff, building stronger links between healthcare organizations and universities, and designing interventions targeting burnout and improved patient care together may improve the effectiveness and uptake of interventions by staff. © 2017 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

[Mental health impact of stalking in men and women].

PubMed

Kuehner, Christine; Gass, Peter; Dressing, Harald

2006-08-01

Using data from the Mannheim stalking study, the present report analyses gender differences with regard to various mental health indicators and potential mediator effects of stalking victimization. Furthermore, we were interested in whether the impact of stalking on mental health was comparable for men and women. The study included a postal survey of 675 community residents on the experience of intruding harassment and on mental health indicators. In the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-D, Lowe et al. 2001), women scored higher on most of the subscales (depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, stress, psychosocial impairment) than men. Furthermore, more women fulfilled criteria for at least one threshold or subthreshold mental disorder syndrome according to DSM-IV, and more women were under psychotropic medication. However, the identified associations were completely mediated by the higher prevalence of stalking victims in women. In contrast, the associations of stalking victimization with poor mental health, psychosocial functioning, and use of medication were largely comparable across gender.

Becoming an Independent Community Mental Health Center: Perils of the Process

PubMed Central

Adams, Milton S.

1978-01-01

Over the past 12 years, since the inception of the Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) movement, there has been increasing concern that local communities have more input; in fact, that they actually have the opportunity to operate the mental health programs that they deem necessary for their communities.1 Under the Amendments to the Community Mental Health Act (P.L.94-63) 1975, CMHCs were given such options as independence or governance. The whole process of governance presents numerous problems as well as opportunities. An overview of the vicissitudes of this process is presented in this paper. PMID:702582

To what extent may the association between immigrant status and mental illness be explained by socioeconomic factors?

PubMed

Tinghög, Petter; Hemmingsson, Tomas; Lundberg, Ingvar

2007-12-01

Immigrants in Sweden have a higher rate of mental illness than the native Swedes. This study investigated to what extent the association between immigrant status and mental illness can be explained by a different distribution of known risk factors for impaired mental health between groups of immigrants and persons born in Sweden. The study is based on data from the Swedish PART-study, designed to identify risk factors for, and social consequences of, mental illness. The study population consists of a random sample of 10,423 Swedish citizens, whereof 1,109 were immigrants. The data was collected in the year 2000. The immigrants were divided into three groups based on country of origin (Scandinavians born outside Sweden, Europeans born outside Scandinavia, non-Europeans). The occurrence of mental illness among immigrants and native Swedes were compared not adjusting and adjusting for indicators of socioeconomic advantage/disadvantage (education, income, labour market position, etc). Mental illness was approximated with the WHO (ten) wellbeing index scale and depressive symptoms were measured with the major depression inventory scale (MDI). Immigrants' excess risk for low subjective wellbeing was completely accounted for by adjustment for known risk factors in all the immigrant groups. However, social-economic disadvantages could not account for the non-European immigrants' higher prevalence of depression (MDI), although the increased relative risk found in univariate analyses was substantially reduced. The findings in this study suggest that the association between immigrant status and mental illness appears above all to be an effect of a higher prevalence of social and economic disadvantage.

Do informal caregivers in mental illness feel more burdened? A comparative study of mental versus somatic illnesses.

PubMed

Hastrup, Lene H; Van Den Berg, Bernard; Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte

2011-08-01

This study investigates a possible added subjective burden among informal caregivers to care recipients with a mental illness or a combination of mental and somatic illnesses compared with caregivers to care recipients with a somatic illness. The study also investigates the subjective caregiver burden by caregivers' characteristics and objective burden. The association between subjective caregiver burden and socio-demographic factors, objective burden, and health-related quality of life was analyzed in a population of 865 Dutch informal caregivers, using multiple linear regression analysis. Controlling for other factors in the analysis, we found that caring for a recipient with mental illness or a combination of mental and somatic illness was associated with an extra subjective caregiver burden (measured by Caregiver Strain Index). Objective burden, in terms of more than 50 hours of care provision per week, less than three years of caregiving, or living together with the care recipients was associated with higher subjective caregiver burden. Other factors associated with higher subjective caregiver burden were being partners or a child of care recipient, having a paid job, a low health-related quality of life (EQ-5D), or having an illness. This study suggests that caregivers to care recipients with a mental and especially a combination of mental and somatic illnesses have a higher subjective caregiver burden compared with caregivers to care recipients with a somatic illness. Because the study is not representative of all caregivers, more research focusing on identifying and contacting informal caregivers is needed to confirm the result.

The Role of Social Awareness in the Employment Success of Adolescents with Mild Mental Retardation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Rhonda S.; Rojewski, Jay W.

1998-01-01

A study investigated the role of three social-awareness components (sensitivity, insight, and communication) in the employment success of 125 adolescents with mild mental retardation. Results found that all three social-awareness measures were higher for adolescents who rated higher in work performance, particularly awareness of social…

Relationship between Traditional Chinese Beliefs about Aetiology of Mental Disorders and Help Seeking: A Survey of the Elderly in Macao.

PubMed

Found, A

2016-03-01

A wide range of factors can influence help-seeking attitudes when individuals experience a mental disorder. The current study investigated the relationship between traditional Chinese beliefs related to the aetiology of mental disorders and help-seeking attitudes among elderly participants in Macao. In order to ensure the suitability of participants for inclusion in this study, the participants were required to complete an initial screening test using the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ). Participants who successfully passed the test (n = 183) completed a questionnaire that included the Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS), a set of 9 items related to traditional Chinese beliefs about aetiology of mental disorders and demographic items. The IASMHS scores were higher for female participants and for participants who had completed high school compared with those who had never attended school or who had only completed primary education. Endorsement of traditional Chinese beliefs about the aetiology of mental disorders was higher for male participants. There was a negative correlation between traditional Chinese aetiology beliefs related to mental disorders and help-seeking attitudes. Traditional Chinese beliefs related to the aetiology of mental disorders are a negative factor that inhibits help seeking. Implications for efforts to increase the utilisation of mental health services by the elderly are discussed.

Effects of Mental Imagery on Muscular Strength in Healthy and Patient Participants: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Slimani, Maamer; Tod, David; Chaabene, Helmi; Miarka, Bianca; Chamari, Karim

2016-01-01

The aims of the present review were to (i) provide a critical overview of the current literature on the effects of mental imagery on muscular strength in healthy participants and patients with immobilization of the upper extremity (i.e., hand) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), (ii) identify potential moderators and mediators of the “mental imagery-strength performance” relationship and (iii) determine the relative contribution of electromyography (EMG) and brain activities, neural and physiological adaptations in the mental imagery-strength performance relationship. This paper also discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the contemporary literature and suggests possible directions for future research. Overall, the results reveal that the combination of mental imagery and physical practice is more efficient than, or at least comparable to, physical execution with respect to strength performance. Imagery prevention intervention was also effective in reducing of strength loss after short-term muscle immobilization and ACL. The present review also indicates advantageous effects of internal imagery (range from 2.6 to 136.3%) for strength performance compared with external imagery (range from 4.8 to 23.2%). Typically, mental imagery with muscular activity was higher in active than passive muscles, and imagining “lifting a heavy object” resulted in more EMG activity compared with imagining “lifting a lighter object”. Thus, in samples of students, novices, or youth male and female athletes, internal mental imagery has a greater effect on muscle strength than external mental imagery does. Imagery ability, motivation, and self-efficacy have been shown to be the variables mediating the effect of mental imagery on strength performance. Finally, the greater effects of internal imagery than those of external imagery could be explained in terms of neural adaptations, stronger brain activation, higher muscle excitation, greater somatic and sensorimotor activation and physiological responses such as blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration rate. Key points Coupling mental imagery with physical training is the best suited intervention for improving strength performance. An examination of potential moderator variables revealed that the effectiveness of mental imagery on strength performance may vary depending on the appropriate matching of muscular groups, the characteristics of mental imagery interventions, training duration, and type of skills. Self-efficacy, motivation, and imagery ability were the mediator variables in the mental imagery-strength performance relationship. Greater effects of internal imagery perspective on strength performance than those of external imagery could be explained in terms of neural adaptations, stronger brain activation, higher muscles excitation, greater somatic and sensorimotor activation, and higher physiological responses such as blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration rate. Mental imagery prevention interventions may provide a valuable tool to improve the functional recovery after short-term muscle immobilization and anterior cruciate ligament in patients. PMID:27803622

Context matters: Community characteristics and mental health among war-affected youth in Sierra Leone

PubMed Central

Betancourt, Theresa S.; McBain, Ryan; Newnham, Elizabeth A.; Brennan, Robert T.

2013-01-01

Background Worldwide, over one billion children and adolescents live in war-affected settings. At present, only limited research has investigated linkages between disrupted social ecology and adverse mental health outcomes among war-affected youth. In this study, we examine three community-level characteristics—social disorder and collective efficacy within the community, as reported by caregivers, and perceived stigma as reported by youth—in relation to externalizing behaviors and internalizing symptoms among male and female former child soldiers in post-conflict Sierra Leone. Methods 243 former child soldiers (30% female, mean age at baseline: 16.6 years) and their primary caregivers participated in interviews in 2004 and 2008, as part of a larger prospective cohort study of war-affected youth in Sierra Leone. Two-point growth models were estimated to examine the relationship between community-level characteristics and externalizing and internalizing outcomes across the time points. Results Both social disorder within the community, reported by caregivers, and perceived stigma, reported by youth, positively co-varied with youths’ externalizing and internalizing scores—indicating that higher levels of each at baseline and follow-up were associated with higher levels of mental health problems at both time points (p<0.05). The relationship between collective efficacy and mental health outcomes was non-significant (p>0.05). Conclusions This study offers a rare glimpse into the role that the post-conflict social context plays in shaping mental health among former child soldiers. Results indicate that both social disorder and perceived stigma within the community demonstrate an important relationship to externalizing and internalizing problems among adolescent ex-combatants. Moreover, these relationships persisted over a four-year period of follow up. These results underscore the importance of the post-conflict social environment and the need to develop post-conflict interventions that address community-level processes in addition to the needs of the individual. PMID:24102324

Prevalence and Correlates of Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors among North Korean Defectors

PubMed Central

An, Ji Hyun; Lee, Kyoung Eun; Lee, Hyo Chul; Kim, Hae Soo; Jun, Jin Yong; Chang, Hye In; Kim, Suk Sun; Lee-Tauler, Su Yeon; Hong, Jin Pyo

2018-01-01

Objective Despite the increasing number of North Korean defectors, research on their mental health conditions and suicidal thoughts and behaviors has not been conducted systematically. We examined the prevalence and risk factors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in North Korean defectors. Methods This study focused on 300 North Korean defectors recruited from regional resettlement centers in South Korea. In-person interviews based on the North Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview were conducted to diagnose mental disorders and assess suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between suicidal thoughts and behaviors and socio-demographic variables, and DSM-IV mental disorders. Results Lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts were 28.3, 13.3, and 17.3%, respectively. Female sex (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.0–3.9), presence of health problems in the past year (2.6, 95% CI: 1.4–4.6), and absence of both South Korean acquaintances (1.9, 95% CI: 1.0–3.4) and North Korean family (1.7, 95% CI: 1.0–2.9) were associated with higher odds of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, after adjusting for participant age, sex, and education. Presence of a mental disorder was associated with a significantly increased odd of suicide ideation, plan, and attempt. Of all mental disorder categories, agoraphobia had the strongest association with suicidal ideation (6.5, 95% CI: 2.0–21.6), plans (7.7, 95% CI: 2.5–23.2) and attempts (12.0, 95% CI: 3.5–40.8). Conclusion Suicidal thoughts and behaviors among North Korean defectors are higher than the general population in South Korea, especially show high rates in transit countries. Further study should focus on the changes in suicidal thoughts and behaviors according to the settlement process and early prevention.

Discrimination, Perceived Social Inequity, and Mental Health Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

PubMed Central

Lin, Danhua; Wang, Bo; Hong, Yan; Qin, Xiong; Stanton, Bonita

2010-01-01

Status-based discrimination and inequity have been associated with the process of migration, especially with economics-driven internal migration. However, their association with mental health among economy-driven internal migrants in developing countries is rarely assessed. This study examines discriminatory experiences and perceived social inequity in relation to mental health status among rural-to-urban migrants in China. Cross-sectional data were collected from 1,006 rural-to-urban migrants in 2004–2005 in Beijing, China. Participants reported their perceptions and experiences of being discriminated in daily life in urban destination and perceived social inequity. Mental health was measured using the symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90). Multivariate analyses using general linear model were performed to test the effect of discriminatory experience and perceived social inequity on mental health. Experience of discrimination was positively associated with male gender, being married at least once, poorer health status, shorter duration of migration, and middle range of personal income. Likewise, perceived social inequity was associated with poorer health status, higher education attainment, and lower personal income. Multivariate analyses indicate that both experience of discrimination and perceived social inequity were strongly associated with mental health problems of rural-to-urban migrants. Experience of discrimination in daily life and perceived social inequity have a significant influence on mental health among rural-to-urban migrants. The findings underscore the needs to reduce public or societal discrimination against rural-to-urban migrants, to eliminate structural barriers (i.e., dual household registrations) for migrants to fully benefit from the urban economic development, and to create a positive atmosphere to improve migrant's psychological well-being. PMID:20033772

MENTAL HEALTH OF PHYSICIANS--NATIONWIDE REPRESENTATIVE STUDY FROM HUNGARY.

PubMed

Győrffy, Zsuzsa; Girasek, Edmond

2015-07-30

Somatic and mental health and stress factors of physicians became an issue of growing interest in both national and international investigations. Our aim is to give an overview of the mental state of Hungarian physicians. Cross-sectional, quantitative survey on a representative sample of Hungarian physicians (n = 4784). The control group was formed by the population group of a national survey conducted by "Hungarostudy 2013" (n = 2000). Suicidal thoughts (18.8% vs. 9.6%, p < 0.001), the scores of Somatic Symptom Scale (PHQ-10, 20.4% vs. 13.6%, p < 0.001) were significantly higher among physicians. The suicidal attempts (1.9% vs. 3.5%, p = 0.053) and BDI depression scores (7.9% vs. 29.5%, p < 0.001) were significantly higher in the control group. High Perceived Stress Scale (PPS) scores occurred in 43.3% of the physicians sample, and 43.4% of them had high scores in the Athenian Insomnia Scale (AIS). The young (< 35) female physicians showed significantly higher rates of suicidal thoughts, higher scores of PHQ and PPS. In the young female cohort, the AIS scores were significantly higher than of the other physicians. Mental health of physicians (sleep disorders, suicidal thoughts and psychosomatic symptoms) showed poorer results than the population data. BDI scores and the rate of suicidal attempts showed favourable trends. The next step in the research of physicians' mental health is to investigate the most serious risk factors, and to refine the preventive tools.

Event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the alpha band during a hand mental rotation task.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaogang; Bin, Guangyu; Daly, Ian; Gao, Xiaorong

2013-04-29

Recent studies have demonstrated that mentally rotating the hands involves participants engaging in motor imagery processing. However, far less is known about the possible neurophysiological basis of such processing. To contribute to a better understanding of hand mental rotation processing, event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) methods were applied to electroencephalography (EEG) data collected from participants mentally rotating their hands. Time-frequency analyses revealed that alpha-band power suppression was larger over central-parietal regions. This is in accordance with motor imagery findings suggesting that the motor regions may be involved in processing or detection of kinaesthetic information. Furthermore, the presence of a significant negative correlation between reaction times (RTs) and alpha-band power suppression over central regions is illustrated. These findings are consistent with the neural efficiency hypothesis, which proposes the non-use of many brain regions irrelevant for the task performance as well as the more focused use of specific task-related regions in individuals with better performance. These results indicate that ERSP provides some independent insights into the mental rotation process and further confirms that parietal and motor cortices are involved in mental rotation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

PEDIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AND ASSOCIATED BURDEN ON FAMILIES

PubMed Central

Houtrow, Amy J.; Okumura, Megumi J.

2011-01-01

Approximately 20% of children in the United States have mental health problems. The factors associated with childhood mental health problems and the associated burdens on families are not well understood. Therefore, our goals were to profile mental health problems in children to identify disparities, and to quantify and identify correlates of family burden. We used the National Survey of Children’s Health, 2003 (N=85,116 children aged 3–17 years) for this analysis. The prevalence, unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios of mental health problems and family burden were calculated for children by child-, family- and health systems- level characteristics. The prevalence of mental health problems among children aged 3–17 years was 18%. The odds of mental health problems were higher for boys, older children, children living in or near relative poverty, those covered by public insurance, children of mothers with fair or poor mental health, children living in homes without two parents, children without a personal doctor or nurse, and children with unmet health care needs. Among families with children with mental health problems, 28% reported family burden. Correlates of family burden included White race, severity, older age, higher income, non-two parent family structure, and having a mother with mental health problems. In conclusion, childhood mental health problems are common and disproportionally affect children with fewer family and health care resources. Families frequently report burden, especially if the mental health problem is moderate to severe, but the correlates of family burden are not the same correlates associated with mental health problems. Understanding those highest at risk for mental health problems and family burden will help assist clinicians and policy makers to ensure appropriate support systems for children and families. PMID:22135697

Analysis of causes of death for all decedents in Ohio with and without mental illness, 2004-2007.

PubMed

Sherman, Marion E; Knudsen, Kraig J; Sweeney, Helen Anne; Tam, Kwok; Musuuza, Jackson; Koroukian, Siran M

2013-03-01

This study compared causes of death, crude mortality rates, and standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) between decedents with mental illness in Ohio's publicly funded mental health system ("mental illness decedents") and all Ohio decedents. Ohio death certificates and Ohio Department of Mental Health service utilization data were used to assess mortality among decedents from 2004 to 2007. Age-adjusted SMRs and age-adjusted mortality rates were calculated across race and sex strata. Mental illness decedents accounted for 3.3% of all 438,749 Ohio deaths. Age-adjusted SMRs varied widely across the race and sex strata and by cause of death. Nonblacks with or without mental illness showed higher SMRs than blacks. Nonblack females with mental illness showed the highest SMRs in injury-related deaths. Higher SMRs were found for deaths associated with substance abuse; mental illness; diabetes; issues related to the nervous, cardiovascular, or respiratory systems; and injury. With and without mental illness, the top cause of death was violence for youths and cardiovascular disease for adults >35. Deaths from injury and violence, especially among those <35, should be specifically addressed to reduce excess mortality for persons with mental illness. Mental health care should be integrated with primary care to better manage chronic disease, especially cardiovascular disease. Methodological contributions included use of linked files to compare SMR and leading causes of death between mental illness decedents and all Ohio decedents. More research is needed on patterns in cause of death and any interactions from demographic characteristics and mental illness. Health care data silos must be bridged between private and public sectors and the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense.

[Distribution and main influential factors of mental workload of middle school teachers in Nanchang City].

PubMed

Xiao, Yuanmei; Li, Weijuan; Ren, Qingfeng; Ren, Xiaohui; Wang, Zhiming; Wang, Mianzhen; Lan, Yajia

2015-01-01

To investigate the distribution and main influential factors of mental workload of middle school teachers in Nanchang City. A total of 504 middle school teachers were sampled by random cluster sampling from middle schools in Nanchang City, and the mental workload level was assessed with National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) which was verified in reliability and validity. The mental workload scores of middle school teachers in Nanchang was approximately normal distribution. The mental workload level of middle school teachers aged 31 -35 years old was the highest. For those no more than 35 years old, there was positive correlation between mental workload and age (r = 0.146, P < 0.05). For those more than 35 years old, the levels of their mental workload had no statistically significant difference. There was a negative correlation between mental workload and educational level(r = -0.172, P < 0.05). The middle school teachers with lower educational level seemed to have a higher mental workload (P < 0.01). The longer a middle school teacher worked per day, the higher the mental workload was. Working hours per day was the most influential factor on mental workload in all influential factors (P < 0.001). Mental workload of middle school teachers was closely related to age, educational level and work hours per day. Working hours per day was the important risk factor of mental workload. Reducing working hours per day, especially reducing it to be no more than 8 hours per day, may be a significant and useful approach alleviating mental workload of middle school teachers in Nanchang City.

The influence of folate serum levels on depressive mood and mental processing in patients with epilepsy treated with enzyme-inducing anti-epileptic drugs.

PubMed

Rösche, J; Uhlmann, C; Weber, R; Fröscher, W

2003-04-01

Folate deficiency is common in patients with epilepsy and also occurs in patients with depression or cognitive deficits. This study investigates whether low serum folate levels may contribute to depressive mood and difficulties in mental processing in patients with epilepsy treated with anti-epileptic drugs inducing the cytochrome P450. We analysed the serum folate levels, the score in the Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and the results of a bedside test in mental processing in 54 patients with epilepsy. There was a significant negative correlation between the serum folate levels and the score in SDS and significant positive correlations between the score in SDS and the time needed to process an interference task or a letter-reading task. Low serum folate levels may contribute to depressive mood and therefore to difficulties in mental processing. Further studies utilizing total plasma homocysteine as a sensitive measure of functional folate deficiency and more elaborate tests of mental processing are required to elucidate the impact of folate metabolism on depressive mood and cognitive function in patients with epilepsy.

