Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons^™

A Grounded Theory Of Counselors’ Post-Graduation Development Of Disability Counseling Effectiveness, Michele Rivas, Nicole R. Hill

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Many persons with disabilities engage in counseling services in a variety of settings. However, the development trajectories of counselors who seek to compensate for the lack of training and advance their post-graduation skillset to work effectively with clients with disabilities has not been explored. This grounded theory study illuminated several dimensions involved in twenty-one Licensed Professional Counselors’ post-graduation development of disability counseling effectiveness. In this study, counseling effectiveness refers to self-perceived improved skillset rather than a benchmark (i.e., competence). The core category, Evolving Commitments, was common to all participants’ trajectories when developing disability counseling effectiveness. The other categories (causal conditions, …

Mental Health And Coping Habits Of Young Black Men In Stem At An Hbcu, Chamberlain Newman

XULAneXUS

This study examines the mental health and coping habits of young Black men pursuing STEM degrees at a historically Black college and university (HBCU) in New Orleans. Drawing on survey data from 43 Black male STEM students ages 18 to 22, the study addresses four research questions concerning factors affecting mental well-being, the role of the HBCU environment, stress coping strategies, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that peer camaraderie, faculty engagement, and access to supportive social networks are central to students' mental wellness and academic persistence. Positive coping mechanisms identified by participants included listening to music, …

Predicting Suicidal And Self-Injurious Events In A Correctional Setting Using Ai Algorithms On Unstructured Medical Notes And Structured Data, Hongxia Lu, Alex Barrett, Albert Pierce, Jianwei Zheng, Yun Wang, Chun Chiang, Cyril Rakovski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Suicidal and self-injurious incidents in correctional settings deplete the institutional and healthcare resources, create disorder and stress for staff and other inmates. Traditional statistical analyses provide some guidance, but they can only be applied to structured data that are often difficult to collect and their recommendations are often expensive to act upon. This study aims to extract information from medical and mental health progress notes using AI algorithms to make actionable predictions of suicidal and self-injurious events to improve the efficiency of triage for health care services and prevent suicidal and injurious events from happening at California's Orange County Jails. …

The End Of The “Chemical Imbalance” Theory Of Depression - What Now?, Austin Brown

Population Health Research Brief Series

For decades, those diagnosed with depression have been told they suffer from a “chemical imbalance.” This explanation involves neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, thought to be the main neurochemical responsible for major depressive disorders. Growing research challenges this theory and the need for medication therapies for depressive symptoms. This brief summarizes new findings examining the theory that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance and calls for healthcare professionals and patients to consider the market influences and social structures that impact health.

Mental Health In Pilots Ages 19-26: What Are The New Pilots Telling Us?, Jason T. Lorenzon, Diana Semilia

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Mental Health is stigma that reaches all professional pilots. After spending a considerable amount of money, a pilot is always afraid of losing his/her medical certification. This leads many pilots to not be honest and forthcoming about his/her own health situation or if he/she is forthcoming with any medical deficiency, the regulatory framework at the Federal Aviation Administration may put a further burden on the pilot to provide additional medical documentation, or the FAA may even amend, revoke, or suspend a pilot's medical certificate.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations,14 CFR Parts 61 and 67 and internal protocols creates a …

Socio-Demographic Determinants Of Non-Utilisation Of Antenatal Care Services By Women In The Northern Region Of Nigeria, Abubakar Yakubu Abbani, Yothin Sawangdee, Olusola Akintoye Omisakin, Maretalinia Maretalinia

Journal of Health Research

Background: A large proportion of women in the northern region of Nigeria do not utilise antenatal care (ANC) services. As a result, the region has the worst maternal and child health indicators. This study aims to identify the socio-demographic determinants of the non-utilisation of ANC services by pregnant women to provide evidence for policymakers to base decisions towards addressing the problem.

Methods: Data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey was used with a sample of 14,421 women with a pregnancy history. Descriptive, bivariate, and hierarchical regression analyses were applied to the data using STATA software version 15.

