Community Psychology Commons^™

Brief Note From The Editor, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Recruiting New Members, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

The Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science took place in New York City from May 25 to May 28, 2006. We attended the convention and had a number of goals that we wanted to accomplish: assume a position on the graduate student board, present at a poster session, attend various conference events, and recruit conferees for the Society for Occupational Health Psychology. It is the last goal about which we are writing. We hope that this article will help our SOHP colleagues recruit, at some future time, new members for our organization.

The Latino Caregiver Experience Among Dementia And Non-Dementia Caregivers : Can Community Based Care Management Improve Caregiver Health?, Catherine Oliveros

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Purpose: This study provides an analysis of the Latino caregiving community in Southeast Texas and the role community based care management plays in influencing caregiver physical and emotional well-being. Design and Methods: A non-random sample of 63 Latino caregivers was interviewed by phone. Caregiver physical and emotional well-being was studied through burden, depression, perceived health status, and resourcefulness. Regression, correlation, and comparison analysis was performed with key variables. Results: Acculturation was positively correlated with care management use. In comparing dementia and non-dementia caregivers both groups had similar levels of depression and burden, however, the dementia group had significantly lower levels …

Brief Report: Impact Of Classroom Presentations About Health And Help Seeking On Rural Australian Adolescents’ Intentions To Consult Health Care Professionals., Coralie J. Wilson

Frank Deane

Building Bridges-GP-Team (Building Bridges-Team; Wilson et al., 2004c) is a variation of the Building Bridges to General Practice: GPs in Schools program (Building Bridges-GP; Wilson et al., 2004a), which promotes consultation with health care professionals who are local and available for rural and regional adolescent’ consultation. The first major component of Building Bridges-GP-Team involves structured health professional training that provides knowledge in three basic areas: (1) adolescents’ help seeking barriers and ways to address barriers in primary health care; (2) developmental issues relevant to adolescent’ help seeking; and (3) classroom management, presentation strategies, and elementary teaching skills. Training is based …

Brief Report: Impact Of Classroom Presentations About Health And Help Seeking On Rural Australian Adolescents’ Intentions To Consult Health Care Professionals., Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

Building Bridges-GP-Team (Building Bridges-Team; Wilson et al., 2004c) is a variation of the Building Bridges to General Practice: GPs in Schools program (Building Bridges-GP; Wilson et al., 2004a), which promotes consultation with health care professionals who are local and available for rural and regional adolescent’ consultation. The first major component of Building Bridges-GP-Team involves structured health professional training that provides knowledge in three basic areas: (1) adolescents’ help seeking barriers and ways to address barriers in primary health care; (2) developmental issues relevant to adolescent’ help seeking; and (3) classroom management, presentation strategies, and elementary teaching skills. Training is based …

Depressive Symptoms And Help-Seeking Intentions In Young People., Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

Whether the help-negation effect as demonstrated for suicidal thoughts was also evident for depressive symptoms was investigated in three studies of young people from diverse urban areas. The studies comprised a large sample of younger high school students (years 7-10), a sample of older high school students (years 8-12), and first year university students. A self-report questionnaire that measured help-seeking intentions, prior help-seeking experiences, and depression was administered. Results revealed the strongest inverse association between level of depressive symptoms was with intentions to seek help from parents across all three samples. There was a consistent trend for students to report …

When And How Do Young People Seek Professional Help For Mental Health Problems?, Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

Despite the high prevalence of mental health problems and disorders that develop in adolescence and early adulthood, young people tend to not seek professional help. Young men and young people from Indigenous and ethnic minority groups tend to be those most reluctant to seek help. Young people are more inclined to seek help for mental health problems if they: have some knowledge about mental health issues and sources of help; feel emotionally competent to express their feelings; and have established and trusted relationships with potential help providers. Young people are less likely to seek help if they: are experiencing suicidal …

Expanded School-Based Health: The Mental Health And School Connection, Dr. Jill D. Duba

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

Research suggests that expanded school-based mental health (ESMH) programs can offer benefits and hope for children and their families. Such programs are part of a national progressive movement involving collaborative relationships between schools and community mental health agencies. The purpose of this article is to highlight the constructs and details of ESMH programs, as well as counselor training possibilities.

Supporting Young People To Seek Professional Help For Mental Health Problems: Cover Feature., Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

No abstract provided.

Functional Family Therapy: An Interview With Dr. James Alexander, Dr. Jill D. Duba

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

This article presents the functional family therapy of James Alexander, focusing on his work with high risk youth who are high risk, delinquent, and who abuse substances. The interview addresses evidence-based interventions, indivudalizing treatment, and prevention of violence. Training efforts and recent developments in functional family therapy are discussed.