Cross-cultural opening in German outpatient mental healthcare service: an exploratory study of structural and procedural aspects.

PubMed

Mösko, Mike-Oliver; Gil-Martinez, Fernanda; Schulz, Holger

2013-01-01

Mental healthcare services need to be sensitive towards the cultural needs of patients. Cross-cultural opening is an organizational process to fulfil these needs. This study aims to provide representative structural and procedural data regarding the use of German outpatient mental healthcare services by allochthonous patients, the diversity of psychotherapists in outpatient mental healthcare service, the cross-cultural encounters of therapists and the cross-cultural sensitivity of psychotherapists working in this healthcare area. Of all public outpatient psychotherapists in Hamburg, 81% (n = 485) participated in this survey. Regarding the distribution of the population in this metropolis, allochthonous therapists were underrepresented. Unlike the overall distribution of foreign inhabitants, the largest groups of immigrant therapists came from England, German-speaking countries and other countries within the European Union. The proportion of allochthonous patients in outpatient mental healthcare service was almost half of the proportion of the allochthonous in the general population. Psychotherapists with a migration background regarded themselves as having a higher level of cross-cultural sensitivity than their native colleagues, especially those who have had fewer cross-cultural encounters. Overall, psychotherapists named different challenges in providing cross-cultural treatment. For the German outpatient mental healthcare service to be more accessible to immigrants and their descendants, a greater number of bilingual psychotherapists must gain access to the mental healthcare service, and more advanced cross-cultural sensitivity training and supervision should be provided. German outpatient psychotherapists are culturally and linguistically diverse. Nevertheless, psychotherapists with a migration background are underrepresented in outpatient mental healthcare services. Patients with a migration background are also underrepresented in the German outpatient mental healthcare system. Because mental healthcare services must be sensitive and respectful towards patients' cultural and linguistic needs, the mental healthcare outpatient service must be more accessible to therapists who speak languages other than German and English. Psychotherapeutic treatment of patients with a migration background can be tremendously challenging because of other cultures' differing value systems. Prospective, advanced training in cross-cultural sensitivity and cross-cultural supervision should be provided. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Supplantation of Mental Operations on Graphs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vogel, Markus; Girwidz, Raimund; Engel, Joachim

2007-01-01

Research findings show the difficulties younger students have in working with graphs. Higher mental operations are necessary for a skilled interpretation of abstract representations. We suggest connecting a concrete representation of the modeled problem with the related graph. The idea is to illustrate essential mental operations externally. This…

International Students and Mental Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forbes-Mewett, Helen; Sawyer, Anne-Maree

2016-01-01

Since the early 2000s, reports of increased rates of mental ill health among young people worldwide have received much attention. Several studies indicate a greater incidence of mental health problems among tertiary students, compared with the general population, and higher levels of anxiety, in particular, among international students compared…

Campus Climate Matters: Changing the Mental Health Climate on College Campuses Improves Student Outcomes and Benefits Society. Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

RAND Corporation, 2016

2016-01-01

California, which has some 2.8 million students on its public higher education campuses, is taking steps to reduce the gap between students' need for mental health treatment and their use of mental health services. Beginning in 2011, as part of a statewide initiative to improve mental health outcomes for all Californians, the California Mental…

Prevalence of mental distress and associated factors among Hawassa University medical students, Southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Melese, Biniam; Bayu, Birhanu; Wondwossen, Fikir; Tilahun, Kalkidan; Lema, Seti; Ayehu, Moges; Loha, Eskindir

2016-11-08

Mental distress is a mental health problem expressed with variable levels of depressive, anxiety, panic or somatic symptoms. Owing to several factors tertiary level students are among the population with higher prevalence of mental distress and an even more higher prevalence has been reported in medical students. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of mental distress among medical students, and to evaluate contextually relevant associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students attending Hawassa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2013/2014 academic year. Stratified random sampling was implemented with each strata representing the year of study of the students. Data on mental distress was collected using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20). Data was entered into and analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics 21. A cut-off point of 8 and above was used to classify students as having mental distress. Among 240 students included in the study, 72 (30%) of them were found to have mental distress. There was no significant difference in mental distress between males and females (COR = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.62-2.25). On bivariate analysis, students with age less than or equal to 21 years showed higher odds of having mental distress (COR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.26-4.22), but because of having high correlation with students' year of study, age was excluded from the multivariate model. In this study being a pre-medicine student (AOR = 3.61, 95% CI: 1.45-8.97), perceiving medical school as very stressful (AOR = 3.89, 95% CI: 1.52-9.94), perceiving living environment as very crowded (AOR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.24-4.77) and having a feeling of insecurity about one's safety (AOR = 2.93, 95% CI: 1.51-5.68) had statistically significant association with mental distress. In this study one-third of medical students were found to have mental distress. Designing prevention and treatment programs to address contextually relevant factors is very important.

Aspects of mental health dysfunction among survivors of childhood cancer.

PubMed

Fidler, Miranda M; Ziff, Oliver J; Wang, Sarra; Cave, Joshua; Janardhanan, Pradeep; Winter, David L; Kelly, Julie; Mehta, Susan; Jenkinson, Helen; Frobisher, Clare; Reulen, Raoul C; Hawkins, Michael M

2015-09-29

Some previous studies have reported that survivors of childhood cancer are at an increased risk of developing long-term mental health morbidity, whilst others have reported that this is not the case. Therefore, we analysed 5-year survivors of childhood cancer using the British Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (BCCSS) to determine the risks of aspects of long-term mental health dysfunction. Within the BCCSS, 10 488 survivors completed a questionnaire that ascertained mental health-related information via 10 questions from the Short Form-36 survey. Internal analyses were conducted using multivariable logistic regression to determine risk factors for mental health dysfunction. External analyses were undertaken using direct standardisation to compare mental health dysfunction in survivors with UK norms. This study has shown that overall, childhood cancer survivors had a significantly higher prevalence of mental health dysfunction for 6/10 questions analysed compared to UK norms. Central nervous system (CNS) and bone sarcoma survivors reported the greatest dysfunction, compared to expected, with significant excess dysfunction in 10 and 6 questions, respectively; the excess ranged from 4.4-22.3% in CNS survivors and 6.9-15.9% in bone sarcoma survivors. Compared to expected, excess mental health dysfunction increased with attained age; this increase was greatest for reporting 'limitations in social activities due to health', where the excess rose from 4.5% to 12.8% in those aged 16-24 and 45+, respectively. Within the internal analyses, higher levels of educational attainment and socio-economic classification were protective against mental health dysfunction. Based upon the findings of this large population-based study, childhood cancer survivors report significantly higher levels of mental health dysfunction than those in the general population, where deficits were observed particularly among CNS and bone sarcoma survivors. Limitations were also observed to increase with age, and thus it is important to emphasise the need for mental health evaluation and services across the entire lifespan. There is evidence that low educational attainment and being unemployed or having never worked adversely impacts long-term mental health. These findings provide an evidence base for risk stratification and planning interventions.

Economic costs of social phobia: a population-based study.

PubMed

Acarturk, C; Smit, Filip; de Graaf, R; van Straten, A; Ten Have, M; Cuijpers, P

2009-06-01

Information about the economic costs of social phobia is scant. In this study, we examine the economic costs of social phobia and subthreshold social phobia. Data were derived from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study (NEMESIS) which is a population-based prospective study (n=4,789). Costs related to health service uptake, patients' out-of-pocket expenses, and costs arising from production losses were calculated for the reference year 2003. The costs for people with social phobia were compared with the costs for people with no mental disorder. The annual per capita total costs of social phobia were euro 11,952 (95% CI=7,891-16,013) which is significantly higher than the total costs for people with no mental disorder, euro 2957 (95% CI=2690-3224). When adjusting for mental and somatic co-morbidity, the costs decreased to euro 6,100 (95% CI=2681-9519), or 136 million euro per year per 1 million inhabitants, which was still significantly higher than the costs for people with no mental disorder. The costs of subthreshold social phobia were also significantly higher than the costs for people without any mental disorder, at euro 4,687 (95% CI=2557-6816). The costs presented here are conservative lower estimates because we only included costs related to mental health services. The economic costs associated with social phobia are substantial, and those of subthreshold social phobia approach those of the full-blown disorder.

Physical fitness and levels of physical activity in people with severe mental illness: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Perez-Cruzado, David; Cuesta-Vargas, Antonio I; Vera-Garcia, Elisa; Mayoral-Cleries, Fermín

2017-01-01

Physical fitness is a crucial variable in people with severe mental illness as these people could be more independent and improve their job opportunities. The present study compared the physical fitness of physically active and inactive people with severe mental illness. Physical fitness was evaluated in sixty-two people with severe mental illness using 11 physical tests that include strength, flexibility, balance and aerobic condition. Significant differences were found between both groups in muscle strength (handgrip test) and balance (single leg balance test and functional reach) with better performance in the group of physically active people. The results of the present study suggest that physical fitness (strength and balance) is higher in people with severe mental illness who practise regular physical activity that those who are inactive people. Physical active people may have a reduced risk of falls and fractures due to their higher levels of physical fitness.

The longitudinal relationship between behavior and emotional disturbance in young people with intellectual disability and maternal mental health

PubMed Central

Gray, Kylie M; Piccinin, Andrea M; Hofer, Scott M; Mackinnon, Andrew; Bontempo, Daniel E; Einfeld, Stewart L; Parmenter, Trevor; Tonge, Bruce J

2011-01-01

Although elevated rates of parent psychosocial distress have been associated with child behavior and emotional problems, little is known about the nature of this relationship over time. This study followed an epidemiological cohort of children and adolescents over 11 years with 4 waves of data collection. Within this cohort, complete data were available on 238 mothers and their children. Behavior and emotional problems were assessed using the DBC, maternal mental health with the GHQ. Multivariate growth curve modelling was used to evaluate the commonality of individual change patterns. High levels of mental health problems were reported, which were stable over time. Higher scores on the DBC were associated with higher rates of mental health problems. Increases in child social relating problems were associated with increases mental health symptoms, particularly depression and anxiety. PMID:21295442

[Observed, pursued, disintegrated--mental disorders among victims of non-criminal repressions in the former GDR].

PubMed

Spitzer, Carsten; Ulrich, Ines; Plock, Kathryn; Mothes, Jörn; Drescher, Anne; Gürtler, Lena; Freyberger, Harald J; Barnow, Sven

2007-03-01

While there are numerous studies on the mental sequelae of political imprisonment in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), there is little knowledge about the prevalence of mental disorders in victims of other forms of political persecution. 74 individuals, who were subject to non-criminal repressions in the GDR, were investigated by means of a standardized psychiatric interview. They had been exposed to a variety of reprisals such as observations, purposeful indiscretions, arranged professional failure and other forms of social marginalization. At least one mental disorder was found in 60 % of the participants. Affective disorders were the most common ones with a lifetime prevalence of 38 %, followed by anxiety (23 %) and somatoform disorders (28 %). The frequency of mental disorders in our sample of politically persecuted people was higher than in the general population and similar to that of political prisoners, who only show higher rates of anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorders.

Combining Partial Directed Coherence and Graph Theory to Analyse Effective Brain Networks of Different Mental Tasks.

PubMed

Huang, Dengfeng; Ren, Aifeng; Shang, Jing; Lei, Qiao; Zhang, Yun; Yin, Zhongliang; Li, Jun; von Deneen, Karen M; Huang, Liyu

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to qualify the network properties of the brain networks between two different mental tasks (play task or rest task) in a healthy population. EEG signals were recorded from 19 healthy subjects when performing different mental tasks. Partial directed coherence (PDC) analysis, based on Granger causality (GC), was used to assess the effective brain networks during the different mental tasks. Moreover, the network measures, including degree, degree distribution, local and global efficiency in delta, theta, alpha, and beta rhythms were calculated and analyzed. The local efficiency is higher in the beta frequency and lower in the theta frequency during play task whereas the global efficiency is higher in the theta frequency and lower in the beta frequency in the rest task. This study reveals the network measures during different mental states and efficiency measures may be used as characteristic quantities for improvement in attentional performance.

Parental use of corporal punishment in Europe: intersection between public health and policy.

PubMed

duRivage, Nathalie; Keyes, Katherine; Leray, Emmanuelle; Pez, Ondine; Bitfoi, Adina; Koç, Ceren; Goelitz, Dietmar; Kuijpers, Rowella; Lesinskiene, Sigita; Mihova, Zlatka; Otten, Roy; Fermanian, Christophe; Kovess-Masfety, Viviane

2015-01-01

Studies have linked the use of corporal punishment of children to the development of mental health disorders. Despite the recommendation of international governing bodies for a complete ban of the practice, there is little European data available on the effects of corporal punishment on mental health and the influence of laws banning corporal punishment. Using data from the School Children Mental Health Europe survey, the objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the prevalence and legal status of corporal punishment across six European countries and to evaluate the association between parental use of corporal punishment and children's mental health. The study found that odds of having parents who reported using occasional to frequent corporal punishment were 1.7 times higher in countries where its use is legal, controlling for socio-demographic factors. Children with parents who reported using corporal punishment had higher rates of both externalized and internalized mental health disorders.

Utility of the Montreal assessment of need questionnaire for community mental health planning.

PubMed

Tremblay, Jacques; Bamvita, Jean-Marie; Grenier, Guy; Fleury, Marie-Josée

2014-09-01

Needs assessment facilitates mental health services planning, provision, and evaluation. This study aimed to (a) validate a new instrument, the Montreal Assessment of Needs Questionnaire (MANQ), and (b) use this to assess variations and predictors of need (number and seriousness) in 297 individuals with severe mental disorders for 18 months, during implementation of the Quebec Mental Health Action Plan. MANQ internal and external validations were adequate. Variables significantly associated with need number and seriousness variations were used to build multiple linear regression models. Autonomous housing, not receiving welfare, not having consulted a health educator, higher level of help from services, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test total score, and social support were associated with decreasing need number and seriousness over time. Having a higher education was also associated with decreasing need number. In a reform context, the MANQ's unique ability to detect rapid improvement in patient needs has usefulness for Quebec mental health planning.

Discrimination and mental health among Somali refugee adolescents: the role of acculturation and gender.

PubMed

Ellis, B Heidi; MacDonald, Helen Z; Klunk-Gillis, Julie; Lincoln, Alisa; Strunin, Lee; Cabral, Howard J

2010-10-01

This study examines the role of social identity (acculturation and gender) in moderating the association between discrimination and Somali adolescent refugees' mental health. Participants were English-speaking Somali adolescent refugees between the ages of 11 and 20 (N = 135). Perceived discrimination, trauma history, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive symptoms, and behavioral acculturation were assessed in structured interviews. Fourteen in-depth qualitative interviews and 3 focus groups were also conducted. Results indicated that discrimination was common and associated with worse mental health. For girls, greater Somali acculturation was associated with better mental health. Also, the association between discrimination and PTSD was less strong for girls who showed higher levels of Somali acculturation. For boys, greater American acculturation was associated with better mental health, and the association between discrimination and depression was less strong for boys with higher levels of American acculturation. © 2010 American Orthopsychiatric Association.

Attitude Similarity and Familiarity and Their Links to Mental Health: An Examination of Potential Interpersonal Mediators

PubMed Central

Uchino, Bert; Baucom, Brian; Behrends, Arwen; Sanbonmatsu, David

2017-01-01

Similarity and familiarity with partner's attitudes (Byrne, Clore, & Smeaton, 1986; Sanbonmatsu, Uchino, & Birmingham, 2011) are linked to positive relationship outcomes, while interpersonal variables have been linked to mental health (e.g., Lakey & Cronin, 2008). Using multilevel models (MLMs), we modeled the associations between these attitudinal variables and mental health outcomes in 74 married couples. We found that higher levels of attitude similarity in couples were linked to lower depression, while higher levels of attitude familiarity in couples were associated with greater satisfaction with life. Mediational analyses indicated marital satisfaction and interpersonal stress mediated the link between attitude similarity and depression. Marital satisfaction also mediated the link between familiarity and satisfaction with life. This study is the first linking attitude familiarity to mental health and provides evidence that familiarity and similarity have mental health effects partly due to their interpersonal consequences. PMID:27065059

Chronic Family Economic Hardship, Family Processes and Progression of Mental and Physical Health Symptoms in Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Tae Kyoung; Wickrama, K. A. S.; Simons, Leslie Gordon

2013-01-01

Research has documented the relationship between family stressors such as family economic hardship and marital conflict and adolescents' mental health symptoms, especially depressive symptoms. Few studies, however, have examined the processes whereby supportive parenting lessens this effect and the progression of mental health and physical health…

Dynamic Processes of Conceptual Change: Analysis of Constructing Mental Models of Chemical Equilibrium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chiu, Mei-Hung; Chou, Chin-Cheng; Liu, Chia-Ju

2002-01-01

Investigates students' mental models of chemical equilibrium using dynamic science assessments. Reports that students at various levels have misconceptions about chemical equilibrium. Involves 10th grade students (n=30) in the study doing a series of hands-on chemical experiments. Focuses on the process of constructing mental models, dynamic…

Level 2 Perspective Taking Entails Two Processes: Evidence from PRP Experiments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Janczyk, Markus

2013-01-01

In many situations people need to mentally adopt the (spatial) perspective of other persons, an ability that is referred to as "Level 2 perspective taking." Its underlying processes have been ascribed to mental self-rotation that can be dissociated from mental object-rotation. Recent findings suggest that perspective taking/self-rotation…

Vulnerability to stress in migratory contexts: a study with Eastern European immigrants residing in Portugal.

PubMed

de Almeida Vieira Monteiro, Ana Paula Teixeira; Serra, Adriano Vaz

2011-08-01

The assessment of individual vulnerability to stress emerges as a predictive factor of a higher risk of developing stress-related disorders. In the last decade, the geography of immigration in Portugal experienced intense transformations in terms of recruitment and patterns of geographic settlement, with an increasing and exponential inflow of new and diversified migratory groups. The immigrant populations coming from Eastern European countries are a recent migratory flow, with linguistic, cultural and socio-demographic specificities which are very different from the general Portuguese population. This makes them a paradigmatic group in potential transcultural studies on mental health issues. The primary aim of the study was to describe the characteristics of vulnerability to stress and determine their impact on the mental health status of Russian-speaking immigrants residing in Portugal. The relationship between vulnerability to stress, sociodemographic variables, mental health status and social support were analyzed, using the SSQ6, GHQ28, 23QVS and a socio-demographic questionnaire. A comparative analysis was carried out, using a control group of 110 Portuguese subjects without previous migratory experiences, matched by sex, age group and academic qualifications. The eastern European immigrants reported high levels of vulnerability to stress assessed by the cut-off point of the 23QVS. Immigrants also reported higher percentage of vulnerability to stress and lower social support levels of social support versus the control group. Several factors inherent to the dynamics of the migratory process were related to the presence of vulnerability to stress. The findings suggest that vulnerability to stress is positively correlated with worse mental health outcomes and negatively correlated with the social support perceived as available--number of supporters and satisfaction with social support.

Autism-relevant traits interact with temporoparietal junction stimulation effects on social cognition: a high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation and electroencephalography study.