Results: …

Skin Stories And Family Feelings: The Contradictions Of Skin Picking In Mother And Daughter, Katrina Jacinto

Crossings: Swarthmore Undergraduate Feminist Research Journal

Skin picking, otherwise known as dermatillomania, is considered to be a medical disorder by the DSM-5. However, the embodied experiences of skin picking in myself and my mother do not align with the neat definitions offered by psychiatry. Through autoethnographic material and an ethnographic interview with my mother, I argue that skin picking is a bodily technique that is pathologized through stigma. In particular, I suggest that skin picking reveals the body as a polyvalent entity, in which the same features and practices take on different meanings in different bodies. This frames the discrepancies between mine, and my mother's, experiences. …

Israeli Professionals Understanding Of Selective Mutism, Tal Hanan

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study employed art-based research with phenomenological qualitative inquiry to understand the perspectives of professionals who are working in the Israeli school system with children diagnosed with selective mutism. Selective mutism (SM) is a disorder originated in anxiety in which a child, between the ages of 3–5, does not speak at school but does speak at home (APA, 2022). In this research, the researcher facilitated a professional workshop based on Dillon (2016) and a similar workshop conducted by Harwood and Bork (2011). The aim was to broaden the knowledge and investigate the opinions of professionals working with children diagnosed with …

Estimating Dementia Risk In An African American Population Using The Dctclock, Marissa Ciesla, Jeff Pobst, Joyce Gomes-Osman, Melissa Lamar, Lisa L Barnes, Russell Banks, Ali Jannati, David Libon, Rodney Swenson, Sean Tobyne, David Bates, John Showalter, Alvaro Pascual-Leone

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) is increasing. African Americans are twice as likely to develop dementia than other ethnic populations. Traditional cognitive screening solutions lack the sensitivity to independently identify individuals at risk for cognitive decline. The DCTclock is a 3-min AI-enabled adaptation of the well-established clock drawing test. The DCTclock can estimate dementia risk for both general cognitive impairment and the presence of AD pathology. Here we performed a retrospective analysis to assess the performance of the DCTclock to estimate future conversion to ADRD in African American participants from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Research …

Decreasing Restraint Use By Utilization Of Agitation Assessment And Verbal De-Escalation Strategies In An Inpatient Non-Psychiatric Hospital, Kiera Paulo

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Background: This paper reviews the literature on ways to decrease the use of restraints in hospitals – specifically the use of agitation assessments and verbal de-escalation to be implemented in healthcare facilities to decrease the number of restraints being used to manage undesirable patient behavior and workplace violence incidents. Problem: Restraints have been shown to impede the nurse-patient relationship and cause emotional and physical trauma to staff and patients. They are no longer considered preferred management and in some circumstances can be considered abuse. Intervention: Agitation assessments and verbal de-escalation have been shown to produce less aggressive behavior and decrease …

Screenings To Decrease Pediatric Suicide, Jordan Bridges, Dana Schildmeyer, Amanda Austin, Laura Boesken

Posters-at-the-Capitol

This project aimed to examine the current practice related to mental health and depression screenings in pediatric patients. The benefits of implementing screening in schools in identifying depression and suicide risks sooner were also considered. This project focused on the correlation between earlier mental health screening and identification of these mental health disorders earlier in the life of pediatric patients and suicide rates. Current, published literature notes mental health screening in the pediatric population in schools is an effective method to facilitate monitoring and early intervention in detecting a mental illness. Schools implementing mental health screenings can result in increased …

Veteran Access To Mental Health Services And How It Contributes To The Rates Of Suicide, Kameron R. Grigsby

Kentucky Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

This essay is an exploration of the access Veterans have to mental health services and how such access or lack thereof contributes to the rates of suicide among the Veteran population. The purpose of this essay is to examine various factors that influence Veteran access to mental health care and how these factors can be improved or eliminated. By analyzing such factors, healthcare professionals may begin to further implement provisions and practices to decrease the rising rate of suicides among Veterans.

Mindfulness Traps And The Entanglement Of Self: An Inquiry Into The Regime Of Mind, Richard Dixey, Ronald E. Purser

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies Advance Publication Archive

Mindfulness meditation can provide salutary therapeutic benefits, as well as lead advanced practitioners to states of calm and equanimity. In this paper, we argue that such forms of meditation may subtly entrap practitioners in circular, self-reflexive feedback loops. Because these meditation traps fail to clearly discern the operations of mind, they offer a temporary oasis of peace within an unaltered dualistic realm of mind that leaves the root delusion of self-identity intact. Drawing upon Tarthang Tulku’s seminal book Revelations of Mind, we present what he refers to as the “regime of mind,” the processes of cognition, identification and re-cognition in …

Effects Of Nurse-Patient Relationship On Mental Health Patients’ Medication Adherence/Healthcare Outcome, April Monica Magbual

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background and Significance: Medication adherence among mentally ill patients (MIP) is a significant issue which require extra support & guidance to encourage better recovery. Administering medication is a critical role of nurses that must be performed effectively and appropriately, especially for MIPs.

Literature Review and Gap in the Literature: There is insufficient research exploring NPR and medication adherence specifically for MIPs. Participants’ cultural variations, age range, specific interventions & economic factors influencing medication compliance are missing. The current study aims to explore strategies that nurses can implement during patient interaction in the hospital setting.