Comparing Chemical Dependency And Mental Health Programs For The Dually Diagnosed, Kelly L. Hacker

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In order to better understand the needs of an increasing dually diagnosed population, this study compares the efficacy of integrated vs. nonintegrated treatment programs for a dually diagnosed population, residing at a Long Term Care facility in San Bernardino, California. Patients in this setting are diagnosed with chronic and acute mental illness and chemical dependency. This study tested the hypotheses that the nonintegrated treatment program would result in a higher frequency of assaults, PRNs, Q15s, and Code Reds; increase the duration of Q15s; and, increase the Addiction Severity Index’s (ASI) Family/Social and Psychiatric subscales’ scores, which would indicate lower levels …

School Violence, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

The purpose of this chapter is threefold. First, the chapter summarizes what is known about the prevalence of violence and weapons in U.S. schools. Second, the chapter examines theories that bear on school violence and the empirical evidence linked to those theories. Third, the chapter looks at attempts to prevent school violence and, consequently, the suffering school violence causes.

La&S Team Gives Kenyan Youth A New Way To Combat Hiv/Aids, Leah Christina Neubauer

Leah C. Neubauer

No abstract provided.

Kenneth A. Mchugh Quality Staff Service Award: Past Award Recipients, Leah Neubauer

Leah C. Neubauer

No abstract provided.

Can Hopelessness And Adolescents’ Beliefs And Attitudes About Seeking Help Account For Help Negation?, Coralie J. Wilson

Frank Deane

Avoidance of appropriate help is common in acutely suicidal samples and has been confirmed in nonclinical samples but factors that contribute to this help negation effect remain unclear. The current study is the second in series from the first author's larger PhD research program. In a sample of 269 nonclinical Australian high school students, the current study examines the impact of hopelessness, previous mental health care, beliefs, and attitudes toward professional psychological help on the help negation relationship. Results revealed that suicidal ideation significantly predicted lower help seeking intentions and that although hopelessness could not explain the help negation effect, …

Help Seeking For Mental Health Problems In Adolescence And Early Adulthood., Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Adolescence and young adulthood are critical life stages for mental health, as this is the period when most mental health problems and mental disorders have their peak incidence. It is also a time of increased suicidal ideation and frequency of suicide attempts. Despite the importance of adolescence and young adulthood in the aetiology of mental disorders, there is evidence that young people may be poorly informed about mental health and are unlikely to consult a professional for their mental health problems. Help-seeking is a term used to refer to the behaviour of actively seeking help from other people. …

Measuring Help-Seeking Intentions: Properties Of The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire, Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

A clear understanding of help-seeking intentions and behavior is fundamental to the identification of factors that can be modified to facilitate young people’s help-seeking when they are psychologically distressed or suicidal. Despite considerable research on help-seeking intentions and behavior for personal-emotional or distressing problems, integrating prior research has been impeded by a lack of consistent and psychometrically sound help-seeking measures. The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ) was developed to formally assess two aspects of help-seeking: (1) current intentions to seek help from different sources for different problems; and (2) quantity and quality of previous professional psychological helping episodes. The current study …

Measuring Help-Seeking Intentions: Properties Of The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire, Coralie J. Wilson

Frank Deane

A clear understanding of help-seeking intentions and behavior is fundamental to the identification of factors that can be modified to facilitate young people’s help-seeking when they are psychologically distressed or suicidal. Despite considerable research on help-seeking intentions and behavior for personal-emotional or distressing problems, integrating prior research has been impeded by a lack of consistent and psychometrically sound help-seeking measures. The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ) was developed to formally assess two aspects of help-seeking: (1) current intentions to seek help from different sources for different problems; and (2) quantity and quality of previous professional psychological helping episodes. The current study …

Can Hopelessness And Adolescents’ Beliefs And Attitudes About Seeking Help Account For Help Negation?, Coralie J. Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

Avoidance of appropriate help is common in acutely suicidal samples and has been confirmed in nonclinical samples but factors that contribute to this help negation effect remain unclear. The current study is the second in series from the first author's larger PhD research program. In a sample of 269 nonclinical Australian high school students, the current study examines the impact of hopelessness, previous mental health care, beliefs, and attitudes toward professional psychological help on the help negation relationship. Results revealed that suicidal ideation significantly predicted lower help seeking intentions and that although hopelessness could not explain the help negation effect, …

Rights Of Inequality: Rawlsian Justice, Equal Opportunity, And The Status Of The Family, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Is the family subject to principles of justice? In A Theory of Justice, John Rawls includes the (monogamous) family along with the market and the government as among the "basic institutions of society" to which principles of justice apply. Justice, he famously insists, is primary in politics as truth is in science: the only excuse for tolerating injustice is that no lesser injustice is possible. The point of the present paper is that Rawls doesn't actually mean this. When it comes to the family, and in particular its impact on fair equal opportunity (the first part of the the Difference …

Suicidal Ideation And Help-Negation: Not Just Hopelessness Or Prior Help., Coralie Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