PubMed

Donaldson, Peter H; Kirkovski, Melissa; Rinehart, Nicole J; Enticott, Peter G

2018-03-01

The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is implicated in mental and emotional state attribution, processes associated with autism-relevant traits. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the TPJ can influence social-cognitive performance. However, associations with electrophysiology and autism-relevant traits remain relatively unexamined. This study had two aims: first, exploring links between Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores and social-cognitive performance; second, examining interactions between AQ scores and high-definition-tDCS (HD-tDCS) applied to the right TPJ in terms of mental/emotional state attribution and neurophysiological outcomes. Fifty-three participants completed mental/emotional state attribution tasks before and after HD-tDCS. Pre-stimulation mental state attribution accuracy was reduced in participants with higher AQ Switching scores. Cathodal stimulation was associated with reduced emotion attribution performance in participants with higher AQ Switching and AQ Social scores (the latter at trend-level). Anodal stimulation more frequently interacted with AQ Social scores in terms of neurophysiology, in particular regarding reduced delta power in the left compared to right TPJ, and trend-level positive interactions with P100 and P300 latencies during the emotion recognition task. Elements of attention/switching (AQ Switching) may subserve or underpin elements of social cognition (AQ Social), and cathodal and anodal stimulation may have differing effects depending on trait levels in these domains. This study makes an important and original contribution in terms of increasing understanding of how such trait-level variation might interact with the effects of tDCS and also extending previous studies with regard to understanding potential roles of the rTPJ in both attention and social cognition and how autism-relevant traits might influence TPJ function. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Connection to mental health care upon community reentry for detained youth: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Although detained youth evidence increased rates of mental illness, relatively few adolescents utilize mental health care upon release from detention. Thus, the goal of this study is to understand the process of mental health care engagement upon community reentry for mentally-ill detained youth. Methods Qualitative interviews were conducted with 19 youth and caregiver dyads (39 participants) recruited from four Midwest counties affiliated with a state-wide mental health screening project. Previously detained youth (ages 11–17), who had elevated scores on a validated mental health screening measure, and a caregiver were interviewed 30 days post release. A critical realist perspective was used to identify themes on the detention and reentry experiences that impacted youth mental health care acquisition. Results Youth perceived detention as a crisis event and having detention-based mental health care increased their motivation to seek mental health care at reentry. Caregivers described receiving very little information regarding their child during detention and felt “out of the loop,” which resulted in mental health care utilization difficulty. Upon community reentry, long wait periods between detention release and initial contact with court or probation officers were associated with decreased motivation for youth to seek care. However, systemic coordination between the family, court and mental health system facilitated mental health care connection. Conclusions Utilizing mental health care services can be a daunting process, particularly for youth upon community reentry from detention. The current study illustrates that individual, family-specific and systemic issues interact to facilitate or impair mental health care utilization. As such, in order to aid youth in accessing mental health care at detention release, systemic coordination efforts are necessary. The systematic coordination among caregivers, youth, and individuals within the justice system are needed to reduce barriers given that utilization of mental health care is a complex process. PMID:24499325

Insanity, belonging and citizenship: mentally ill people who went to and/or returned from Europe in the Late Ottoman Era

PubMed Central

Artvinli, Fatih

2016-01-01

The Ottoman Empire, which encompassed a vast territory, had several facilities for the protection and treatment of the mentally ill. By the late nineteenth century, some wealthy families had begun to send their patients to mental hospitals in Europe for better treatment. During the same period, the process of repatriation of mental patients who were Ottoman subjects also began. These processes, which resulted in complex bureaucratic measures, later found a place in regulations and laws. The Ottoman Empire had an additional incentive to protect mentally-ill patients during the Second Constitutional Era, when discussions about ‘citizenship’ reappeared. This article examines the practices of sending mentally-ill people to Europe and the repatriation of mentally-ill Ottoman subjects from European countries. PMID:27091828

[College students social anxiety associated with stress and mental health].

PubMed

Chen, Xuefeng; Wang, Zhen; Gao, Jing; Hu, Weipeng

2007-03-01

To explore the mediator effects of social anxiety on college students' life stress and mental health. 1430 college students were tested by revised Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List (ASLEC), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) and social anxiety scale chose from Self-Consciousness Scale. 1. Social anxiety was the mediator variable between stress and mental health. 2. Female students were easily suffered from higher losing stress and human relationship stress in comparision with male. 3. Non-only child Students got a higher score in social anxiety and lower GHQ in comparision with only child. It may be helpful to improve the stress management and mental health of college students by testing and intervening their social anxiety perception.

Stalking of psychiatrists: psychopathological characteristics and gender differences in an Italian sample.

PubMed

Mastronardi, Vincenzo M; Pomilla, Antonella; Ricci, Serafino; D'Argenio, Alberto

2013-05-01

Research has indicated that medical doctors and paramedics are at higher risk of being stalked than the general population. In particular, mental health care professionals alone represent one third of the victims of harassment. Because of the lack of studies in this specific sector, especially in Italy, in this study, we examined the stalking of psychiatrists by their patients, considering gender differences and the incidence of stalking in private practice and public mental health clinics in Rome. We found that the rate of stalking in private mental health settings is higher than that in public settings and that the perpetrators of stalking are mainly women who mostly target mental health professionals working in private practice. Implications of the findings are noted and discussed.

Decoding emotion of the other differs among schizophrenia patients and schizoaffective patients: A pilot study.

PubMed

Tadmor, Hagar; Levin, Maya; Dadon, Tzameret; Meiman, Meital E; Ajameeh, Alaa; Mazzawi, Hosam; Rigbi, Amihai; Kremer, Ilana; Golani, Idit; Shamir, Alon

2016-09-01

The deficit in ability to attribute mental states such as thoughts, beliefs, and intentions of another person is a key component in the functional impairment of social cognition in schizophrenia. In the current study, we compared the ability of persons with first episode schizophrenia (FE-SZ) and individuals with schizophrenia displaying symptomatic remission (SZ-CR) to decode the mental state of others with healthy individuals and schizoaffective patients. In addition, we analyzed the effect of dopamine-related genes polymorphism on the ability to decode the mental state of another, and searched for different genetic signatures. Our results show that overall, individuals with schizophrenia performed worse in the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" (eyes) test, a simple well-defined task to infer the mental state of others than healthy individuals. Within the schizophrenia group, schizoaffective scored significantly higher than FE-SZ, SZ-CR, and healthy individuals. No difference was observed in performance between FE-SZ and SZ-CR subjects. Interestingly, FE-SZ and SZ-CR, but not schizoaffective individuals, performed worse in decoding negative and neutral emotional valance than the healthy control group. At the genetic level, we observed a significant effect of the DAT genotype, but not D4R genotype, on the eyes test performance. Our data suggest that understanding the mental state of another person is a trait marker of the illness, and might serve as an intermediate phenotype in the diagnostic process of schizophrenia disorders, and raise the possibility that DA-related DAT gene might have a role in decoding the mental state of another person.

Exploring the underlying structure of mental disorders: cross-diagnostic differences and similarities from a network perspective using both a top-down and a bottom-up approach.

PubMed

Wigman, J T W; van Os, J; Borsboom, D; Wardenaar, K J; Epskamp, S; Klippel, A; Viechtbauer, W; Myin-Germeys, I; Wichers, M

2015-08-01

It has been suggested that the structure of psychopathology is best described as a complex network of components that interact in dynamic ways. The goal of the present paper was to examine the concept of psychopathology from a network perspective, combining complementary top-down and bottom-up approaches using momentary assessment techniques. A pooled Experience Sampling Method (ESM) dataset of three groups (individuals with a diagnosis of depression, psychotic disorder or no diagnosis) was used (pooled N = 599). The top-down approach explored the network structure of mental states across different diagnostic categories. For this purpose, networks of five momentary mental states ('cheerful', 'content', 'down', 'insecure' and 'suspicious') were compared between the three groups. The complementary bottom-up approach used principal component analysis to explore whether empirically derived network structures yield meaningful higher order clusters. Individuals with a clinical diagnosis had more strongly connected moment-to-moment network structures, especially the depressed group. This group also showed more interconnections specifically between positive and negative mental states than the psychotic group. In the bottom-up approach, all possible connections between mental states were clustered into seven main components that together captured the main characteristics of the network dynamics. Our combination of (i) comparing network structure of mental states across three diagnostically different groups and (ii) searching for trans-diagnostic network components across all pooled individuals showed that these two approaches yield different, complementary perspectives in the field of psychopathology. The network paradigm therefore may be useful to map transdiagnostic processes.

Voting rights for psychiatric patients: compromise of the integrity of elections, or empowerment and integration into the community?

PubMed

Doron, Adiel; Kurs, Rena; Stolovy, Tali; Secker-Einbinder, Aya; Raba, Alla

2014-01-01

Participation of the mentally-ill in elections promotes integration into the community. In many countries, individuals with compromised mental incompetence who have legal guardians are denied the right to vote. In Israel, mental health consumers are eligible to vote. We evaluated the capacity of psychiatric inpatients with and without legal guardians to understand the nature and effect of voting. Fifty-six inpatients with/without legal guardians were recruited to the study. Participants completed the Competency AssessmentTool for Voting (CAT-V), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Mini-Mental State Exam. Cluster analysis determined voting capacity using CAT-V as a continuous variable. Subjects who scored >1.6 on the CAT-V (59%) had high capacity to vote. Subjects without guardians revealed significantly higher capacity to vote. Voting capacity positively correlated with cognitive state and negatively correlated with severity of illness. Among patients with legal guardians those who scored >1.6 on the CAT-V maintained the capacity to vote. The right to vote is an important basic right for individuals coping with mental disorders.However, it is important to evaluate the capacity to understand the voting process among individuals with mental disorders who have legal guardians. Thus, the integrity of the elections would be preserved by eliminating the risk of undue influence or manipulation of individuals who lack the capacity to understand the nature and meaning of voting, while preserving the right to vote for those with the capacity to do so, whether or not they have guardians.

Nursing staff-led behavioural group intervention in psychiatric in-patient care: Patient and staff experiences.

PubMed

Salberg, Johanna; Folke, Fredrik; Ekselius, Lisa; Öster, Caisa

2018-02-15

A promising intervention in mental health in-patient care is behavioural activation (BA). Interventions based on BA can be used by mental health nurses and other staff members. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients' and staff members' experiences of a nursing staff-led behavioural group intervention in mental health in-patient care. The intervention was implemented at three adult acute general mental health in-patient wards in a public hospital setting in Sweden. A self-administrated questionnaire, completed by 84 patients and 34 nurses and nurse assistants, was administered, and nonparametric data analysed using descriptive statistics. Our findings revealed that both patients and nursing staff ranked nursing care and care environment as important aspects in the recovery process. Patients and staff members reported overall positive experiences of the group sessions. Patients with higher frequencies of attendance and patients satisfied with overall care had a more positive attitude towards the intervention. A more positive experience of being a group leader was reported by staff members who had been leading groups more than ten times. The most common impeding factor during implementation, reported by staff members, was a negative attitude to change. Conducive factors were having support from a psychologist and the perception that patients were showing interest. These positive experiences reported by patients and nursing staff, combined with previous research in this field, are taking us one step further in evaluating group sessions based on BA as a meaningful nursing intervention in mental health in-patient care. © 2018 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

The Design and Development of Staff Wellbeing Initiatives: Staff Stressors, Burnout and Emotional Exhaustion at Children and Young People's Mental Health in Australia.

PubMed

Coates, Dominiek D; Howe, Deborah

2015-11-01

Mental health work presents problems for staff over and above those encountered in other organisations, including other areas of healthcare. Healthcare workers, in particular mental health workers, have poorer job satisfaction and higher job burnout and turnover compared with established norms for other occupational groups. To make sense of why healthcare workers experience high levels of burnout, a strong body of literature points to the emotionally demanding nature of people-work. The negative effects of mental health work on employee health can be mitigated by the provision of appropriate job resources and wellbeing initiatives. As to develop initiatives that appropriately target staff sources of stress and needs, it is important to engage staff in this process. As such, Children and Young People's Mental Health (CYPMH) and headspace Gosford, in Australia, New South Wales (NSW), developed a survey to identify how staff experience and manage the emotional demands of mental health work, what they identify as key stressors and which initiatives they would like to see implemented. Fifty-five staff (response rate of 73 %) completed the survey, and the results suggest that while staff find the work emotionally demanding, they do not appear to be emotionally exhausted and report administrative rather than client issues as their primary concerns. While a strong body of literature identifies the management of emotions in the workplace as a significant cause of stress, organisational stressors such as working in a bureaucratic environment are also important to understanding staff wellbeing.

A Tuesday in the life of a flourisher: the role of positive emotional reactivity in optimal mental health.

PubMed

Catalino, Lahnna I; Fredrickson, Barbara L

2011-08-01

Flourishing--a state of optimal mental health--has been linked to a host of benefits for the individual and society, including fewer workdays lost and the lowest incidence of chronic physical conditions. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether and how routine activities promote flourishing. The authors proposed that flourishers thrive because they capitalize on the processes featured in the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, specifically by experiencing greater positive emotional reactivity to pleasant events and building more resources over time. To test these hypotheses, the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) was administered to a prescreened community sample of adults (n = 208), and they were recontacted two to three months later. Results showed that relative to those who did not flourish or were depressed, people who flourish generally responded with bigger "boosts" in positive emotions in response to everyday, pleasant events (helping, interacting, playing, learning, spiritual activity), and this greater positive emotional reactivity, over time, predicted higher levels of two facets of the cognitive resource of mindfulness. In turn, these higher levels of mindfulness were positively associated with higher levels of flourishing at the end of study, controlling for initial levels of flourishing. These results suggest that the promotion of well-being may be fueled by small, yet consequential differences in individuals' emotional experience of pleasant everyday events. Additionally, these results underscore the utility of the broaden-and-build theory in understanding the processes by which flourishing is promoted and provide support for a positive potentiation perspective. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

A Tuesday in the Life of a Flourisher: The Role of Positive Emotional Reactivity in Optimal Mental Health

PubMed Central

Catalino, Lahnna I.; Fredrickson, Barbara L.

2011-01-01

Flourishing—a state of optimal mental health—has been linked to a host of benefits for the individual and society, including fewer workdays lost and the lowest incidence of chronic physical conditions. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether and how routine activities promote flourishing. The authors proposed that flourishers thrive because they capitalize on the processes featured in the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, specifically by experiencing greater positive emotional reactivity to pleasant events and building more resources over time. To test these hypotheses, the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) was administered to a prescreened community sample of adults (n = 208) and they were recontacted 2–3 months later. Results showed that relative to those who did not flourish or were depressed, people who flourish generally responded with bigger “boosts” in positive emotions in response to everyday, pleasant events (helping, interacting, playing, learning, spiritual activity) and this greater positive emotional reactivity, over time, predicted higher levels of two facets of the cognitive resource of mindfulness. In turn, these higher levels of mindfulness were positively associated with higher levels of flourishing at the end of study, controlling for initial levels of flourishing. These results suggest that the promotion of well-being may be fueled by small, yet consequential differences in individuals’ emotional experience of pleasant everyday events. Additionally, these results underscore the utility of the broaden-and-build theory in understanding the processes by which flourishing is promoted, and provide support for a positive potentiation perspective. PMID:21859208

A case of mental nerve paresthesia due to dynamic compression of alveolar inferior nerve along an elongated styloid process.

PubMed

Gooris, Peter J J; Zijlmans, Jan C M; Bergsma, J Eelco; Mensink, Gertjan

2014-07-01

Spontaneous paresthesia of the mental nerve is considered an ominous clinical sign. Mental nerve paresthesia has also been referred to as numb chin syndrome. Several potentially different factors have been investigated for their role in interfering with the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) and causing mental nerve neuropathy. In the present case, the patient had an elongated calcified styloid process that we hypothesized had caused IAN irritation during mandibular movement. This eventually resulted in progressive loss of sensation in the mental nerve region. To our knowledge, this dynamic irritation, with complete recovery after resection of the styloid process, has not been previously reported. Copyright © 2014 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mental Skills Training Experience of NCAA Division II Softball Catchers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norman, Shannon

2012-01-01

Athletes competing at all levels of sport are constantly working on ways to enhance their physical performance. Sport psychology research insists there are higher performance results among athletes who incorporate mental skills training into their practice and competition settings. In order to use the mental skills strategies effectively, athletes…

Psychiatric Disorders and Sexual Risk among Adolescents in Mental Health Treatment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Larry K.; Hadley, Wendy; Stewart, Angela; Lescano, Celia; Whiteley, Laura; Donenberg, Geri; DiClemente, Ralph

2010-01-01

Objective: To examine the relationship between psychiatric disorders and sexual behaviors among adolescents receiving mental health treatment. Adolescents in mental health treatment have been found to have higher rates of HIV risk behavior than their peers, but data concerning the relationship between psychopathology and risk are inconsistent and…

Job satisfaction, burnout and turnover intention in occupational therapists working in mental health.

PubMed

Scanlan, Justin Newton; Still, Megan

2013-10-01

Employee wellbeing is an important issue for mental health services. Poor employee wellbeing (i.e., high levels of burnout or low job satisfaction) is associated with poorer consumer outcomes and higher staff turnover. This study set out to examine factors related to job satisfaction, turnover intention and burnout in a group of occupational therapists in mental health. Thirty-four occupational therapists (response rate approximately 60%) in a metropolitan public mental health service participated in a whole-of-service workforce survey. The survey included measures of job satisfaction, turnover intention, burnout, job hindrances, job challenges and job resources and questions about positive and negative aspects of positions and factors that attracted employees to their current position. Burnout was associated with lower job satisfaction and higher turnover intention. Higher job satisfaction was associated with rewards (remuneration and recognition) as well as cognitively challenging work. The variables most significantly associated with poorer wellbeing (higher turnover intention and burnout) were recipient contact demands (perception that contact with service users or families was demanding), and feelings of stress or fatigue. This study provides a detailed analysis of factors associated with job satisfaction, turnover intention and burnout in a group of occupational therapists working in mental health. To promote workforce wellbeing and enhanced retention, interventions to minimise burnout should be implemented and evaluated. These strategies should focus on enhancing job resources such as supervisor support, feedback and participation in decision making as well as building the personal resilience of occupational therapists working in mental health. © 2013 Occupational Therapy Australia.

Differential Labeling of Mental Illness by Social Status: A New Look at an Old Problem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thoits, Peggy A.

2005-01-01

Whether the higher rates of mental hospitalization and involuntary treatment for marginal social groups are due to differential labeling or simply to the occurrence of higher rates of disorder in these groups remains unresolved. I reexamine this issue with data from the National Comorbidity Survey (N = 5,877) that allow comparisons between…

Who Are "Non-Traditional Students"? A Systematic Review of Published Definitions in Research on Mental Health of Tertiary Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chung, Ethel; Turnbull, Deborah; Chur-Hansen, Anna

2014-01-01

The term "non-traditional students" is commonly used in higher education research and yet its definition has been unclear. This study systematically reviewed 45 definitions of "non-traditional student" in mental health research conducted within the higher education context using a standardised data extraction and appraisal…

The Effect of Individual Motivation and Cognitive Ability on Student Performance Outcomes in a Distance Education Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Logan, James W.; Lundberg, Olof H.; Roth, Lawrence; Walsh, Kenneth R.

2017-01-01

The authors explored the effects of general mental ability and motivation (operationalized as conscientiousness) on performance in an online distance education course. The results supported the hypotheses that both higher levels of motivation and higher general mental ability are positively associated with academic performance in a distance…

The role of rotational hand movements and general motor ability in children’s mental rotation performance

PubMed Central

Jansen, Petra; Kellner, Jan

2015-01-01

Mental rotation of visual images of body parts and abstract shapes can be influenced by simultaneous motor activity. Children in particular have a strong coupling between motor and cognitive processes. We investigated the influence of a rotational hand movement performed by rotating a knob on mental rotation performance in primary school-age children (N = 83; age range: 7.0–8.3 and 9.0–10.11 years). In addition, we assessed the role of motor ability in this relationship. Boys in the 7- to 8-year-old group were faster when mentally and manually rotating in the same direction than in the opposite direction. For girls and older children this effect was not found. A positive relationship was found between motor ability and accuracy on the mental rotation task: stronger motor ability related to improved mental rotation performance. In both age groups, children with more advanced motor abilities were more likely to adopt motor processes to solve mental rotation tasks if the mental rotation task was primed by a motor task. Our evidence supports the idea that an overlap between motor and visual cognitive processes in children is influenced by motor ability. PMID:26236262

The role of rotational hand movements and general motor ability in children's mental rotation performance.

PubMed

Jansen, Petra; Kellner, Jan

2015-01-01

Mental rotation of visual images of body parts and abstract shapes can be influenced by simultaneous motor activity. Children in particular have a strong coupling between motor and cognitive processes. We investigated the influence of a rotational hand movement performed by rotating a knob on mental rotation performance in primary school-age children (N = 83; age range: 7.0-8.3 and 9.0-10.11 years). In addition, we assessed the role of motor ability in this relationship. Boys in the 7- to 8-year-old group were faster when mentally and manually rotating in the same direction than in the opposite direction. For girls and older children this effect was not found. A positive relationship was found between motor ability and accuracy on the mental rotation task: stronger motor ability related to improved mental rotation performance. In both age groups, children with more advanced motor abilities were more likely to adopt motor processes to solve mental rotation tasks if the mental rotation task was primed by a motor task. Our evidence supports the idea that an overlap between motor and visual cognitive processes in children is influenced by motor ability.

Report of Surrender and Occupation of Japan

DTIC Science & Technology

1946-05-09

decision by higher authority on their eventual dis- position. The units transferred to Fleet Air Wing 17 by FAW-1 were CUMBeLIAND SOUND, HAMLIN, PINE ISLAND...14 September. The litter cases, including those mentally defective and (should any appear) women and children, were to be processed and dispatched...Singapore and Hongkmg. As it turned out, there were no women , no children, and only a handful of civilians. -- ’A C . _tt aa^~ 52 - L Lowh I ,=oe of 17

Mental distress predicts divorce over 16 years: the HUNT study.

