Psychology Commons^™

Advancing Behavioral Health Literacy, James Scollione

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Accessing, comprehending, and using information to make informed decisions and improve one’s overall health or well-being are the foci of health literacy. The concept of behavioral health was introduced in the early 1980s and, since then, it has influenced new ideas (e.g., behavioral health literacy and integrated behavioral health care) and gained research and public attention. My aim is to provide an overview of definitions (i.e., health literacy, mental health literacy, and behavioral health literacy) and their connection to each other. I propose an expanded and honed definition of behavioral health literacy to enhance the behavioral health literacy and well-being …

Exploring Culturally Competent Mental Health Outreach To Black Churches, Michele Marie Fry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black individuals and communities have held distrust toward mental health services and experience barriers in seeking services. Although the church is a significant support system in the Black community, it can also pose a barrier to congregation members seeking mental health services, as the Black church community has often stigmatized those seeking mental health services as weak. Ways to reach the Black community with trauma-informed, culturally competent, and spiritually sensitive mental health services through establishing connections with Black churches and church leaders were explored in this study. Previous research indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic increased depression and anxiety in the …

Helping In The Home: Counselors’ Experiences Providing Clients With In-Home Services, Melissa Jane Franzen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counseling is an essential service that helps individuals work through struggles and live their best lives. Such service now includes providing counseling in clients’ homes. Counselors may require specific training or education to prepare for counseling in a home environment. This need for training and education is due to a lack of knowledge of the lived experiences of counselors providing services in the home. Transcendental phenomenology was used to guide a qualitative exploration into the lived experiences of counselors providing services in clients’ homes. Participants were 7 professional counselors, 5 female and 2 male, having met minimum state licensure requirements …

Lived Experiences Of Pakistani American Women Who Sought Mental Health Treatment, Marriam Ashraf

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractDespite the research on how mental illness manifests in the United States, there is more to be known about mental health in the Pakistani American population. The goal of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of Pakistani American women who sought mental health treatment. Ecological theory provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from semi structured interviews with 10 participants via telephone and face-to-face conversations. Data were analyzed using managing, reading, memoing, describing, classifying, interpreting, representing, and visualizing techniques. Findings indicated that seeking help for mental health played a positive role in participants being …

The Experience Of Therapists Working With Mexican American Children Of Substance Abusing Parents, Tracy M. Basile

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe need for culturally competent mental health providers and the Mexican American immigrant population in the United States are growing. This study focused on themes from therapists’ narratives that may help to comprehend the intricacy of difficulties facing Mexican American children living with substance-abusing parents. The firsthand knowledge and experiences of the therapists who have worked with this population provided a basic understanding of what to expect and which therapeutic interventions may work best for both the child and their parents. The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to qualitatively identify therapists’ lived experiences and understand how they interacted with …

A Behavioral Healthcare Approach To At-Risk Youth Substance Prevention Program Development, Debra Mcintyre

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Providing quality services that meet the needs of clients is key to organizational sustainability for behavioral health organizations. Strategic development of substance prevention programs for at-risk youth will play an important role in capacity building. The focus of this study was to identify the need for developing a targeted and effective substance abuse prevention program to support at-risk youth who have trauma experiences before they begin misusing substances to cope with their challenges. The Baldrige excellence framework was used to guide this descriptive case study of a behavioral health organization in the Northeastern region of the United States. The data …

Mental Health Provider Experiences Among Juvenile Offenders With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Vanessa West

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has indicated various treatment options available such as medication management or family therapy for juvenile offenders struggling with a diagnosis of, or symptoms of, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Exploring mental health clinicians’ perceptions may provide insight into treatment needed for this population to contribute positively to society. Past researchers refrained from obtaining mental health clinicians’ perspectives on treatment when working with this population. Rational choice theory indicates that individuals examine the costs and benefits of their actions prior to making decisions. Gestalt/feature-intensive processing theory promotes the inclusion of necessary information to help with processing when making decisions. Youth …

Influence Of Parenting Style On Frequency Of Alcohol Consumption By Jewish Male And Female Emerging Adults, Thomas Gross

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

The health hazards associated with young adults’ frequency of alcohol consumption have been well documented. It has been shown that 40.1% of emerging adults have been involved in binge drinking (i.e., consumption of more than five drinks in a row). The current prevalence rates of alcohol use among young male and female adults are 19% and 26%, respectively. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of perceived parenting style (i.e., permissive, authoritarian, or authoritative/flexible) on the self-reported frequency of alcohol consumption of 138 U.S. Jewish male and female college students ages 19 to 27 years. The …

Examining The Impact Of Mental Health Education On Bias And Stigma In Cit Trained Officers, Jennifer L. Krause

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational nonexperimental research was to examine the relationship between the mental health education received through Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and the perceptions of public mental health stigma, self-stigma, and attitudes toward seeking mental health services among law enforcement officers. The study’s theoretical framework integrated gender-role conflict theory and Goffman’s stigma theory in explaining the influence of the police culture on officers’ adoption of more traditional masculine roles. This research used three instruments: the Attitudes to Mental Illness questionnaire to measure perceptions of public stigma, the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale to measure self-stigma, and …

Importance Of Childhood Maltreatment On Borderline Personality In Adults: Meta-Analysis, Lisa Nicole Trentacosti

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Early childhood maltreatment (CM) is a risk factor for later psychopathology specifically Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). CM has been found to negatively affect social, emotional, and psychological development as well as the ability to foster and sustain interpersonal relationships throughout all stages of life. There are evidence-based interventions for different kinds of CM including Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), Alternatives for Families - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT), relaxation training, and social skills training. The current study is a meta-analysis of published research into CM as it contributes to BPD in adults and is designed to examine the effect size of childhood …

Understanding The Role That The Internet And Social Media Plays In Suicide Survivor Bereavement, Catherine Merle Perusse

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Every year more than 47,000 individuals die by suicide in the United States, leaving behind numerous family and friends who become suicide survivors. While there are prodigious amounts of research on suicidal behavior, little research has focused on what the surviving family members, friends, and community members need after the loss. Many suicide survivors use social media to address their grief and pain in a very public manner. A constructionist social theory of grief and existential phenomenology provided the framework for this qualitative study to examine the use of the Internet and social media as a forum for those grieving …

African American Mothers’ Experience In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Lauren Magruder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black/African American (B/AA) mothers struggle disproportionately with problems related to childbirth. B/AA mothers have higher rates of premature births, infant death prior to age one, and death during childbirth. The purpose of this research was to add to present knowledge regarding B/AA mothers who have had a baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Womanist theory was selected as a framework for the study because it focuses on the intersection of gender and race in relation to B/AA women. The experience of B/AA women in U.S. society is unique, in that it involves several pervasive stereotypes and controlling images. …

Teacher Perception On Integrating School Psychology In The Developing Nation Of Grenada, Carla Erica Maria St. Louis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractInternationally, formalized school psychology and related services strive to address the academic and mental health of students in schools. In developing nations, teachers are the primary professionals to address students’ needs in schools. Little research has focused on teachers’ perceptions of students’ needs, available services’ quality, and how formalized structures with qualified certified professionals can further address students’ needs. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems and Nastasi’s participatory culture-specific intervention model are the theoretical underpinnings of this qualitative study and focus group interviews were used to investigate special education needs (SEN) teachers’ perceptions. Data were collected using open ended questions and probes with …