Few distressed young people seek professional psychological help and little is known about what sources of help young people seek for different problems. In suicidal youth, poor help-seeking may be exacerbated by the process of help-negation. The current study is the first of a larger program of PhD research developed and led by the second author. In the current study, three hundred and two undergraduate university students completed a questionnaire measuring suicidal ideation, hopelessness, prior help-seeking experience, and help-seeking intentions. Participants indicated they would seek help from different sources of help for different types of problems, but friends were consistently …

Adolescent Opinions About Reducing Help-Seeking Barriers And Increasing Engagement., Coralie Wilson

Coralie J Wilson

Effective mental illness prevention programs are important for the safety of youth and adolescents. Research suggests that programs should facilitate appropriate help-seeking by lowering help-seeking barriers. This study used focus groups to obtain high school student opinions about actual help-seeking behaviors, reducing adolescent help-seeking barriers, raising sensitive issues with adolescents, and increasing appropriate help-source engagement. Transcript analysis revealed several themes. Relationship and trust were key approach factors for current help-seeking. Memories of successful prior helping episodes were also important. Education about appropriate help-seeking, presented in ways consistent with those currently used by adolescents (e.g., through peer networks), might reduce help-seeking …

Suicidal Ideation And Help-Negation: Not Just Hopelessness Or Prior Help., Coralie J. Wilson

Frank Deane

Few distressed young people seek professional psychological help and little is known about what sources of help young people seek for different problems. In suicidal youth, poor help-seeking may be exacerbated by the process of help-negation. The current study is the first of a larger program of PhD research developed and led by the second author. In the current study, three hundred and two undergraduate university students completed a questionnaire measuring suicidal ideation, hopelessness, prior help-seeking experience, and help-seeking intentions. Participants indicated they would seek help from different sources of help for different types of problems, but friends were consistently …

Adolescent Opinions About Reducing Help-Seeking Barriers And Increasing Engagement., Coralie J. Wilson

Frank Deane

Effective mental illness prevention programs are important for the safety of youth and adolescents. Research suggests that programs should facilitate appropriate help-seeking by lowering help-seeking barriers. This study used focus groups to obtain high school student opinions about actual help-seeking behaviors, reducing adolescent help-seeking barriers, raising sensitive issues with adolescents, and increasing appropriate help-source engagement. Transcript analysis revealed several themes. Relationship and trust were key approach factors for current help-seeking. Memories of successful prior helping episodes were also important. Education about appropriate help-seeking, presented in ways consistent with those currently used by adolescents (e.g., through peer networks), might reduce help-seeking …

Assessing Stress In Teachers: Depressive Symptoms Scales And Neutral Self-Reports Of The Work Environment, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

The focal interest of this chapter on teacher stress is methodologic. The chapter enumerates a number of defects in existing measures of job stress in teachers and, concomitantly, other helping professionals. Alternative ways of measuring stress in teachers are suggested and evaluated. The use of depressive symptom scales in concert with more 'objective' measures of the work environment is discussed. An application of the proposed alternative measurement strategy is described. The wider utility of the measurement strategy is briefly described.

Dimensions Of Functional Social Support And Psychological Symptoms, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

In the summer following graduation a sample of 125 female college graduates (mean age = 28) completed Cohen & Wills' ISEL (1985) which includes scales measuring four social support functions: belonging (social companionship), appraisal (availability of confidants), tangible (instrumental), and self-esteem support. In the summer and fall subject status on two outcome scales was ascertained: the Psychophysiologic Symptom Scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Reliability of the difference scores suggested that the ISEL scales do not measure entirely different constructs and the ISEL Self-esteem Scale is operationally redundant with the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale and the CES-D. …

Introducing The Living With Illness Group: A Specialized Treatment For Patients With Chronic Schizophrenic Conditions, Thomas G. Plante, Stephanie L. Pinder, David Howe

Psychology

This paper introduces a specialized psychotherapy/psychoeducational group treatment for patients with chronic psychotic symptoms who receive only partial benefit from psychotropic medications, psychotherapy, and milieu/activities therapy. The goal of the group is to assist patients to accurately identify the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that are dysfunctional symptoms of their disability and then use the functional aspects of their brain as well as learned coping strategies to compensate for their disability. The group format, philosophy, procedures, and typical topics of discussion are detailed.

Attitudes Of Psychiatric Nurses And Aides At An Oregon State Hospital Toward Homosexuality, Don Andersen

Dissertations and Theses

Homosexuality is something which has been a part of almost every society throughout history. In western society this has been a subject of secrecy and taboo. Throughout our history homosexuals have been persecuted and forced to hide their sexual identity. The effects of this on an individual should be something of concern to professionals in the mental health field.

While in the past there has been little knowledge of homosexuality, and no self-expression on the part of homosexuals, there has, in recent years, been growing information and expression. The effect of this change on mental health workers is what this …