PubMed

Idstad, Mariann; Torvik, Fartein Ask; Borren, Ingrid; Rognmo, Kamilla; Røysamb, Espen; Tambs, Kristian

2015-04-01

The association between mental distress and divorce is well established in the literature. Explanations are commonly classified within two different frameworks; social selection (mentally distressed people are selected out of marriage) and social causation (divorce causes mental distress). Despite a relatively large body of literature on this subject, selection effects are somewhat less studied, and research based on data from both spouses is scarce. The purpose of the present study is to investigate selection effects both at the individual level and the couple level. The current study is based on couple-level data from a Norwegian representative sample including 20,233 couples. Long-term selection effects were tested for by means of Cox proportional hazard models, using mental distress in both partners at baseline as predictors of divorce the next 16 years. Three identical sets of analyses were run. The first included the total sample, whereas the second and third excluded couples who divorced within the first 4 or 8 years after baseline, respectively. An interaction term between mental distress in husband and in wife was specified and tested. Hazard of divorce was significantly higher in couples with one mentally distressed partner than in couples with no mental distress in all analyses. There was also a significant interaction effect showing that the hazard of divorce for couples with two mentally distressed partners was higher than for couples with one mentally distressed partner, but lower than what could be expected from the combined main effects of two mentally distressed partners. Our results suggest that mentally distressed individuals are selected out of marriage. We also found support for a couple-level effect in which spouse similarity in mental distress to a certain degree seems to protect against divorce.

[What about the mental time travel and age-related effects?].

PubMed

Coste, Cécile; Navarro, Béatrice; Abram, Maria; Duval, Céline; Picard, Laurence; Piolino, Pascale

2012-03-01

According to Tulving, episodic memory allows humans to travel mentally through subjective time into either the past or the future, this ability being at the origin of adaptation, organization and planning of future behavior. The main aim of this review is to present a state of art of episodic mental time travel and a lifespan perspective from children to elderly people. We examine the numerous similarities between remembering the past and envisioning the future which have been highlighted in cognitive, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological studies. We also present studies that have given evidence that remembering the past and imagining the future differ somewhat. We focus on demonstrating that hippocampal dysfunction is associated with disturbances in the recall of episodic autobiographical details in past memories, but also in the imagining of episodic detailed future events. More specifically, we discuss that the future seems to involve higher semantic processes mediated by the inferior frontal and lateral temporal gyri. We propose that the study of mental travel in personal time could be undertaken in line with the distinction between the memory of (episodic) experiences and (semantic) personal knowledge of one's life, which constitutes a major part of the self and constraints what we have been, what we are now, and what we might yet become.

Social Class and Mental Health: Testing Exploitation as a Relational Determinant of Depression

PubMed Central

Muntaner, Carles; Ng, Edwin; Prins, Seth J.; Bones-Rocha, Katia; Espelt, Albert; Chung, Haejoo

2016-01-01

This study tests whether social class exploitation operates as a relational mechanism that generates mental health inequalities in the nursing home industry. We ask, does social class exploitation (i.e., the acquisition of economic benefits from the labor of those who are dominated) have a systematic and predictable impact on depression among nursing assistants? Using cross-sectional data from 868 nursing assistants employed in 50 nursing homes in three U.S. states, we measure social class exploitation as “ownership type” (private for-profit, private not-for-profit, and public) and “managerial domination” (labor relations violations, perceptions of labor-management conflict). Depression is assessed using the original and revised versions of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D and CESD-R). Using two-level logistic regressions, we find that private for-profit ownership and higher managerial domination are predictive of depression among nursing assistants even after adjustment for potential confounders and mediators. Our findings confirm the theoretical and empirical value of applying a social class approach to understanding how mental health inequalities are generated through exploitative mechanisms. Ownership type and managerial domination appear to affect depression through social relations that generate mental health inequalities through the process of acquiring profits, controlling production, supervising and monitoring labor, and enforcing disciplinary sanctions. PMID:25813501

Assessing the Impact of Homophobic Name Calling on Early Adolescent Mental Health: A Longitudinal Social Network Analysis of Competing Peer Influence Effects.

PubMed

DeLay, Dawn; Hanish, Laura D; Zhang, Linlin; Martin, Carol Lynn

2017-05-01

The goal of the current study was to improve our understanding of why adolescence is a critical period for the consideration of declining mental health. We did this by focusing on the impact of homophobic name calling on early adolescent mental health after the transition to middle school. Because we know that homophobic name calling emerges within a dynamic peer group structure, we used longitudinal social network analysis to assess the relation between homophobic name calling, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem while simultaneously limiting bias from alternative peer socialization mechanisms. A sample of adolescents who recently transitioned to a large public middle school (N = 299; 53 % girls; M age  = 11.13 years, SD = 0.48) were assessed. Longitudinal assessments of peer relationship networks, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem were collected during the fall and spring of the academic year. The results suggest that, after accounting for the simultaneous effect of alternative peer socialization processes, adolescent experiences of homophobic name calling in the fall predict higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of self-esteem over the course of the academic year. These findings provide evidence of a significant influence of homophobic name calling on adolescent mental health.

The association between acculturation patterns and mental health symptoms among Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers in Israel.

PubMed

Nakash, Ora; Nagar, Maayan; Shoshani, Anat; Lurie, Ido

2015-07-01

Past research has documented the role acculturation plays in the process of adjustment to new cultures among migrants. Yet little attention has been paid thus far to the role of acculturation in the context of forced migration. In this study we examined the association between acculturation patterns and mental health symptoms among a convenience sample of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers (n = 118) who accessed health services at the Physicians for Human Rights Open-Clinic in Israel. Participants completed measures on sociodemographic information as well as detention history, mental health symptoms, exposure to traumatic events, and acculturation pattern, in their native language upon accessing services. Consistent with our predictions, findings showed that acculturation predicted depressive symptoms among asylum seekers beyond the effect of history of detention and reports of experiences of traumatic events. Assimilated compared with integrated asylum seekers reported higher depressive symptoms. Findings draw attention to the paradox of assimilation, and the mental health risks it poses among those wishing to integrate into the new culture at the expanse of their original culture. Asylum seekers may be particularly vulnerable to the risks of assimilation in the restrictive policies that characterize many industrial countries in recent years. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Turbulent times: effects of turbulence and violence exposure in adolescence on high school completion, health risk behavior, and mental health in young adulthood.

PubMed

Boynton-Jarrett, Renée; Hair, Elizabeth; Zuckerman, Barry

2013-10-01

Turbulent social environments are associated with health and developmental risk, yet mechanisms have been understudied. Guided by a life course framework and stress theory, this study examined the association between turbulent life transitions (including frequent residential mobility, school transitions, family structure disruptions, and homelessness) and exposure to violence during adolescence and high school completion, mental health, and health risk behaviors in young adulthood. Participants (n = 4834) from the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 cohort were followed prospectively from age 12-14 years for 10 years. We used structural equation models to investigate pathways between turbulence and cumulative exposure to violence (CEV), and high school completion, mental health, and health risk behaviors, while accounting for early life socio-demographics, family processes, and individual characteristics. Results indicated that turbulence index was associated with cumulative exposure to violence in adolescence. Both turbulence index and cumulative exposure to violence were positively associated with higher health risk behavior, poorer mental health, and inversely associated with high school completion. These findings highlight the importance of considering the cumulative impact of turbulent and adverse social environments when developing interventions to optimize health and developmental trajectory for adolescents transitioning into adulthood. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The selfless mind: How prefrontal involvement in mentalizing with similar and dissimilar others shapes empathy and prosocial behavior.

PubMed

Majdandžić, Jasminka; Amashaufer, Sandra; Hummer, Allan; Windischberger, Christian; Lamm, Claus

2016-12-01

Engaging in mentalizing, i.e., reflecting on others' thoughts, beliefs and feelings, is known to facilitate later empathy and prosocial behavior. Activation in dorsomedial prefrontal (dmPFC) areas during mentalizing has been shown to predict the extent of prosocial behavior. It is unclear, however, what cognitive process drives these effects: a simulation process in which the own mental states are used as a proxy for those of others (self-projection) or an effortful other-enhancement process in which one's own perspective is overridden. In this fMRI study we examined the effects of mentalizing with similar and dissimilar others on behavioral and brain measures of empathy and prosocial behavior, to assess which cognitive process mediates the facilitative effects of mentalizing. Participants had to mentalize with two fictitious target persons, one of whom was manipulated to have similar thoughts and beliefs as the participant, while the other had dissimilar mental states. We then assessed participants' behavioral and neural responses during an empathy for pain task and a prosocial behavior task. Similarity between participant and target person increased empathy and affiliation ratings, and mentalizing with dissimilar persons evoked increased activation in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, the extent of which was inversely related with bias towards the similar person in empathy. Responses in two dmPFC regions were also predictive of later variations in subsequent empathy and prosocial behavior, either predicting overall prosociality and empathic concern (lateral dmPFC), or predicting reduced empathic bias towards the similar person and a lower response to self-related stressors in pain matrix areas (medial dmPFC). This pattern of results suggests that generating and enhancing other-related representations while overcoming one's own perspective, rather than enhanced recruitment of self-projection processes, is driving the facilitative effects of mentalizing on later empathic and prosocial responses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tertiary education and its association with mental health indicators and educational factors among Arctic young adults: the NAAHS cohort study.

PubMed

Bania, Elisabeth Valmyr; Kvernmo, Siv Eli

2016-01-01

Background Completed tertiary education is closely associated with employment and influences income, health and personal well-being. Objective The purpose of the study is to explore predictors for completed tertiary education among indigenous Sami and non-indigenous young people in relation to mental health indicators and educational factors in sociocultural rural and urban contexts across the Arctic part of Norway. Design The Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study (NAAHS) is a cross-sectional, school-based survey that was conducted in 2003-2005. Of all 5,877 10th graders (aged 15-16 years) in north Norway, 83% from all 87 municipalities participated; 450 (9.2%) reported indigenous Sami ethnicity, and 304 (6.2%) reported Laestadian affiliation. Data from NAAHS were merged with registry data from the National Education Database and Norwegian Patient Register for 3,987 adolescents who gave their consent for follow-up studies. Results Completion of upper secondary school is the only common predictor of a completed tertiary education degree for both genders. Among females, conduct problems was a significant predictor of lower level education, typically vocational professions, while among males severe mental health problems requiring treatment by the specialist health care system reduced the opportunity to complete tertiary education at intermediate and higher level. Parental higher educational level was associated with less lower education among females and less higher education among males. Men residing in the northernmost and remote areas were less likely to complete education on higher level. Males' completion of higher level education was strongly but not significantly associated (p=0.057) with higher average marks in lower secondary school. Conclusions The gender differences found in this study emphasize the need for gender-specific interventions to encourage, support and empower young people to attend and complete tertiary education. Young females with conduct problems choose lower or intermediate education, and males in need of specialist mental health care have half the chance to complete intermediate tertiary education compared with males not in contact with the mental health service. Closer cooperation between low threshold social services, general practitioners, mental health services and higher study institutions can help young male adults complete tertiary education.

Adolescents with greater mental toughness show higher sleep efficiency, more deep sleep and fewer awakenings after sleep onset.

PubMed

Brand, Serge; Gerber, Markus; Kalak, Nadeem; Kirov, Roumen; Lemola, Sakari; Clough, Peter J; Pühse, Uwe; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith

2014-01-01

Mental toughness (MT) is understood as the display of confidence, commitment, challenge, and control. Mental toughness is associated with resilience against stress. However, research has not yet focused on the relation between MT and objective sleep. The aim of the present study was therefore to explore the extent to which greater MT is associated with objectively assessed sleep among adolescents. A total of 92 adolescents (35% females; mean age, 18.92 years) completed the Mental Toughness Questionnaire. Participants were split into groups of high and low mental toughness. Objective sleep was recorded via sleep electroencephalograms and subjective sleep was assessed via a questionnaire. Compared with participants with low MT, participants with high MT had higher sleep efficiency, a lower number of awakenings after sleep onset, less light sleep, and more deep sleep. They also reported lower daytime sleepiness. Adolescents reporting higher MT also had objectively better sleep, as recorded via sleep electroencephalograms. A bidirectional association between MT and sleep seems likely; therefore, among adolescence, improving sleep should increase MT, and improving MT should increase sleep. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mental health consequences of violence against women and girls.

PubMed

Satyanarayana, Veena A; Chandra, Prabha S; Vaddiparti, Krishna

2015-09-01

Recent studies on mental health consequences of violence against women and girls were reviewed in a range of situations. Although several studies continued to show cross-sectional associations between child sexual abuse (CSA) and mental health outcomes, a few prospective studies showed a robust association between CSA and depression. Studies on the impact of dating violence are still at a nascent stage and focus on antecedents of violence rather than its consequences. Women at higher risk, such as adolescents, migrants, the homeless, and women in the perinatal period have been studied and specific vulnerabilities identified. Women reporting bidirectional violence had higher rates of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cumulative violence, severity of violence, and recent violence are associated with higher morbidity. Studies among women in conflict zones have emphasized the role of different forms of sexual and physical violence on mental health. Newer emerging areas that need more research include mental health consequences of women in conflict zones and among same sex relationships. There are also few studies on the violence experience of both older women and adolescents. The need to better delineate the psychopathology of complex manifestations of PTSD is underscored.

Implementing a Mentally Healthy Schools Framework Based on the Population Wide Act-Belong-Commit Mental Health Promotion Campaign: A Process Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anwar-McHenry, Julia; Donovan, Robert John; Nicholas, Amberlee; Kerrigan, Simone; Francas, Stephanie; Phan, Tina

2016-01-01

Purpose: Mentally Healthy WA developed and implemented the Mentally Healthy Schools Framework in 2010 in response to demand from schools wanting to promote the community-based Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion message within a school setting. Schools are an important setting for mental health promotion, therefore, the Framework encourages…

The Role of Racial Identity and Implicit Racial Bias in Self-Reported Racial Discrimination: Implications for Depression Among African American Men.

PubMed

Chae, David H; Powell, Wizdom A; Nuru-Jeter, Amani M; Smith-Bynum, Mia A; Seaton, Eleanor K; Forman, Tyrone A; Turpin, Rodman; Sellers, Robert

2017-01-01

Racial discrimination is conceptualized as a psychosocial stressor that has negative implications for mental health. However, factors related to racial identity may influence whether negative experiences are interpreted as instances of racial discrimination and subsequently reported as such in survey instruments, particularly given the ambiguous nature of contemporary racism. Along these lines, dimensions of racial identity may moderate associations between racial discrimination and mental health outcomes. This study examined relationships between racial discrimination, racial identity, implicit racial bias, and depressive symptoms among African American men between 30 and 50 years of age ( n = 95). Higher racial centrality was associated with greater reports of racial discrimination, while greater implicit anti-Black bias was associated with lower reports of racial discrimination. In models predicting elevated depressive symptoms, holding greater implicit anti-Black bias in tandem with reporting lower racial discrimination was associated with the highest risk. Results suggest that unconscious as well as conscious processes related to racial identity are important to consider in measuring racial discrimination, and should be integrated in studies of racial discrimination and mental health.

The Quality of Medication Treatment for Mental Disorders in the Department of Veterans Affairs and in Private-Sector Plans.

PubMed

Watkins, Katherine E; Smith, Brad; Akincigil, Ayse; Sorbero, Melony E; Paddock, Susan; Woodroffe, Abigail; Huang, Cecilia; Crystal, Stephen; Pincus, Harold Alan

2016-04-01

The quality of mental health care provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was compared with care provided to a comparable population treated in the private sector. Two cohorts of individuals with mental disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, major depression, and substance use disorders) were created with VA administrative data (N=836,519) and MarketScan data (N=545,484). The authors computed VA and MarketScan national means for seven process-based quality measures related to medication evaluation and management and estimated national-level performance by age and gender. In every case, VA performance was superior to that of the private sector by more than 30%. Compared with individuals in private plans, veterans with schizophrenia or major depression were more than twice as likely to receive appropriate initial medication treatment, and veterans with depression were more than twice as likely to receive appropriate long-term treatment. Findings demonstrate the significant advantages that accrue from an organized, nationwide system of care. The much higher performance of the VA has important clinical and policy implications.

Patient-clinician ethnic concordance and communication in mental health intake visits.

PubMed

Alegría, Margarita; Roter, Debra L; Valentine, Anne; Chen, Chih-nan; Li, Xinliang; Lin, Julia; Rosen, Daniel; Lapatin, Sheri; Normand, Sharon-Lise; Larson, Susan; Shrout, Patrick E

2013-11-01

This study examines how communication patterns vary across racial and ethnic patient-clinician dyads in mental health intake sessions and its relation to continuance in treatment, defined as attending the next scheduled appointment. Observational study of communication patterns among ethnically/racially concordant and discordant patient-clinician dyads. Primary analysis included 93 patients with 38 clinicians in race/ethnic concordant and discordant dyads. Communication was coded using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) and the Working Alliance Inventory Observer (WAI-O) bond scale; continuance in care was derived from chart reviews. Latino concordant dyad patients were more verbally dominant (p<.05), engaged in more patient-centered communication (p<.05) and scored higher on the (WAI-O) bond scale (all p<.05) than other groups. Latino patients had higher continuance rates than other patients in models that adjusted for non-communication variables. When communication, global affect, and therapeutic process variables were adjusted for, differences were reversed and white dyad patients had higher continuance in care rates than other dyad patients. Communication patterns seem to explain the role of ethnic concordance for continuance in care. Improve intercultural communication in cross cultural encounters appears significant for retaining minorities in care. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantum-like model of brain's functioning: decision making from decoherence.

PubMed

Asano, Masanari; Ohya, Masanori; Tanaka, Yoshiharu; Basieva, Irina; Khrennikov, Andrei

2011-07-21

We present a quantum-like model of decision making in games of the Prisoner's Dilemma type. By this model the brain processes information by using representation of mental states in a complex Hilbert space. Driven by the master equation the mental state of a player, say Alice, approaches an equilibrium point in the space of density matrices (representing mental states). This equilibrium state determines Alice's mixed (i.e., probabilistic) strategy. We use a master equation in which quantum physics describes the process of decoherence as the result of interaction with environment. Thus our model is a model of thinking through decoherence of the initially pure mental state. Decoherence is induced by the interaction with memory and the external mental environment. We study (numerically) the dynamics of quantum entropy of Alice's mental state in the process of decision making. We also consider classical entropy corresponding to Alice's choices. We introduce a measure of Alice's diffidence as the difference between classical and quantum entropies of Alice's mental state. We see that (at least in our model example) diffidence decreases (approaching zero) in the process of decision making. Finally, we discuss the problem of neuronal realization of quantum-like dynamics in the brain; especially roles played by lateral prefrontal cortex or/and orbitofrontal cortex. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Mental Fatigue on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Van Cutsem, Jeroen; Marcora, Samuele; De Pauw, Kevin; Bailey, Stephen; Meeusen, Romain; Roelands, Bart

2017-08-01

Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity. It has recently been suggested that mental fatigue can affect physical performance. Our objective was to evaluate the literature on impairment of physical performance due to mental fatigue and to create an overview of the potential factors underlying this effect. Two electronic databases, PubMed and Web of Science (until 28 April 2016), were searched for studies designed to test whether mental fatigue influenced performance of a physical task or influenced physiological and/or perceptual responses during the physical task. Studies using short (<30 min) self-regulatory depletion tasks were excluded from the review. A total of 11 articles were included, of which six were of strong and five of moderate quality. The general finding was a decline in endurance performance (decreased time to exhaustion and self-selected power output/velocity or increased completion time) associated with a higher than normal perceived exertion. Physiological variables traditionally associated with endurance performance (heart rate, blood lactate, oxygen uptake, cardiac output, maximal aerobic capacity) were unaffected by mental fatigue. Maximal strength, power, and anaerobic work were not affected by mental fatigue. The duration and intensity of the physical task appear to be important factors in the decrease in physical performance due to mental fatigue. The most important factor responsible for the negative impact of mental fatigue on endurance performance is a higher perceived exertion.

Potential Applications of the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) to Clinical Psychiatric Practice: How RDoC Might Be Used in Assessment, Diagnostic Processes, Case Formulation, Treatment Planning, and Clinical Notes.

PubMed

Yager, Joel; Feinstein, Robert E

2017-04-01

Offering a new framework for understanding and studying basic dimensions of normal and abnormal human functioning and mental disorders, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has initiated the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project in which a series of higher order domains, representing major systems of emotion, cognition, motivation, and social behavior, and their constituent operationally defined constructs serve as organizing templates for further research and inquiry, eg, to discover validated biomarkers and endophenotypes. Cutting across traditional DSM diagnoses, the domains are defined as Negative Valence Systems, Positive Valence Systems, Cognitive Systems, Systems for Social Processes, and Arousal/Regulatory Systems. To inform educators, trainees, and practitioners about RDoC, alert them to potential practical applications, and encourage their broad exploration in clinical settings, this article reviews the RDoC domains and their subsystem constructs with regard to potential current clinical considerations and applications. We describe ways in which the RDoC domains and constructs offer transdiagnostic frameworks for complementing traditional practice; suggest clinical questions to help elucidate salient information; and, translating RDoC domains and constructs headings into clinically friendly language, offer a template for the psychiatric review of systems that can serve in clinical notes. © Copyright 2017 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Causality in Psychiatry: A Hybrid Symptom Network Construct Model

PubMed Central

Young, Gerald

2015-01-01

Causality or etiology in psychiatry is marked by standard biomedical, reductionistic models (symptoms reflect the construct involved) that inform approaches to nosology, or classification, such as in the DSM-5 [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; (1)]. However, network approaches to symptom interaction [i.e., symptoms are formative of the construct; e.g., (2), for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)] are being developed that speak to bottom-up processes in mental disorder, in contrast to the typical top-down psychological construct approach. The present article presents a hybrid top-down, bottom-up model of the relationship between symptoms and mental disorder, viewing symptom expression and their causal complex as a reciprocally dynamic system with multiple levels, from lower-order symptoms in interaction to higher-order constructs affecting them. The hybrid model hinges on good understanding of systems theory in which it is embedded, so that the article reviews in depth non-linear dynamical systems theory (NLDST). The article applies the concept of emergent circular causality (3) to symptom development, as well. Conclusions consider that symptoms vary over several dimensions, including: subjectivity; objectivity; conscious motivation effort; and unconscious influences, and the degree to which individual (e.g., meaning) and universal (e.g., causal) processes are involved. The opposition between science and skepticism is a complex one that the article addresses in final comments. PMID:26635639

The role of social support in protecting mental health when employed and unemployed: A longitudinal fixed-effects analysis using 12 annual waves of the HILDA cohort.

PubMed

Milner, Allison; Krnjacki, Lauren; Butterworth, Peter; LaMontagne, Anthony D

2016-03-01

Perceived social support is associated with overall better mental health. There is also evidence that unemployed workers with higher social support cope better psychologically than those without such support. However, there has been limited research about the effect of social support among people who have experienced both unemployment and employment. We assessed this topic using 12 years of annually collected cohort data. The sample included 3190 people who had experienced both unemployment and employment. We used longitudinal fixed-effects modelling to investigate within-person changes in mental health comparing the role of social support when a person was unemployed to when they were employed. Compared to when a person reported low social support, a change to medium (6.35, 95% 5.66 to 7.04, p < 0.001) or high social support (11.58, 95%, 95% CI 10.81 to 12.36, p < 0.001) was associated with a large increase in mental health (measured on an 100 point scale, with higher scores representing better mental health). When a person was unemployed but had high levels of social support, their mental health was 2.89 points (95% CI 1.67 to 4.11, p < 0.001) higher than when they were employed but had lower social support. The buffering effect of social support was confirmed in stratified analysis. There was a strong direct effect of social support on mental health. The magnitude of these differences could be considered clinically meaningful. Our results also suggest that social support has a significant buffering effect on mental health when a person is unemployed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bereavement, multimorbidity and mortality: a population-based study using bereavement as an indicator of mental stress.

PubMed

Prior, A; Fenger-Grøn, M; Davydow, D S; Olsen, J; Li, J; Guldin, M-B; Vestergaard, M

2018-07-01

Mental stress is associated with higher mortality, but it remains controversial whether the association is causal or a consequence of a higher physical disease burden in those with a high mental stress load. Understanding causality is important when developing targeted interventions. We aimed to estimate the effect of mental stress on mortality by performing a 'natural' experiment using spousal bereavement as a disease-independent mental stressor. We followed a population-based matched cohort, including all individuals in Denmark bereaved in 1997-2014, for 17 years. Prospectively recorded register data were obtained for civil and vital status, 39 mental and physical diagnoses, and socioeconomic factors. In total, 389 316 bereaved individuals were identified and 137 247 died during follow-up. Bereaved individuals had higher all-cause mortality than non-bereaved references in the entire study period. The relative mortality in the bereaved individuals was highest shortly after the loss (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), first month: 2.50, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.37-2.63; aHR, 6-12 months: 1.38, 95% CI 1.34-1.42). The excess mortality rate associated with bereavement rose with increasing number of physical diseases (1.33 v. 7.00 excess death per 1000 person-months for individuals with 0 v. ⩾3 physical conditions during the first month) and was exacerbated by the presence of mental illness. The excess mortality among bereaved individuals was primarily due to death from natural causes. Bereavement was associated with increased short-term and long-term mortality, even after adjustment for morbidities, which suggests that mental stress may play a causal role in excess mortality.

A Cognitive Processing Account of Individual Differences in Novice Logo Programmers' Conceptualisation and Use of Recursion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbons, Pamela

1995-01-01

Describes a study that investigated individual differences in the construction of mental models of recursion in LOGO programming. The learning process was investigated from the perspective of Norman's mental models theory and employed diSessa's ontology regarding distributed, functional, and surrogate mental models, and the Luria model of brain…

Mental health, concurrent disorders, and health care utilization in homeless women.

PubMed

Strehlau, Verena; Torchalla, Iris; Kathy, Li; Schuetz, Christian; Krausz, Michael

2012-09-01

This study assessed lifetime and current prevalence rates of mental disorders and concurrent mental and substance use disorders in a sample of homeless women. Current suicide risk and recent health service utilization were also examined in order to understand the complex mental health issues of this population and to inform the development of new treatment strategies that better meet their specific needs. A cross-sectional survey of 196 adult homeless women in three different Canadian cities was done. Participants were assessed using DSM-IV-based structured clinical interviews. Current diagnoses were compared to available mental health prevalence rates in the Canadian female general population. Current prevalence rates were 63% for any mental disorder, excluding substance use disorders; 17% for depressive episode; 10% for manic episode; 7% for psychotic disorder; 39% for anxiety disorders, 28% for posttraumatic stress disorder; and 19% for obsessive-compulsive disorder; 58% had concurrent substance dependence and mental disorders. Lifetime prevalence rates were notably higher. Current moderate or high suicide risk was found in 22% of the women. Participants used a variety of health services, especially emergency rooms, general practitioners, and walk-in clinics. Prevalence rates of mental disorders among homeless participants were substantially higher than among women from the general Canadian population. The percentage of participants with moderate or high suicide risk and concurrent disorders indicates a high severity of mental health symptomatology. Treatment and housing programs need to be accompanied by multidisciplinary, specialized interventions that account for high rates of complex mental health conditions.

The household food insecurity gradient and potential reductions in adverse population mental health outcomes in Canadian adults.

PubMed

Jessiman-Perreault, Geneviève; McIntyre, Lynn

2017-12-01

Household food insecurity is related to poor mental health. This study examines whether the level of household food insecurity is associated with a gradient in the risk of reporting six adverse mental health outcomes. This study further quantifies the mental health impact if severe food insecurity, the extreme of the risk continuum, were eliminated in Canada. Using a pooled sample of the Canadian Community Health Survey (N = 302,683), we examined the relationship between level of food insecurity, in adults 18-64 years, and reporting six adverse mental health outcomes. We conducted a probit analysis adjusted for multi-variable models, to calculate the reduction in the odds of reporting mental health outcomes that might accrue from the elimination of severe food insecurity. Controlling for various demographic and socioeconomic covariates, a food insecurity gradient was found in six mental health outcomes. We calculated that a decrease between 8.1% and 16.0% in the reporting of these mental health outcomes would accrue if those who are currently severely food insecure became food secure, after controlling for covariates. Household food insecurity has a pervasive graded negative effect on a variety of mental health outcomes, in which significantly higher levels of food insecurity are associated with a higher risk of adverse mental health outcomes. Reduction of food insecurity, particularly at the severe level, is a public health concern and a modifiable structural determinant of health worthy of macro-level policy intervention.

Building human capital to increase earning power among people living with mental illnesses.

PubMed

Gao, Ni; Schmidt, Lisa T; Gill, Kenneth J; Pratt, Carlos W

2011-01-01

Human Capital Theory, a well-established model from the field of economics, maintains that a person's lifetime earnings are affected by the amount of education and job training they receive. This study uses Human Capital Theory to predict wages and explain employment outcomes among individuals living with psychiatric illnesses. Hourly wages were examined between 100 individuals with mental illnesses and 100 matched comparisons who had no mental illnesses. The study found that participants with mental illnesses earned $12.19 an hour vs. $14.54 an hour earned by their counterparts without disability. The study also revealed that higher educational attainment and longer work history predicted higher wages among participants with mental illnesses. The severity of psychiatric symptoms and diagnosis, however, did not predict wages. These findings indicate that human capital variables are correlated with wages earned by persons living with mental illnesses. Findings also suggest that assisting mental health consumers in the pursuit of education and job training may increase earning potential which can lead to financial independence and community integration. This supports the value in developing and implementing Supported Education to assist consumers in acquiring education and job training.

Religiousness and mental health: a review.

PubMed

Moreira-Almeida, Alexander; Neto, Francisco Lotufo; Koenig, Harold G

2006-09-01

The relationship between religiosity and mental health has been a perennial source of controversy. This paper reviews the scientific evidence available for the relationship between religion and mental health. The authors present the main studies and conclusions of a larger systematic review of 850 studies on the religion-mental health relationship published during the 20th Century identified through several databases. The present paper also includes an update on the papers published since 2000, including researches performed in Brazil and a brief historical and methodological background. The majority of well-conducted studies found that higher levels of religious involvement are positively associated with indicators of psychological well-being (life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and higher morale) and with less depression, suicidal thoughts and behavior, drug/alcohol use/abuse. Usually the positive impact of religious involvement on mental health is more robust among people under stressful circumstances (the elderly, and those with disability and medical illness). Theoretical pathways of the religiousness-mental health connection and clinical implications of these findings are also discussed. There is evidence that religious involvement is usually associated with better mental health. We need to improve our understanding of the mediating factors of this association and its use in clinical practice.

Cognitive and emotional demands of black humour processing: the role of intelligence, aggressiveness and mood.

PubMed

Willinger, Ulrike; Hergovich, Andreas; Schmoeger, Michaela; Deckert, Matthias; Stoettner, Susanne; Bunda, Iris; Witting, Andrea; Seidler, Melanie; Moser, Reinhilde; Kacena, Stefanie; Jaeckle, David; Loader, Benjamin; Mueller, Christian; Auff, Eduard

2017-05-01

Humour processing is a complex information-processing task that is dependent on cognitive and emotional aspects which presumably influence frame-shifting and conceptual blending, mental operations that underlie humour processing. The aim of the current study was to find distinctive groups of subjects with respect to black humour processing, intellectual capacities, mood disturbance and aggressiveness. A total of 156 adults rated black humour cartoons and conducted measurements of verbal and nonverbal intelligence, mood disturbance and aggressiveness. Cluster analysis yields three groups comprising following properties: (1) moderate black humour preference and moderate comprehension; average nonverbal and verbal intelligence; low mood disturbance and moderate aggressiveness; (2) low black humour preference and moderate comprehension; average nonverbal and verbal intelligence, high mood disturbance and high aggressiveness; and (3) high black humour preference and high comprehension; high nonverbal and verbal intelligence; no mood disturbance and low aggressiveness. Age and gender do not differ significantly, differences in education level can be found. Black humour preference and comprehension are positively associated with higher verbal and nonverbal intelligence as well as higher levels of education. Emotional instability and higher aggressiveness apparently lead to decreased levels of pleasure when dealing with black humour. These results support the hypothesis that humour processing involves cognitive as well as affective components and suggest that these variables influence the execution of frame-shifting and conceptual blending in the course of humour processing.

The impact of lifestyle factors on the physical health of people with a mental illness: a brief review.

PubMed

Stanley, Susanne; Laugharne, Jonathan

2014-04-01

People with a mental illness are much more likely to experience poor physical health when compared to the general population, showing a higher propensity to develop the metabolic syndrome. Past focus has predominantly been upon individuals treated with antipsychotics, yet poor physical health is occurring across diagnoses. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the major factors within the domain of lifestyle in order to support the need for more detailed and rigorous physical health assessment and ongoing monitoring for people with a mental illness. This paper reviews existing evidence relating to lifestyle factors such as low exercise levels, poor diet and nutrition, high cholesterol levels, tobacco smoking and poor dental care, contributing to poor physical health such as a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. An integrative review was conducted from a multi-disciplinary search of online databases and journals, focusing upon mental illness and lifestyle issues predominant in the literature. The findings reviewed here suggest that greater attention should be paid to the physical health assessment and ongoing monitoring of all people with mental health disorders so that preventable illness does not result in higher levels of morbidity and mortality for this disadvantaged population. Early identification aids preventive interventions and assists clinicians and mental health staff to more effectively treat emergent physical health problems.

Placement stability and mental health costs for children in foster care.

PubMed

Rubin, David M; Alessandrini, Evaline A; Feudtner, Chris; Mandell, David S; Localio, A Russell; Hadley, Trevor

2004-05-01

Although prior population-based studies have found that children in foster care use more mental health services than their Medicaid peers, less is known about how different experiences in foster care impact the likelihood of mental health service use. The primary aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that instability of foster care placements is associated with higher costs for mental health care services. The secondary aim is to test the hypothesis that foster care children are also more likely to generate high costs for mental health services if they generate higher costs for non-mental health claims. Using administrative child welfare data linked to Medicaid claims, we assembled a unique retrospective cohort of adjudicated dependent children >2 years old who entered foster care between July 1993 and June 1995, spent at least 9 months in care, and were Medicaid eligible during a 1-year follow-up period. The primary outcome was high mental health service use, defined as having costs in the top decile of the sample. The primary independent variables were the number of foster care placements during the year and whether placements were interrupted by a return home for at least 1 month during that year (episodic foster care). We used logistic regression to estimate the association between placements and service utilization, with adjustment for age and physical health care costs. Of the 1635 children in the study, 41% had > or = 3 foster care placements, and 5% had episodic foster care during the year of observation. The top 10% of mental health service users accounted for 83% of the 2.4 million dollars in mental health costs. Both multiple placements and episodic foster care increased the predicted probability of high mental health service use. Higher physical health care costs also increased the probability of high mental health use for all children, but this increased probability was most dramatic among children with episodic foster care (probability of high mental health use: 0.78; 95% confidence interval: 0.42-0.94). Foster care placement instability was associated with increased mental health costs during the first year in foster care, particularly among children with increasing general health care costs. These findings highlight the importance of interventions that address the global health of children in foster care and may permit better targeting of health care resources to subgroups of children most likely to use services.

Insanity, belonging and citizenship: mentally ill people who went to and/or returned from Europe in the Late Ottoman Era.

PubMed

Artvinli, Fatih

2016-09-01

The Ottoman Empire, which encompassed a vast territory, had several facilities for the protection and treatment of the mentally ill. By the late nineteenth century, some wealthy families had begun to send their patients to mental hospitals in Europe for better treatment. During the same period, the process of repatriation of mental patients who were Ottoman subjects also began. These processes, which resulted in complex bureaucratic measures, later found a place in regulations and laws. The Ottoman Empire had an additional incentive to protect mentally-ill patients during the Second Constitutional Era, when discussions about 'citizenship' reappeared. This article examines the practices of sending mentally-ill people to Europe and the repatriation of mentally-ill Ottoman subjects from European countries. © The Author(s) 2016.

Frame of reference for electronic maps - The relevance of spatial cognition, mental rotation, and componential task analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wickens, Christopher D.; Aretz, Anthony; Harwood, Kelly

1989-01-01

Three experiments are reported that examine the difference between north-up and track-up maps for airborne navigation. The results of the first two experiments, conducted in a basic laboratory setting, identified the cost associated with mental rotation, when a north-up map is used. However, the data suggest that these costs are neither large nor consistent. The third experiment examined a range of tasks in a higher fidelity helicopter flight simulation, and associated the costs of north-up maps with a cognitive component related to orientation, and the costs of track-up maps with a cognitive component related to inconsistent landmark location. Different tasks are associated with different dependence on these components. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for map design, and for cognitive models of navigational processes.

[Emotional stress psychotherapy].

PubMed

Rozhnov, V E

1989-01-01

The concept of emotional stress psychotherapy (ESP) is based on the theoretical understanding of mental process as a system of cross-potentiating synergism of consciousness and the unconscious. Therefore, one can regard this kind of treatment as an appeal to the spiritual components of personality arousing its need of self-perfectioning. Owing to this, ESP turns the demands and higher interests creating a personality dominant to oppose the illness with ensuing depression and apathy. In a sense, this method is a qualitative contrast to S. Freud's psychoanalysis digging in the dark compartments of the soul. As a result of treatment of thousands of neurotic patients and those with psychosomatic disorders and alcoholism, the following techniques of ESP were elaborated: rational, shaped as a socratic dialogue; hypnosuggestive comprising individual or collective hypnosis, extremely loaded with emotions; autosuggestive like mental self-regulation and autogenic training filled with specific emotions.

Stigmatisation, perceived barriers to care, help seeking and the mental health of British Military personnel.

PubMed

Jones, Norman; Keeling, Mary; Thandi, Gursimran; Greenberg, Neil

2015-12-01

The relationship between mental health symptoms, stigmatising beliefs about mental health and help seeking is complex and poorly understood. 1636 UK Armed Forces personnel provided study data immediately after deployment (T1) and approximately 6 months later (T2). Stigmatising beliefs were assessed using an eight-item scale previously used in studies of UK military personnel. Symptoms of probable common mental disorder, probable post-traumatic stress disorder and subjective stressful, emotional, relationship and family problems were evaluated at T1 and T2. Help seeking during deployment was assessed at T1 and post-deployment help seeking at T2. Alcohol use and subjective alcohol problems were assessed at T2 only. Reporting a probable mental health disorder or potentially harmful alcohol use following deployment was both significantly associated with higher levels of stigmatising beliefs. The reported degree of stigma was associated with changes in mental health symptom levels; compared to those who were never classified as a probable mental health disorder case, recovered cases experienced significantly lower levels of stigmatisation, whereas new onset cases reported significantly higher levels. The way that individuals report mental health stigmatisation is not static; rather stigma fluctuates in proportion to the frequency and severity of psychological symptoms. These results suggest that public health stigma-reduction strategies which aim to promote engagement with mental health services should be focused towards people who are experiencing worsening mental health. Our results suggest that willing volunteers who have recovered from a mental-ill-health episode may be well placed to assist in the delivery of such a strategy.

Changes in N1 and P3 components of the auditory event-related potentials in extroverts and introverts depending on the type of the task.

PubMed

Philipova, Dolja T

2008-01-01

The aim of the study was to examine the interconnection between N1 and P3 components of event-related potentials (ERP) and the personality type extraversion/introversion in two tasks with different conditions: mental and sensomotor. The hypothesis to test was that the difference in the information processing by extraverts and introverts depends on the task type. Twenty-six healthy middle-aged volunteers (13 extroverts, 13 introverts) were studied. The two groups were matched in gender, age and education. Electroencephalograms were recorded from Fz, Cz and Pz (10/20 system). Each subject participated in three series of 100 sound stimuli each (75 high--1200 Hz and 25 low--800 Hz, randomly presented)--a passive series, a series with a sensomotor task and a series with a mental task (counting of high tones). We found differences in the stimulus information processing between extraverts and introverts, most prominent in the series with tasks. The introverts showed shorter latency and lower amplitudes of N1 in the counting task and longer latency and higher amplitudes in sensomotor tasks than did the extraverts. The extroverts had higher P3 amplitudes in the series with tasks. The present study confirms the hypothesis that the personality type has an electrophysiological substrate, the type characteristics--extraversion/introversion influence the parameters of N1 and P3 components. The interconnection between the personality type and the processes of cortical activation depend on the type and requirements of the task.

The association of sociodemographic factors and needs of hemodialysis patients according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

PubMed

Shih, Chiung-Yu; Huang, Chiu-Ya; Huang, Mei-Lun; Chen, Chyong-Mei; Tang, Fu-In

2018-05-18

To explore the association between the sociodemographic factors and the needs of patients undergoing hemodialysis in Taiwan. Concomitant discomfort, including physical and mental aspects, affects the patients' quality of life and their willingness to undergo hemodialysis. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a well-known tool to assess different levels of human needs. We conducted a small-scale cross-sectional observational study using a structured needs assessment questionnaire on 159 patients from the Taipei Veterans General Hospital hemodialysis unit. The overall mean scores of physical, mental, spiritual, other needs, and needs in relation to medical staff care were 4.0±0.8, 3.2±0.8, 2.7±1.0, 3.1±0.9, and 4.1±0.7, respectively. The results showed that the patients' highest need was in relation to medical staff care, followed by physical needs. Further analysis showed that patients who are still employed during the treatment process have higher mental, spiritual, and other needs. Patient who are financially supported by their family have higher physical needs. Patients taken cared of by paid caregivers have lower spiritual needs and other needs. This is also the same with patients who are religious as opposed to those who are non-religious. Patients who have attained tertiary education have higher other needs compared to patients who have only achieved up to primary or secondary education. The study is the first in Taiwan to identify and quantify the needs of patients undergoing hemodialysis. When the needs of the patients are identified in relation to their sociodemographic factors, the medical staff can give the appropriate treatment in order to meet the needs and improve the patients' well-being. Healthcare providers should not only focus on the patients' physiological needs, but should determine and address their other needs in various aspects in order to improve the quality and efficacy of the dialysis care process. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Enhancing Web-based mindfulness training for mental health promotion with the health action process approach: randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Mak, Winnie W S; Chan, Amy T Y; Cheung, Eliza Y L; Lin, Cherry L Y; Ngai, Karin C S

2015-01-19

With increasing evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of Web-based interventions and mindfulness-based training in improving health, delivering mindfulness training online is an attractive proposition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two Internet-based interventions (basic mindfulness and Health Action Process Approach enhanced mindfulness) with waitlist control. Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) principles were used to enhance participants' efficacy and planning. Participants were recruited online and offline among local universities; 321 university students and staff were randomly assigned to three conditions. The basic and HAPA-enhanced groups completed the 8-week fully automated mindfulness training online. All participants (including control) were asked to complete an online questionnaire pre-program, post-program, and at 3-month follow-up. Significant group by time interaction effect was found. The HAPA-enhanced group showed significantly higher levels of mindfulness from pre-intervention to post-intervention, and such improvement was sustained at follow-up. Both the basic and HAPA-enhanced mindfulness groups showed better mental well-being from pre-intervention to post-intervention, and improvement was sustained at 3-month follow-up. Online mindfulness training can improve mental health. An online platform is a viable medium to implement and disseminate evidence-based interventions and is a highly scalable approach to reach the general public. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR): ChiCTR-TRC-12002954; http://www.chictr.org/en/proj/show.aspx?proj=3904 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6VCdG09pA).

Labour-market marginalisation after mental disorders among young natives and immigrants living in Sweden.

PubMed

Helgesson, Magnus; Tinghög, Petter; Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas; Saboonchi, Fredrik; Mittendorfer-Rutz, Ellenor

2017-06-23

The aim was to investigate the associations between mental disorders and three different measures of labour-market marginalisation, and differences between native Swedes and immigrants. The study comprised 1,753,544 individuals, aged 20-35 years, and resident in Sweden 2004. They were followed 2005-2011 with regard to disability pension, sickness absence (≥90 days) and unemployment (≥180 days). Immigrants were born in Western countries (Nordic countries, EU, Europe outside EU or North-America/Oceania), or in non-Western countries (Africa, Asia or South-America). Mental disorders were grouped into seven subgroups based on a record of in- or specialised outpatient health care 2001-2004. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed by Cox regression models with both fixed and time-dependent covariates and competing risks. We also performed stratified analyses with regard to labour-market attachment. Individuals with mental disorders had a seven times higher risk of disability pension, a two times higher risk of sickness absence, and a 20% higher risk of unemployment than individuals without mental disorders. Individuals with personality disorders and schizophrenia/non-affective psychoses had highest risk estimates for having disability pension and long-term sickness absence, while the risk estimates of long-term unemployment were similar among all subgroups of mental disorders. Among persons with mental disorders, native Swedes had higher risk estimates for disability pension (HR:6.6; 95%CI:6.4-6.8) than Western immigrants (4.8; 4.4-5.2) and non-Western immigrants (4.8; 4.4-5.1), slightly higher risk estimates for sickness absence (2.1;2.1-2.2) than Western (1.9;1.8-2.1), and non-Western (1.9;1.7-2.0) immigrants but lower risk estimates for unemployment (1.4;1.3-1.4) than Western (1.8;1.7-1.9) and non-Western immigrants (2.0;1.9-2.1). There were similar risk estimates among sub-regions within both Western and non-Western countries. Stratification by labour-market attachment showed that the risk estimates for immigrants were lower the more distant individuals were from gainful employment. Mental disorders were associated with all three measures of labour-market marginalisation, strongest with subsequent disability pension. Native Swedes had higher risk estimates for both disability pension and sickness absence, but lower risk estimates for unemployment than immigrants. Previous labour-market attachment explained a great part of the association between immigrant status and subsequent labour-market marginalisation.

Burden of Mental Illness and Non-communicable Diseases and Risk Factors for Mental Illness Among Refugees in Buffalo, NY, 2004-2014.

PubMed

Mulugeta, Wudeneh; Xue, Hong; Glick, Myron; Min, Jungwon; Noe, Michael F; Wang, Youfa

2018-05-21

Limited is known about mental illness and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors among refugees. These were studied using data collected from a refugee population in Buffalo, NY. Longitudinal data collected on 1055 adults (> 18 years) at a large refugee health center in Buffalo, NY, during 2004-2014 were used. Main outcomes were hypertension, diabetes, tobacco use, obesity, overweight/obesity, and mental illness. Risk factors were assessed using multivariate regression models. Compared to those without mental illness, refugees with mental illness had higher rates of hypertension (16.9 vs 28.4%, P < 0.001), diabetes (8.4 vs 13.6%, P = 0.03), tobacco use (9.3 vs 18.3%, P < 0.001), obesity (13.0 vs 25.4%, P < 0.001), and overweight/obesity rates (45.0 vs 61.5%, P < 0.001). During 2004-2014, obesity rates increased among those with mental illness (25.4 to 36.7%, P < 0.001) and without mental illness (13.0 to 24.5%, P < 0.001). The overall mental illness prevalence among refugees was 16%, ranging from 6.9% among Asians to 43.9% among Cubans. Women were more likely to have mental illness (odds ratio = 2.45; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.68-3.58) than men. Refugees who lived longer in the USA were more likely to carry psychiatric diagnoses (OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.04-1.21). Mental illness rates varied considerably across various refugee groups. Rates of obesity and NCDs among refugees with mental illness were higher than among those without mental disorders. Gender, region of origin, and length of stay in the USA were associated with mental illness. Accurate and culturally sensitive screenings and assessments of mental illness are needed to reduce these health disparities.

Envisioning Transformation in VA Mental Health Services Through Collaborative Site Visits.

PubMed

Kearney, Lisa K; Schaefer, Jeanne A; Dollar, Katherine M; Iwamasa, Gayle Y; Katz, Ira; Schmitz, Theresa; Schohn, Mary; Resnick, Sandra G

2018-04-16

This column reviews the unique contributions of multiple partners in establishing a standardized site visit process to promote quality improvement in mental health care at the Veterans Health Administration. Working as a team, leaders in policy and operations, staff of research centers, and regional- and facility-level mental health leaders developed a standardized protocol for evaluating mental health services at each site and using the data to help implement policy goals. The authors discuss the challenges experienced and lessons learned in this systemwide process and how this information can be part of a framework for improving mental health services on a national level.

Affiliative and prosocial motives and emotions in mental health.

PubMed

Gilbert, Paul

2015-12-01

This paper argues that studies of mental health and wellbeing can be contextualized within an evolutionary approach that highlights the coregulating processes of emotions and motives. In particular, it suggests that, although many mental health symptoms are commonly linked to threat processing, attention also needs to be directed to the major regulators of threat processing, ie, prosocial and affiliative interactions with self and others. Given that human sociality has been a central driver for a whole range of human adaptations, a better understanding of the effects of prosocial interactions on health is required, and should be integrated into psychiatric formulations and interventions. Insight into the coregulating processes of motives and emotions, especially prosocial ones, offers improved ways of understanding mental health difficulties and their prevention and relief.

Affiliative and prosocial motives and emotions in mental health

PubMed Central

Gilbert, Paul

2015-01-01

This paper argues that studies of mental health and wellbeing can be contextualized within an evolutionary approach that highlights the coregulating processes of emotions and motives. In particular, it suggests that, although many mental health symptoms are commonly linked to threat processing, attention also needs to be directed to the major regulators of threat processing, ie, prosocial and affiliative interactions with self and others. Given that human sociality has been a central driver for a whole range of human adaptations, a better understanding of the effects of prosocial interactions on health is required, and should be integrated into psychiatric formulations and interventions. Insight into the coregulating processes of motives and emotions, especially prosocial ones, offers improved ways of understanding mental health difficulties and their prevention and relief. PMID:26869839

Decentering and Related Constructs: A Critical Review and Metacognitive Processes Model

PubMed Central

Bernstein, Amit; Hadash, Yuval; Lichtash, Yael; Tanay, Galia; Shepherd, Kathrine; Fresco, David M.

2016-01-01

The capacity to shift experiential perspective—from within one’s subjective experience onto that experience—is fundamental to being human. Scholars have long theorized that this metacognitive capacity—which we refer to as decentering—may play an important role in mental health. To help illuminate this mental phenomenon and its links to mental health, we critically examine decentering-related constructs and their respective literatures (e.g., self-distanced perspective, cognitive distancing, cognitive defusion). First, we introduce a novel metacognitive processes model of decentering. Specifically, we propose that, to varying degrees, decentering-related constructs reflect a common mental phenomenon subserved by three interrelated metacognitive processes: meta-awareness, disidentification from internal experience, and reduced reactivity to thought content. Second, we examine extant research linking decentering-related constructs and their underlying metacognitive processes to mental health. We conclude by proposing future directions for research that transcends decentering-related constructs in an effort to advance the field’s understanding of this facet of human experience and its role in (mal)adaptation. PMID:26385999

Mental Toughness in Education: Exploring Relationships with Attainment, Attendance, Behaviour and Peer Relationships

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

St Clair-Thompson, Helen; Bugler, Myfanwy; Robinson, Jamey; Clough, Peter; McGeown, Sarah P.; Perry, John

2015-01-01

Mental toughness has frequently been associated with successful performance in sport; however, recent research suggests that it may also be related to academic performance in Higher Education. In a series of three exploratory studies, we examined the relationship between mental toughness and different aspects of educational performance in…

Examining Mental Health Differences between Transfer and Nontransfer University Students Seeking Counseling Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mehr, Kristin E.; Daltry, Rachel

2016-01-01

This article sought to examine the differences between transfer and nontransfer students on mental health factors, social involvement, and academic success. It was found that transfer students had significantly higher scores on several mental health factors as compared to nontransfer students. It was also found that transfer students were less…

Clinical Study of the Effects of Age on the Physical Health of Adults with Mental Retardation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Sally-Ann

1998-01-01

Physical disorders and pharmacotherapy for 134 people with mental retardation (ages 65 years and older) living in the United Kingdom were compared to 73 younger adults with mental retardation. Results showed the older group had higher rates of urinary incontinence, immobility, hearing impairments, arthritis, hypertension, and cerebrovascular…

Variations in Student Mental Health and Treatment Utilization across US Colleges and Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ketchen Lipson, Sarah; Gaddis, S. Michael; Heinze, Justin; Beck, Kathryn; Eisenberg, Daniel

2015-01-01

Objective: On US college campuses, mental health problems are highly prevalent, appear to be increasing, and are often untreated. Concerns about student mental health are well documented, but little is known about potential variations across the diversity of institutions of higher education. Participants: Participants were 43,210 undergraduates at…

Ethnic differences in mental health among incarcerated youths: do Moroccan immigrant boys show less psychopathology than native Dutch boys?

PubMed

Veen, Violaine; Stevens, Gonneke; Doreleijers, Theo; van der Ende, Jan; Vollebergh, Wilma

2010-05-01

Psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent among incarcerated youth. However, whereas ethnic minority youths are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, limited research is available on their mental health. In this study, differences in mental health problems between incarcerated adolescents of native Dutch and Moroccan origin, were examined. Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self-Report scores were compared between incarcerated adolescents of native Dutch and Moroccan origin. Their scores were also compared to those of native Dutch and Moroccan immigrant youths in the general, non-incarcerated population. Native Dutch incarcerated adolescents showed higher levels of various mental health problems than incarcerated adolescents with a Moroccan background. Compared to the general population, incarcerated youths showed higher levels of mental health problems, but this deviation was much larger for native Dutch than for Moroccan immigrant youths. These ethnic differences in mental health problems could not be explained by ethnic differences in socio-economic background and social desirable answering tendencies. Incarcerated youths of Moroccan origin show less psychopathology than incarcerated native Dutch youths, which might be explained by disparities in sentencing procedures.

Ethnic differences in mental health among incarcerated youths: do Moroccan immigrant boys show less psychopathology than native Dutch boys?

PubMed Central

Stevens, Gonneke; Doreleijers, Theo; van der Ende, Jan; Vollebergh, Wilma

2009-01-01

Psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent among incarcerated youth. However, whereas ethnic minority youths are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system, limited research is available on their mental health. In this study, differences in mental health problems between incarcerated adolescents of native Dutch and Moroccan origin, were examined. Child Behavior Checklist and Youth Self-Report scores were compared between incarcerated adolescents of native Dutch and Moroccan origin. Their scores were also compared to those of native Dutch and Moroccan immigrant youths in the general, non-incarcerated population. Native Dutch incarcerated adolescents showed higher levels of various mental health problems than incarcerated adolescents with a Moroccan background. Compared to the general population, incarcerated youths showed higher levels of mental health problems, but this deviation was much larger for native Dutch than for Moroccan immigrant youths. These ethnic differences in mental health problems could not be explained by ethnic differences in socio-economic background and social desirable answering tendencies. Incarcerated youths of Moroccan origin show less psychopathology than incarcerated native Dutch youths, which might be explained by disparities in sentencing procedures. PMID:20449708

Effects of Task Size on Work-Related and Aberrant Behaviors of Youths with Autism and Mental Retardation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sweeney, Holly Morsbach; LeBlanc, Judith M.

1995-01-01

This study analyzed effects of repetitive task size on rate of responding and behavior of five adolescents with autism and mental retardation. Compared to large-task conditions, small-task conditions resulted in higher on-task behavior and better work-related behavior for all participants and higher work rate for four participants. (Author/PB)

An Examination of the Impact of Minority Status Stress and Impostor Feelings on the Mental Health of Diverse Ethnic Minority College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cokley, Kevin; McClain, Shannon; Enciso, Alicia; Martinez, Mercedes

2013-01-01

This study examined differences in minority status stress, impostor feelings, and mental health in a sample of 240 ethnic minority college students. African Americans reported higher minority status stress than Asian Americans and Latino/a Americans, whereas Asian Americans reported higher impostor feelings. Minority status stress and impostor…

UK military doctors; stigma, mental health and help-seeking: a comparative cohort study.

PubMed

Jones, Norman; Whybrow, D; Coetzee, R

2018-03-09

Studies suggest that medical doctors can suffer from substantial levels of mental ill-health. Little is known about military doctors' mental health and well-being; we therefore assessed attitudes to mental health, self-stigma, psychological distress and help-seeking among UK Armed Forces doctors. Six hundred and seventy-eight military doctors (response rate 59%) completed an anonymous online survey. Comparisons were made with serving and ex-military personnel (n=1448, response rate 84.5%) participating in a mental health-related help-seeking survey. Basic sociodemographic data were gathered, and participants completed measures of mental health-related stigmatisation, perceived barriers to care and the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire. All participants were asked if in the last three years they had experienced stress, emotional, mental health, alcohol, family or relationship problems, and whether they had sought help from formal sources. Military doctors reported fewer mental disorder symptoms than the comparison groups. They endorsed higher levels of stigmatising beliefs, negative attitudes to mental healthcare, desire to self-manage and self-stigmatisation than each of the comparison groups. They were most concerned about potential negative effects of and peer perceptions about receiving a mental disorder diagnosis. Military doctors reporting historical and current relationship, and alcohol or mental health problems were significantly and substantially less likely to seek help than the comparison groups. Although there are a number of study limitations, outcomes suggest that UK military doctors report lower levels of mental disorder symptoms, higher levels of stigmatising beliefs and a lower propensity to seek formal support than other military reference groups. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

The mental health consequences of the recession: economic hardship and employment of people with mental health problems in 27 European countries.

PubMed

Evans-Lacko, Sara; Knapp, Martin; McCrone, Paul; Thornicroft, Graham; Mojtabai, Ramin

2013-01-01

A period of economic recession may be particularly difficult for people with mental health problems as they may be at higher risk of losing their jobs, and more competitive labour markets can also make it more difficult to find a new job. This study assesses unemployment rates among individuals with mental health problems before and during the current economic recession. Using individual and aggregate level data collected from 27 EU countries in the Eurobarometer surveys of 2006 and 2010, we examined changes in unemployment rates over this period among individuals with and without mental health problems. Following the onset of the recession, the gap in unemployment rates between individuals with and without mental health problems significantly widened (odds ratio: 1.12, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.34). This disparity became even greater for males, and individuals with low levels of education. Individuals with mental health problems living in countries with higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes regarding dangerousness of people with mental illness were more vulnerable to unemployment in 2010, but not 2006. Greater agreement that people with mental health problems have themselves to blame, was associated with lower likelihood of unemployment for individuals with and without mental health problems. These findings study suggest that times of economic hardship may intensify social exclusion of people with mental health problems, especially males and individuals with lower education. Interventions to combat economic exclusion and to promote social participation of individuals with mental health problems are even more important during times of economic crisis, and these efforts should target support to the most vulnerable groups.

The Mental Health Consequences of the Recession: Economic Hardship and Employment of People with Mental Health Problems in 27 European Countries

PubMed Central

Evans-Lacko, Sara; Knapp, Martin; McCrone, Paul

2013-01-01

Objectives A period of economic recession may be particularly difficult for people with mental health problems as they may be at higher risk of losing their jobs, and more competitive labour markets can also make it more difficult to find a new job. This study assesses unemployment rates among individuals with mental health problems before and during the current economic recession. Methods Using individual and aggregate level data collected from 27 EU countries in the Eurobarometer surveys of 2006 and 2010, we examined changes in unemployment rates over this period among individuals with and without mental health problems. Results Following the onset of the recession, the gap in unemployment rates between individuals with and without mental health problems significantly widened (odds ratio: 1.12, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.34). This disparity became even greater for males, and individuals with low levels of education. Individuals with mental health problems living in countries with higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes regarding dangerousness of people with mental illness were more vulnerable to unemployment in 2010, but not 2006. Greater agreement that people with mental health problems have themselves to blame, was associated with lower likelihood of unemployment for individuals with and without mental health problems. Conclusion These findings study suggest that times of economic hardship may intensify social exclusion of people with mental health problems, especially males and individuals with lower education. Interventions to combat economic exclusion and to promote social participation of individuals with mental health problems are even more important during times of economic crisis, and these efforts should target support to the most vulnerable groups. PMID:23922801

Correlation between developmental quotients (DASII) and social quotient (Malin's VSMS) in Indian children aged 6 months to 2 years.

PubMed

Bhave, Anupama; Bhargava, Roli; Kumar, Rashmi

2011-03-01

To determine correlation between developmental quotients (DQ) (DASII) and social quotients (SQ) (Malin's Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS)). Malin's VSMS and DASII were done in 135 children aged 6 months to 2 years. SQ and DQ motor and mental were correlated using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). Mean SQ and DQ and age equivalent scores were compared. Correlation coefficients between SQ and DQ (mental and motor were 0.849 and 0.791, respectively. Social age correlated highly with mental age (r = 0.906). Mean SQ was higher than mean DQa. SQ tends to be higher than DQ and correlates best with DQ mental. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2010 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

Cognitive Processes in Discourse Comprehension: Passive Processes, Reader-Initiated Processes, and Evolving Mental Representations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van den Broek, Paul; Helder, Anne

2017-01-01

As readers move through a text, they engage in various types of processes that, if all goes well, result in a mental representation that captures their interpretation of the text. With each new text segment the reader engages in passive and, at times, reader-initiated processes. These processes are strongly influenced by the readers'…

Problem solving based learning model with multiple representations to improve student's mental modelling ability on physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haili, Hasnawati; Maknun, Johar; Siahaan, Parsaoran

2017-08-01

Physics is a lessons that related to students' daily experience. Therefore, before the students studying in class formally, actually they have already have a visualization and prior knowledge about natural phenomenon and could wide it themselves. The learning process in class should be aimed to detect, process, construct, and use students' mental model. So, students' mental model agree with and builds in the right concept. The previous study held in MAN 1 Muna informs that in learning process the teacher did not pay attention students' mental model. As a consequence, the learning process has not tried to build students' mental modelling ability (MMA). The purpose of this study is to describe the improvement of students' MMA as a effect of problem solving based learning model with multiple representations approach. This study is pre experimental design with one group pre post. It is conducted in XI IPA MAN 1 Muna 2016/2017. Data collection uses problem solving test concept the kinetic theory of gasses and interview to get students' MMA. The result of this study is clarification students' MMA which is categorized in 3 category; High Mental Modelling Ability (H-MMA) for 7

Momentum Concept in the Process of Knowledge Construction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ergul, N. Remziye

2013-01-01

Abstraction is one of the methods for learning knowledge with using mental processes that cannot be obtained through experiment and observation. RBC model that is based on abstraction in the process of creating knowledge is directly related to mental processes. In this study, the RBC model is used for the high school students' processes of…

Abortion and subsequent mental health: Review of the literature.

PubMed

Bellieni, Carlo V; Buonocore, Giuseppe

2013-07-01

The risk that abortion may be correlated with subsequent mental disorders needs a careful assessment, in order to offer women full information when facing a difficult pregnancy. All research papers published between 1995 and 2011, were examined, to retrieve those assessing any correlation between abortion and subsequent mental problems. A total of 36 studies were retrieved, and six of them were excluded for methodological bias. Depression, anxiety disorders (e.g. post-traumatic stress disorder) and substance abuse disorders were the most studied outcome. Abortion versus childbirth: 13 studies showed a clear risk for at least one of the reported mental problems in the abortion group versus childbirth, five papers showed no difference, in particular if women do not consider their experience of fetal loss to be difficult, or if after a fetal reduction the desired fetus survives. Only one paper reported a worse mental outcome for childbearing. Abortion versus unplanned pregnancies ending with childbirth: four studies found a higher risk in the abortion groups and three, no difference. Abortion versus miscarriage: three studies showed a greater risk of mental disorders due to abortion, four found no difference and two found that short-term anxiety and depression were higher in the miscarriage group, while long-term anxiety and depression were present only in the abortion group. In conclusion, fetal loss seems to expose women to a higher risk for mental disorders than childbirth; some studies show that abortion can be considered a more relevant risk factor than miscarriage; more research is needed in this field. © 2013 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2013 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Emotional Dissonance, Mental Health Complaints, and Sickness Absence Among Health- and Social Workers. The Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy

PubMed Central

Indregard, Anne-Marthe R.; Knardahl, Stein; Nielsen, Morten B.

2018-01-01

Health- and social workers are frequently exposed to emotionally demanding work situations that require emotion regulation. Studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between emotion regulation and health complaints and sickness absence. In order to prevent health complaints and to reduce sickness absence among health- and social workers, there is need for greater attention to mechanisms explaining when and how emotionally demanding work situations are related to employee health and sickness absence. The overarching aim of this study was therefore to examine the moderating role of generalized self-efficacy on the association between emotional dissonance, employee health (mental distress and exhaustion), and registry based sickness absence. The sample consisted of 937 health- and social workers. Data on emotional dissonance, generalized self-efficacy, exhaustion, and mental distress was collected through questionnaires, whereas official registry data were used to assess sickness absence. A two-step hierarchical regression analysis showed that emotional dissonance was significantly associated with exhaustion, mental distress, and sickness absence, after adjusting for sex, age, and occupation. Interaction analyses with simple slope tests found that self-efficacy moderated the association between emotional dissonance and both exhaustion and mental distress, but not the association with sickness absence. This study shows that health- and social workers who frequently experience emotional dissonance report higher levels of exhaustion and mental distress, and have a higher risk of medically certified sickness absence. Further, health- and social workers with lower self-efficacy beliefs are apparently more sensitive to the degree of emotional dissonance and experienced higher levels of exhaustion and mental distress. PMID:29740375

Emotional Dissonance, Mental Health Complaints, and Sickness Absence Among Health- and Social Workers. The Moderating Role of Self-Efficacy.

PubMed

Indregard, Anne-Marthe R; Knardahl, Stein; Nielsen, Morten B

2018-01-01

Health- and social workers are frequently exposed to emotionally demanding work situations that require emotion regulation. Studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between emotion regulation and health complaints and sickness absence. In order to prevent health complaints and to reduce sickness absence among health- and social workers, there is need for greater attention to mechanisms explaining when and how emotionally demanding work situations are related to employee health and sickness absence. The overarching aim of this study was therefore to examine the moderating role of generalized self-efficacy on the association between emotional dissonance, employee health (mental distress and exhaustion), and registry based sickness absence. The sample consisted of 937 health- and social workers. Data on emotional dissonance, generalized self-efficacy, exhaustion, and mental distress was collected through questionnaires, whereas official registry data were used to assess sickness absence. A two-step hierarchical regression analysis showed that emotional dissonance was significantly associated with exhaustion, mental distress, and sickness absence, after adjusting for sex, age, and occupation. Interaction analyses with simple slope tests found that self-efficacy moderated the association between emotional dissonance and both exhaustion and mental distress, but not the association with sickness absence. This study shows that health- and social workers who frequently experience emotional dissonance report higher levels of exhaustion and mental distress, and have a higher risk of medically certified sickness absence. Further, health- and social workers with lower self-efficacy beliefs are apparently more sensitive to the degree of emotional dissonance and experienced higher levels of exhaustion and mental distress.

Does adult attachment style mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental and physical health outcomes?

PubMed

Widom, Cathy Spatz; Czaja, Sally J; Kozakowski, Sandra Sepulveda; Chauhan, Preeti

2018-02-01

Attachment theory has been proposed as one explanation for the relationship between childhood maltreatment and problematic mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood. This study seeks to determine whether: (1) childhood physical abuse and neglect lead to different attachment styles in adulthood, (2) adult attachment styles predict subsequent mental and physical health outcomes, and (3) adult attachment styles mediate the relationship between childhood physical abuse and neglect and mental and physical health outcomes. Children with documented cases of physical abuse and neglect (ages 0-11) were matched with children without these histories and followed up in adulthood. Adult attachment style was assessed at mean age 39.5 and outcomes at 41.1. Separate path models examined mental and physical health outcomes. Individuals with histories of childhood neglect and physical abuse had higher levels of anxious attachment style in adulthood, whereas neglect predicted avoidant attachment as well. Both adult attachment styles (anxious and avoidant) predicted mental health outcomes (higher levels of anxiety and depression and lower levels of self-esteem), whereas only anxious adult attachment style predicted higher levels of allostatic load. Path analyses revealed that anxious attachment style in adulthood in part explained the relationship between childhood neglect and physical abuse to depression, anxiety, and self-esteem, but not the relationship to allostatic load. Childhood neglect and physical abuse have lasting effects on adult attachment styles and anxious and avoidant adult attachment styles contribute to understanding the negative mental health consequences of childhood neglect and physical abuse 30 years later in adulthood. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind in the Wild: Toward Tackling the Challenges of Everyday Mental State Reasoning

PubMed Central

Wertz, Annie E.; German, Tamsin C.

2013-01-01

A complete understanding of the cognitive systems underwriting theory of mind (ToM) abilities requires articulating how mental state representations are generated and processed in everyday situations. Individuals rarely announce their intentions prior to acting, and actions are often consistent with multiple mental states. In order for ToM to operate effectively in such situations, mental state representations should be generated in response to certain actions, even when those actions occur in the presence of mental state content derived from other aspects of the situation. Results from three experiments with preschool children and adults demonstrate that mental state information is indeed generated based on an approach action cue in situations that contain competing mental state information. Further, the frequency with which participants produced or endorsed explanations that include mental states about an approached object decreased when the competing mental state information about a different object was made explicit. This set of experiments provides some of the first steps toward identifying the observable action cues that are used to generate mental state representations in everyday situations and offers insight into how both young children and adults processes multiple mental state representations. PMID:24069160

An Exploratory Study of Student Service Members/Veterans' Mental Health Characteristics by Sexual Orientation.

PubMed

Pelts, Michael D; Albright, David L

2015-01-01

Explore the mental health differences of student veterans by sexual orientation. Student service members/veterans (N = 702) from the Fall 2011 National College Health Assessment. Descriptive statistics and 2-sample proportion and mean tests were used to compare mental health characteristics. Student veterans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or unsure had higher levels of mental health symptoms and treatment. Results suggest a need for continued examination of student service members/veterans as related to disparities in mental health by sexual orientation.

State test-anxiety, selective attention and concentration in university students.

PubMed

Fernández-Castillo, Antonio; Caurcel, María J

2015-08-01

The principal aim of this study was to assess the level of selective attention and mental concentration before exams in a sample of university students and to determine a possible relationship between anxiety and reduction of levels of attention in this circumstance. A total of 403 university students, 176 men and 227 women, aged from 18 to 46 years, participated in the study. Of them, 169 were first-year undergraduates, 118 were second to fourth-year undergraduates and 116 were postgraduate Master's degree students. All of them completed the Spanish version of the Spielberger State-Anxiety Inventory and the D2 Attention Test just before taking an exam. Our results showed that participants with lower levels of anxiety had higher levels of selective attention and mental concentration before the exam. These results specifically indicate that when anxiety levels are very high, this could over-activate the orientating and alerting functions and to reduce the capacity of attentional control. These processes could have a negative impact on specific attentional processes and become a negative influence on performance in exams. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

"Speaking the dialect": understanding public discourse in the aftermath of an HIV vaccine trial shutdown.

PubMed

Newman, Peter A; Logie, Carmen; James, Llana; Charles, Tamicka; Maxwell, John; Salam, Khaled; Woodford, Michael

2011-09-01

We investigated how persons from key populations at higher risk of HIV exposure interpreted the process and outcomes of the Step Study HIV-1 vaccine trial, which was terminated early, and implications for willingness to participate in and community support for HIV vaccine research. We used qualitative methods and a community-based approach in 9 focus groups (n = 72) among ethnically and sexually diverse populations and 6 semistructured key informant interviews in Ontario, Canada, in 2007 to 2008. Participants construed social meaning from complex clinical and biomedical phenomena. Social representations and mental models emerged in fears of vaccine-induced infection, conceptualizations of unfair recruitment practices and increased risk behaviors among trial participants, and questioning of informed consent. Narratives of altruism and the common good demonstrated support for future trials. Public discourse on HIV vaccine trials is a productive means of interpreting complex clinical trial processes and outcomes in the context of existing beliefs and experiences regarding HIV vaccines, medical research, and historical disenfranchisement. Strategic engagement with social representations and mental models may promote meaningful community involvement in biomedical HIV prevention research.

A Transmedia Storytelling Intervention With Interactive Elements to Benefit Latinas' Mental Health: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Efficacy.

PubMed

Heilemann, MarySue V; Soderlund, Patricia D; Kehoe, Priscilla; Brecht, Mary-Lynn

2017-10-19

Latinos report higher rates of depression and anxiety than US whites but are less likely to receive care. Transmedia storytelling interventions accessible on the Internet via smartphones, tablets, and computers hold promise for reducing reluctance to explore or get help for symptoms because they are private, convenient, and can reach large numbers of people, including Latinas with mental health needs. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a mental health transmedia intervention for Latinas with elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, or both. A total of 28 symptomatic English-speaking Latina women aged 21 to 48 years participated in a 6-week study using a within-group design. All aspects of the study were completed via telephone or Internet. Participants used their personal devices to engage the Web-based transmedia intervention (in English) that included story-based videos, a data-informed psychotherapeutic video, an interactive video sequence, and a blog written from the point of view of one of the characters with links to mental health resources. Perceived confidence to get help and perceived importance for seeking immediate help were both measured using single-item questions. Participants completed surveys at baseline (via telephone) and 1 and 6 weeks after media engagement that measured various factors, including depression (Patient Health Questionnaire; PHQ-9 and PHQ-8) and anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale; GAD-7). A telephone interview was conducted within 72 hours of media engagement. Action taken or intentions to get help (single-item question) and talking about the videos with others (single-item question) were measured 1 and 6 weeks after media engagement. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to assess change in depression (PHQ-8) and anxiety (GAD-7) before transmedia engagement and 1 and 6 weeks after. Spearman correlations evaluated the association of confidence and importance of getting help with action taken, anxiety, and depression. All 28 Latinas (English speakers) who engaged with the transmedia remained in the 6-week study. Within 1 week of transmedia engagement, 39% of women took action to get help, and 82% discussed the media with others. Symptoms of depression (F 2,54 =9.0, P<.001) and anxiety (F 2,54 =18.7, P<.001) significantly reduced across time. Higher levels of confidence were significantly associated with actions taken at 1 (P=.005) and 6 weeks (P=.04), and higher levels of importance were significantly associated with actions taken at 1 (P=.009) and 6 weeks (P=.003). Higher levels of confidence were associated with lower levels of depression (P=.04) and anxiety (P=.01) at 6 weeks. Preliminary findings indicate a culturally tailored mental health transmedia intervention is a feasible approach that holds promise for engaging large numbers of symptomatic English-speaking Latina women to begin the process of seeking help, as well as decreasing symptoms of anxiety and depression. ©MarySue V Heilemann, Patricia D Soderlund, Priscilla Kehoe, Mary-Lynn Brecht. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 19.10.2017.

Spatio-temporal models of mental processes from fMRI.

PubMed

Janoos, Firdaus; Machiraju, Raghu; Singh, Shantanu; Morocz, Istvan Ákos

2011-07-15

Understanding the highly complex, spatially distributed and temporally organized phenomena entailed by mental processes using functional MRI is an important research problem in cognitive and clinical neuroscience. Conventional analysis methods focus on the spatial dimension of the data discarding the information about brain function contained in the temporal dimension. This paper presents a fully spatio-temporal multivariate analysis method using a state-space model (SSM) for brain function that yields not only spatial maps of activity but also its temporal structure along with spatially varying estimates of the hemodynamic response. Efficient algorithms for estimating the parameters along with quantitative validations are given. A novel low-dimensional feature-space for representing the data, based on a formal definition of functional similarity, is derived. Quantitative validation of the model and the estimation algorithms is provided with a simulation study. Using a real fMRI study for mental arithmetic, the ability of this neurophysiologically inspired model to represent the spatio-temporal information corresponding to mental processes is demonstrated. Moreover, by comparing the models across multiple subjects, natural patterns in mental processes organized according to different mental abilities are revealed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Transitions between child and adult mental health services: service design, philosophy and meaning at uncertain times.

PubMed

Murcott, W J

2014-09-01

A young person's transition of care from child and adolescent mental health services to adult mental health services can be an uncertain and distressing event that can have serious ramifications for their recovery. Recognition of this across many countries and recent UK media interest in the dangers of mental health services failing young people has led practitioners to question the existing processes. This paper reviews the current theories and research into potential failings of services and encourages exploration for a deeper understanding of when and how care should be managed in the transition process for young people. Mental health nurses can play a vital role in this process and, by adopting the assumptions of this paradigm, look at transition from this unique perspective. By reviewing the current ideas related to age boundaries, service thresholds, service philosophy and service design, it is argued that the importance of the therapeutic relationship, the understanding of the cultural context of the young person and the placing of the young person in a position of autonomy and control should be central to any decision and process of transfer between two mental health services. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Identifying socio-demographic and socioeconomic determinants of health inequalities in a diverse London community: the South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study.

PubMed

Hatch, Stephani L; Frissa, Souci; Verdecchia, Maria; Stewart, Robert; Fear, Nicola T; Reichenberg, Abraham; Morgan, Craig; Kankulu, Bwalya; Clark, Jennifer; Gazard, Billy; Medcalf, Robert; Hotopf, Matthew

2011-11-11

Responses to public health need require information on the distribution of mental and physical ill health by demographic and socioeconomic factors at the local community level. The South East London Community Health (SELCoH) study is a community psychiatric and physical morbidity survey. Trained interviewers conducted face-to-face computer assisted interviews with 1698 adults aged 16 years and over, from 1076 randomly selected private households in two south London boroughs. We compared the prevalence of common mental disorders, hazardous alcohol use, long standing illness and general physical health by demographic and socioeconomic indicators. Unadjusted and models adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic indicators are presented for all logistic regression models. Of those in the sample, 24.2% reported common mental disorder and 44.9% reported having a long standing illness, with 15.7% reporting hazardous alcohol consumption and 19.2% rating their health as fair or poor. The pattern of indicators identifying health inequalities for common mental disorder, poor general health and having a long term illness is similar; individuals who are socioeconomically disadvantaged have poorer health and physical health worsens as age increases for all groups. The prevalence of poor health outcomes by ethnic group suggests that there are important differences between groups, particularly for common mental disorder and poor general health. Higher socioeconomic status was protective for common mental disorder, fair or poor health and long standing illness, but those with higher socioeconomic status reported higher levels of hazardous alcohol use. The proportion of participants who met the criteria for common mental disorder with co-occurring functional limitations was similar or greater to those with poor physical health. Health service providers and policy makers should prioritise high risk, socially defined groups in combating inequalities in individual and co-occurring poor mental and physical problems. In population terms, poor mental health has a similar or greater burden on functional impairment than long term conditions and perceived health.

Mental Health-related Emergency Department Visits Associated With Cannabis in Colorado.

PubMed

Hall, Katelyn E; Monte, Andrew A; Chang, Tae; Fox, Jacob; Brevik, Cody; Vigil, Daniel I; Van Dyke, Mike; James, Katherine A

2018-02-24

Cannabis legalization in Colorado resulted in increased cannabis-associated health care utilization. Our objective was to examine cooccurrence of cannabis and mental health diagnostic coding in Colorado emergency department (ED) discharges and replicate the study in a subpopulation of ED visits where cannabis involvement and psychiatric diagnosis were confirmed through medical review. We collected statewide ED International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification diagnoses from the Colorado Hospital Association and a subpopulation of ED visits from a large, academic hospital from 2012 to 2014. Diagnosis codes identified visits associated with mental health and cannabis. Codes for mental health conditions and cannabis were confirmed by manual records review in the academic hospital subpopulation. Prevalence ratios (PRs) of mental health ED discharges were calculated to compare cannabis-associated visits to those without cannabis. Rates of mental health and cannabis-associated ED discharges were examined over time. Statewide data demonstrated a fivefold higher prevalence of mental health diagnoses in cannabis-associated ED visits (PR = 5.35, 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.27-5.43) compared to visits without cannabis. The hospital subpopulation supported this finding with a fourfold higher prevalence of psychiatric complaints in cannabis attributable ED visits (PR = 4.87, 95% CI = 4.36-5.44) compared to visits not attributable to cannabis. Statewide rates of ED visits associated with both cannabis and mental health significantly increased from 2012 to 2014 from 224.5 to 268.4 per 100,000 (p < 0.0001). In Colorado, the prevalence of mental health conditions in ED visits with cannabis-associated diagnostic codes is higher than in those without cannabis. There is a need for further research determining if these findings are truly attributed to cannabis or merely coincident with concurrent increased use and availability. © 2018 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Implicit and explicit social mentalizing: dual processes driven by a shared neural network

PubMed Central

Van Overwalle, Frank; Vandekerckhove, Marie

2013-01-01

Recent social neuroscientific evidence indicates that implicit and explicit inferences on the mind of another person (i.e., intentions, attributions or traits), are subserved by a shared mentalizing network. Under both implicit and explicit instructions, ERP studies reveal that early inferences occur at about the same time, and fMRI studies demonstrate an overlap in core mentalizing areas, including the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). These results suggest a rapid shared implicit intuition followed by a slower explicit verification processes (as revealed by additional brain activation during explicit vs. implicit inferences). These data provide support for a default-adjustment dual-process framework of social mentalizing. PMID:24062663

Deficiency in Mental Rotation of Upper and Lower-Limbs in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis and Its Relation With Cognitive Functions.

PubMed

Azin, Mahdieh; Zangiabadi, Nasser; Moghadas Tabrizi, Yousef; Iranmanesh, Farhad; Baneshi, Mohammad Reza

2016-08-01

Mental rotation is a cognitive motor process which was impaired in different neurologic disorders. We investigated whether there were deficits in response pattern, reaction time and response accuracy rate of mental rotation in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients compared to healthy subjects and whether cognitive dysfunctions in MS patients were correlated with mental rotation deficits. Moreover, we showed whether there was a difference between upper and lower-limbs mental rotation in MS patients. Thirty-five MS patients and 25 healthy subjects performed hand mental rotation (HMR) and foot mental rotation (FMR) tasks. Visual information processing speed, spatial learning and memory ability, and visuospatial processing were assessed by Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R), and Judgment of Line Orientation Test (JLO) respectively in MS patients. Reaction time for both hand and foot stimuli increased, and response accuracy rate for hand stimuli decreased in MS patients compared to healthy subjects, but response pattern of mental rotation in MS patients persisted. Similar to healthy subjects, MS patients performed upper-limbs mental rotation more easily than a lower-limbs mental rotation with more speed and response accuracy rate. Reaction time and response accuracy rate were correlated with the mentioned cognitive functions. MS patients made use of the correct response pattern for problem solving of increasing orientation from upright stimuli. Reaction time and response accuracy rate altered in these patients and this alteration might occur along with impairment in motor planning. Subjects' better responding to hand stimuli was due to more familiarity with hand stimuli. The correlation of mental rotation ability with cognitive functions indicates the possible role of cognitive functions in mental rotation.

Self-Reported Physical Quality of Life Before Thoracic Operations Is Associated With Long-Term Survival.

PubMed

Al-Ameri, Mamdoh; Bergman, Per; Franco-Cereceda, Anders; Sartipy, Ulrik

2017-02-01

The aim was to analyze the association between baseline self-reported health-related quality of life and long-term survival after thoracic operations. In a prospective population-based cohort study, we included patients scheduled for thoracic operations and obtained information about preoperative health-related quality of life using the validated quality-of-life instrument Short Form-36. Patients were categorized according to higher or lower physical and mental component scores, compared with an age- and sex-matched reference population. The primary outcome measure was all-cause mortality and was ascertained from Swedish national registers. We used Cox regression for estimation of hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between preoperative physical/mental quality of life and long-term survival while adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics, cancer stage, histopathologic process, and other factors. We included 249 patients between 2006 and 2008. During a median follow-up time of 8.0 years, 119 patients (48%) died. Having a physical component summary score less than reference was significantly associated with mortality (multivariable adjusted HR 2.02, 95% CI: 1.34 to 3.06, p = 0.001). A mental component summary score less than reference was not associated with mortality (adjusted HR 1.32, 95% CI: 0.84 to 3.06, p = 0.233). In patients who underwent thoracic operations, a self-reported physical quality of life lower than reference value was associated with significantly worse survival independent of histopathologic process, cancer stage, extent of operations, and other patient-related factors. The preoperative mental component of quality of life was not associated with long-term survival. Copyright © 2017 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Image, imagination, and reality: on effectiveness of introductory work with vocalists.

PubMed

Gullaer, Irene; Walker, Robert; Badin, Pierre; Lamalle, Laurent

2006-01-01

Fifty-four sung tokens, each consisting of eight images were generated with the help of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to demonstrate the work of intrapharyngeal muscles when singing and speaking, and to help the educational process. The MRI images can be used as a part of a visualization feed-back method in vocal education and contribute to creation of proper mental images. The use of visualization (pictures, drafts, graphs, spectra, MRI images, etc.), along with mental images, facilitates simplification and acceleration of the process of understanding and learning how to master the basics of vocal technique, especially in the initial period of study. It is shown that work on muscle development and use of imagination should progress with close interaction between the two. For higher effectiveness and tangible results, mental images used by a vocal pedagogue should correspond to the technical and emotional level of a student. Therefore, mental images have to undertake the same evolution as articulation technique-from simplified and comprehensible to complex and abstract. Our integrated approach suggests continuing the work on muscle development and use of imagination in singing classes, employing the experience of voice-speech teachers. Their exercises are modified using the empirical method and other techniques developed creatively by singing teachers. In this method, sensitivity towards the state of the tissues becomes increasingly refined; students acquire a conscious control over the muscle work, students gain full awareness of both sensation and muscle activity. As a result, a complex of professional conditioned reflexes is being developed. A case study of the New Zealand experience was conducted with groups of Maori and European students. Unique properties and trends in the voices of Maori people are discussed.

Occupation and mental health in a national UK survey.

PubMed

Stansfeld, Stephen Alfred; Rasul, F R; Head, J; Singleton, N

2011-02-01

To measure the prevalence of common mental disorder (CMD) by occupation in a representative sample of Great Britain and to identify occupations with increased and decreased risk of CMD. A cross-sectional interview-based survey was carried out including 5,497 working male and female respondents, 16-64 years from a stratified random survey of private households in Britain. Occupations were classified by the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) into four groups: major, sub-major, minor and constituent unit groups. Common Mental Disorder was measured by the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule. Major SOC groups with higher prevalence of common mental disorder included clerical and secretarial, sales, and personal and protective services whereas craft and related, 'other' professional occupations and plant and machine operatives had lower prevalence compared to 13% overall prevalence in all adults. In sub-major SOC groups managers and administrators, teaching professionals, clerical and secretarial, 'other' sales and personal service occupations had higher prevalence whereas many professional and skilled occupations had lower prevalence. Specific SOC unit groups with higher prevalence included primary and secondary teachers, welfare community, youth workers, security staff, waiters, bar staff, nurse auxiliaries and care assistants. General managers in government and large organizations (OR=2.79, 95% CI 1.41-5.54), managers in transport and storing (OR=2.44, 95% CI 1.18-5.03), buyers and mobile sales persons (OR=2.48, 95% CI 1.09-5.60), sales occupations (NES) (OR=2.78, 95% CI 1.25-6.19) and clerks (NES) (OR=2.71, 95% CI 1.59-4.61) had increased risk of common mental disorder relative to specialist managers adjusting for social and financial factors and physical ill-health. Occupations with higher risk of common mental disorder may be typified by high levels of job demands, especially emotional demands and lack of job security. The reasons why occupations have low rates of common mental disorder are varied and may include high levels of job discretion, good job training and clearly defined job tasks.

Planning for district mental health services in South Africa: a situational analysis of a rural district site.

PubMed

Petersen, Inge; Bhana, Arvin; Campbell-Hall, Victoria; Mjadu, Sithembile; Lund, Crick; Kleintjies, Sharon; Hosegood, Victoria; Flisher, Alan J

2009-03-01

The shift in emphasis to universal primary health care in post-apartheid South Africa has been accompanied by a process of decentralization of mental health services to district level, as set out in the new Mental Health Care Act, no. 17, of 2002 and the 1997 White Paper on the Transformation of the Health System. This study sought to assess progress in South Africa with respect to deinstitutionalization and the integration of mental health into primary health care, with a view to understanding the resource implications of these processes at district level. A situational analysis in one district site, typical of rural areas in South Africa, was conducted, based on qualitative interviews with key stakeholders and the World Health Organization's Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS). The findings suggest that the decentralization process remains largely limited to emergency management of psychiatric patients and ongoing psychopharmacological care of patients with stabilized chronic conditions. We suggest that, in a similar vein to other low- to middle-income countries, deinstitutionalization and comprehensive integrated mental health care in South Africa is hampered by a lack of resources for mental health care within the primary health care resource package, as well as the inefficient use of existing mental health resources.

Using Pupil Diameter Changes for Measuring Mental Workload under Mental Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batmaz, Ihsan; Ozturk, Mustafa

In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the mental workload by using a practical way which based on measuring pupil diameter changes that occurs under mental processing. To determine the mental effort required for each task, the video record of subjects` eyes are taken while they are performed different tasks and pupils were measured from the records. A group of university student, one female 9 males participated to the experiment. Additionally, NASA-TLX questionnaire is applied for the related mental tasks. For verification of results obtained from both indices, the correlation coefficient is calculated task base. The results show that there is weak and negative correlation between the indices on task base except 3rd task. By investigating pupil diameter measurements data too, it is founded that pupil dilates under mental workload during performing related tasks. For all tasks, pupil diameters of response periods increased according to reference baseline period.

The psychology and physiology of temperament: pragmatism in context.

PubMed

Bordogna, F

2001-01-01

This paper traces William James's famous "temperament thesis" according to which the philosophical stance that individuals take depends on their "temperaments." It seeks to understand James's conception of temperament by locating James within a set of contemporary investigations that linked the sources of mental, and even higher, intellectual processes to the physiological and organic constitution of the individual. The paper argues that James understood temperament along the reflex-arc model and discusses the implications of that physiological account of temperament for James's overall conception of philosophy.

Predeployment Sleep Duration and Insomnia Symptoms as Risk Factors for New-Onset Mental Health Disorders Following Military Deployment

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

avoidance symptoms, 2 hyperarousal symptoms, and 1 intrusion symptom were endorsed at “moderate” or higher levels.27,29 Since the sleep item from the...processes related to specific sleep stages. REM sleep mechanisms are one potential candidate, given that REM fragmentation has been proposed in the...Psychiatry 2002;159:855-7. 41. Mellman TA, Bustamante V, Fins AI, Pigeon WR, Nolan B. Rem sleep and the early development of posttraumatic stress

Abortion and mental health disorders: evidence from a 30-year longitudinal study.

PubMed

Fergusson, David M; Horwood, L John; Boden, Joseph M

2008-12-01

Research on the links between abortion and mental health has been limited by design problems and relatively weak evidence. To examine the links between pregnancy outcomes and mental health outcomes. Data were gathered on the pregnancy and mental health history of a birth cohort of over 500 women studied to the age of 30. After adjustment for confounding, abortion was associated with a small increase in the risk of mental disorders; women who had had abortions had rates of mental disorder that were about 30% higher. There were no consistent associations between other pregnancy outcomes and mental health. Estimates of attributable risk indicated that exposure to abortion accounted for 1.5% to 5.5% of the overall rate of mental disorders. The evidence is consistent with the view that abortion may be associated with a small increase in risk of mental disorders. Other pregnancy outcomes were not related to increased risk of mental health problems.

Costs of treating patients with schizophrenia who have illness-related crisis events.

PubMed

Zhu, Baojin; Ascher-Svanum, Haya; Faries, Douglas E; Peng, Xiaomei; Salkever, David; Slade, Eric P

2008-08-26

Relatively little is known about the relationship between psychosocial crises and treatment costs for persons with schizophrenia. This naturalistic prospective study assessed the association of recent crises with mental health treatment costs among persons receiving treatment for schizophrenia. Data were drawn from a large multi-site, non-interventional study of schizophrenia patients in the United States, conducted between 1997 and 2003. Participants were treated at mental health treatment systems, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, community mental health centers, community and state hospitals, and university health care service systems. Total costs over a 1-year period for mental health services and component costs (psychiatric hospitalizations, antipsychotic medications, other psychotropic medications, day treatment, emergency psychiatric services, psychosocial/rehabilitation group therapy, individual therapy, medication management, and case management) were calculated for 1557 patients with complete medical information. Direct mental health treatment costs for patients who had experienced 1 or more of 5 recent crisis events were compared to propensity-matched samples of persons who had not experienced a crisis event. The 5 non-mutually exclusive crisis event subgroups were: suicide attempt in the past 4 weeks (n = 18), psychiatric hospitalization in the past 6 months (n = 240), arrest in the past 6 months (n = 56), violent behaviors in the past 4 weeks (n = 62), and diagnosis of a co-occurring substance use disorder (n = 413). Across all 5 categories of crisis events, patients who had a recent crisis had higher average annual mental health treatment costs than patients in propensity-score matched comparison samples. Average annual mental health treatment costs were significantly higher for persons who attempted suicide ($46,024), followed by persons with psychiatric hospitalization in the past 6 months ($37,329), persons with prior arrests ($31,081), and persons with violent behaviors ($18,778). Total cost was not significantly higher for those with co-occurring substance use disorder ($19,034). Recent crises, particularly suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalizations, and criminal arrests, are predictive of higher mental health treatment costs in schizophrenia patients.

Costs of treating patients with schizophrenia who have illness-related crisis events

PubMed Central

Zhu, Baojin; Ascher-Svanum, Haya; Faries, Douglas E; Peng, Xiaomei; Salkever, David; Slade, Eric P

2008-01-01

Background Relatively little is known about the relationship between psychosocial crises and treatment costs for persons with schizophrenia. This naturalistic prospective study assessed the association of recent crises with mental health treatment costs among persons receiving treatment for schizophrenia. Methods Data were drawn from a large multi-site, non-interventional study of schizophrenia patients in the United States, conducted between 1997 and 2003. Participants were treated at mental health treatment systems, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, community mental health centers, community and state hospitals, and university health care service systems. Total costs over a 1-year period for mental health services and component costs (psychiatric hospitalizations, antipsychotic medications, other psychotropic medications, day treatment, emergency psychiatric services, psychosocial/rehabilitation group therapy, individual therapy, medication management, and case management) were calculated for 1557 patients with complete medical information. Direct mental health treatment costs for patients who had experienced 1 or more of 5 recent crisis events were compared to propensity-matched samples of persons who had not experienced a crisis event. The 5 non-mutually exclusive crisis event subgroups were: suicide attempt in the past 4 weeks (n = 18), psychiatric hospitalization in the past 6 months (n = 240), arrest in the past 6 months (n = 56), violent behaviors in the past 4 weeks (n = 62), and diagnosis of a co-occurring substance use disorder (n = 413). Results Across all 5 categories of crisis events, patients who had a recent crisis had higher average annual mental health treatment costs than patients in propensity-score matched comparison samples. Average annual mental health treatment costs were significantly higher for persons who attempted suicide ($46,024), followed by persons with psychiatric hospitalization in the past 6 months ($37,329), persons with prior arrests ($31,081), and persons with violent behaviors ($18,778). Total cost was not significantly higher for those with co-occurring substance use disorder ($19,034). Conclusion Recent crises, particularly suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitalizations, and criminal arrests, are predictive of higher mental health treatment costs in schizophrenia patients. PMID:18727831

Attitudes of nursing students on consumer participation: the effectiveness of the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire.

PubMed

Byrne, Louise; Happell, Brenda; Platania-Phung, Chris

2015-01-01

The aims of this article were to evaluate the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire, and measure nursing students' attitudes to consumer participation. Undergraduate nursing students (n = 116) completed the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire at the start of a course on recovery for mental health nursing practice. The current findings confirm an endorsement of consumer participation in individual care processes, but less agreement with participation in organizational-level processes, such as management of mental health services and education of providers. This article also confirms that the questionnaire can effectively measure attitudes to consumer participation. The participation of consumers is critical for achieving person-centered services mental health services. It is important that nursing education influence positive attitudes. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fear improves mental rotation of low-spatial-frequency visual representation.

PubMed

Borst, Grégoire

2013-10-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that the brief presentation of a fearful face improves not only low-level visual processing such as contrast and orientation sensitivity but also improves visuospatial processing. In the present study, we investigated whether fear improves mental rotation efficiency (i.e., the mental rotation rate) because of the effect of fear on the sensitivity of magnocellular neurons. We asked 2 groups of participants to perform a mental rotation task with either low-pass or high-pass filtered 3-dimensional objects. Following the presentation of a fearful face, participants mentally rotated objects faster compared with when a neutral face was presented but only for low-pass filtered objects. The results suggest that fear improves mental rotation efficiency by increasing sensitivity to motion-related visual information within the magnocellular pathway.

PERSPECTIVES: Accountability for Mental Health: The Australian Experience.

PubMed

Rosenberg, Sebastian; Salvador-Carulla, Luis

2017-03-01

Australia was one of the first countries to develop a national policy for mental health. A persistent characteristic of all these policies has been their reference to the importance of accountability. What does this mean exactly and have we achieved it? Can Australia tell if anybody is getting better? To review accountability for mental health in Australia and question whether two decades of Australian rhetoric around accountability for mental health has been fulfilled. This paper first considers the concept of accountability and its application to mental health. We then draw on existing literature, reports, and empirical data from national and state governments to illustrate historical and current approaches to accountability for mental health. We provide a content analysis of the most current set of national indicators. The paper also briefly considers some relevant international processes to compare Australia's progress in establishing accountability for mental health. Australia's federated system of government permits competing approaches to accountability, with multiple and overlapping data sets. A clear national approach to accountability for mental health has failed to emerge. Existing data focuses on administrative and health service indicators, failing to reflect broader social factors which reveal quality of life. In spite of twenty years of investment and effort Australia has been described as outcome blind, unable to demonstrate the merit of USD 8bn spent on mental health annually. While it may be prolific, existing administrative data provide little outcomes information against which Australia can genuinely assess the health and welfare of people with a mental illness. International efforts are evolving slowly. Even in high income countries such as Australia, resources for mental health services are constrained. Countries cannot afford to continue to invest in services or programs that fail to demonstrate good outcomes for people with a mental illness or are not value for money. New approaches are needed which ensure that chosen accountability indicators reflect national health and social priorities. Such priorities must be meaningful to a range of stakeholders and the community about the state of mental health. They must drive an agenda of continuous improvement relevant to those most affected by mental disorders. These approaches should be operable in emerging international contexts. Australia must further develop its approach to health accountability in relation to mental health. A limited set of new preferred national mental health indicators should be agreed. These should be tested, both domestically and internationally, for their capacity to inform and drive quality improvement processes in mental health. Existing systems of accountability are not fit for purpose, incapable of firing necessary quality improvement processes. Supported by adequate resources, realistic targets and a culture of openness, new accountability could drive real quality improvement processes for mental health, facilitate jurisdictional comparisons in Australia, and contribute to new efforts to benchmark mental health internationally.

Mental workload measurement in operator control room using NASA-TLX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugarindra, M.; Suryoputro, M. R.; Permana, A. I.

2017-12-01

The workload, encountered a combination of physical workload and mental workload, is a consequence of the activities for workers. Central control room is one department in the oil processing company, employees tasked with monitoring the processing unit for 24 hours nonstop with a combination of 3 shifts in 8 hours. NASA-TLX (NASA Task Load Index) is one of the subjective mental workload measurement using six factors, namely the Mental demand (MD), Physical demand (PD), Temporal demand (TD), Performance (OP), Effort (EF), frustration levels (FR). Measurement of a subjective mental workload most widely used because it has a high degree of validity. Based on the calculation of the mental workload, there at 5 units (DTU, NPU, HTU, DIST and OPS) at the control chamber (94; 83.33; 94.67; 81, 33 and 94.67 respectively) that categorize as very high mental workload. The high level of mental workload on the operator in the Central Control Room is a requirement to have high accuracy, alertness and can make decisions quickly

Using Research Evidence to Reframe the Policy Debate Around Mental Illness and Guns: Process and Recommendations

PubMed Central

Frattaroli, Shannon; Appelbaum, Paul S.; Bonnie, Richard J.; Grilley, Anna; Horwitz, Joshua; Swanson, Jeffrey W.; Webster, Daniel W.

2014-01-01

Recent mass shootings have prompted a national dialogue around mental illness and gun policy. To advance an evidence-informed policy agenda on this controversial issue, we formed a consortium of national gun violence prevention and mental health experts. The consortium agreed on a guiding principle for future policy recommendations: restricting firearm access on the basis of certain dangerous behaviors is supported by the evidence; restricting access on the basis of mental illness diagnoses is not. We describe the group’s process and recommendations. PMID:25211757

Using research evidence to reframe the policy debate around mental illness and guns: process and recommendations.

PubMed

McGinty, Emma E; Frattaroli, Shannon; Appelbaum, Paul S; Bonnie, Richard J; Grilley, Anna; Horwitz, Joshua; Swanson, Jeffrey W; Webster, Daniel W

2014-11-01

Recent mass shootings have prompted a national dialogue around mental illness and gun policy. To advance an evidence-informed policy agenda on this controversial issue, we formed a consortium of national gun violence prevention and mental health experts. The consortium agreed on a guiding principle for future policy recommendations: restricting firearm access on the basis of certain dangerous behaviors is supported by the evidence; restricting access on the basis of mental illness diagnoses is not. We describe the group's process and recommendations.

Lifestyle choices and mental health: a longitudinal survey with German and Chinese students.

PubMed

Velten, Julia; Bieda, Angela; Scholten, Saskia; Wannemüller, André; Margraf, Jürgen

2018-05-16

A healthy lifestyle can be beneficial for one's mental health. Thus, identifying healthy lifestyle choices that promote psychological well-being and reduce mental problems is useful to prevent mental disorders. The aim of this longitudinal study was to evaluate the predictive values of a broad range of lifestyle choices for positive mental health (PMH) and mental health problems (MHP) in German and Chinese students. Data were assessed at baseline and at 1-year follow-up. Samples included 2991 German (M age  = 21.69, SD = 4.07) and 12,405 Chinese (M age  = 20.59, SD = 1.58) university students. Lifestyle choices were body mass index, frequency of physical and mental activities, frequency of alcohol consumption, smoking, vegetarian diet, and social rhythm irregularity. PMH and MHP were measured with the Positive Mental Health Scale and a 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. The predictive values of lifestyle choices for PMH and MHP at baseline and follow-up were assessed with single-group and multi-group path analyses. Better mental health (higher PMH and fewer MHP) at baseline was predicted by a lower body mass index, a higher frequency of physical and mental activities, non-smoking, a non-vegetarian diet, and a more regular social rhythm. When controlling for baseline mental health, age, and gender, physical activity was a positive predictor of PMH, smoking was a positive predictor of MHP, and a more irregular social rhythm was a positive predictor of PMH and a negative predictor of MHP at follow-up. The good fit of a multi-group model indicated that most lifestyle choices predict mental health comparably across samples. Some country-specific effects emerged: frequency of alcohol consumption, for example, predicted better mental health in German and poorer mental health in Chinese students. Our findings underline the importance of healthy lifestyle choices for improved psychological well-being and fewer mental health difficulties. Effects of lifestyle on mental health are comparable in German and Chinese students. Some healthy lifestyle choices (i.e., more frequent physical activity, non-smoking, regular social rhythm) are related to improvements in mental health over a 1-year period.