Study Design and Method: A qualitative …

Anxiety And Depression Among U.S. International Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ismatara Reena, Edward Hebert, Kumer Das, Shankari M. Dipti, Nirmal C. Gope, Raymond Doe

Kinesiology

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted college students worldwide. International students are a significant group of college students in the United States, making up approximately 5% of enrollment. While research has examined the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students, its impact on international students in the U.S. has not been well-documented. This study examined anxiety and depression levels of 170 international students enrolled in three public U.S. universities. Data were collected using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) survey and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Over 60% of the sample reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, with 35.1% showing …

Effectiveness Of Staff Training On Trauma-Informed Care, Brandy Tramel Williams

Doctoral Projects

The connection between experiencing trauma and the development of substance use disorder is widely recognized. Although trauma is more prevalent among individuals with substance use disorders, healthcare professionals have limited access to training focused on trauma informed care. It is crucial for those working in addiction treatment to receive training and education on trauma informed care to understand the impact of trauma and its association with substance use disorders.

This DNP project's objective was to develop and evaluate an educational presentation for staff emphasizing the importance of trauma-informed care in the context of addiction. The effectiveness of this intervention was …

The Perceptions, Barriers, And Facilitators To Seeking Mental Health Help In College Student-Athletes (Pbas-Mh And Pfas-Mh): A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study, Margaret Hunt

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Through the COVID-19 pandemic, 1 in 10 NCAA student-athletes reported feeling so depressed it has been difficult to function (NCAA, 2020). Despite this, student-athletes are significantly less likely to seek mental-health help than their non-athlete peers. The present study sought to develop and validate the Perceptions of Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Help in Student-Athletes (PBaS-MH) and the Perceptions of Facilitators to Seeking Mental Health Help in Student-Athletes (PFaS-MH) surveys in college student-athletes, as well as determine predominant barriers and facilitators they experience with seeking mental health help. A convergence mixed-methods research design was conducted to triangulate results. The surveys …

The Essence Of Therapeutic Relationships In Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy, Joy Clark Akin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractTraditional psychotherapeutic approaches are not always effective in alleviating psychological symptoms and improving functioning in young adults. Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) has been shown as a beneficial alternative therapeutic method developed for clients not helped by traditional methods. However, the essence of the therapeutic relationship that develops between the client, horse, therapist, and equine specialist has not been explored. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of the therapeutic relationship in young adults who participated in EAP. The frameworks of person-centered theory and self psychology guided the development of interview questions, data analysis, and interpretation. Four …

The Perceived Impact Of Childbirth Related Ptsd And Maternal Bonding, Sheila Baez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractChildbirth has been increasingly viewed as a potentially traumatic event and process impacting both mother and infant. Previous research on childbirth has concentrated on the development of postpartum depression and its impact; research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth has been limited. However, the results of this research study suggested that the development of childbirth-related PTSD may be a far more common phenomenon than previously suggested. Bowlby’s attachment theory and Ainsworth’s further development and expansion of the theory served as a framework which investigated the experiences of 10 biological females, aged 21 and over previously diagnosed with PTSD after …

Mental Health In Black Women With Endometriosis-Related Symptoms During Covid-19, Anjanette Jaye Blunt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Endometriosis is an incurable chronic illness impacting 190 million women worldwide. Despite the prevalence of this painful disease, research addressing how it affects Black women in the United States was limited. Research addressing this phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic was further limited. The purpose of this qualitative study employing an interpretative phenomenological analysis was to understand the mental health of Black women with endometriosis-related symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic and how having the illness during the pandemic might have impacted individuals in this population. The strong Black woman schema and biopsychosocial model were the theoretical foundations for the study. Data …

Clinicians' Perceptions Of Telehealth Services During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Virginia, Johnetta Hill Guishard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The onset of COVID-19 introduced unprecedented changes to how U.S. public health services were delivered. Many public and private agencies faced mandatory closures, social distancing mandates, and rapid transitions to telehealth interventions and treatment. Mental health clinicians witnessed disruptions in continuity of care and an increase in mental health risks overall. Although some studies have been conducted to survey clinicians’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of technology-based interventions, knowledge about mental health clinicians’ experiences and perceptions in Virginia was sparse. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how mental health clinicians in Virginia described …

Relationship Between Screentime And Depressive Symptoms And Associated Mediators For African American Adolescents In The United States, Brittney Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The prevalence of adolescent depression in the United States is increasing as adolescents’ use of electronic screen devices increases. Some studies have found associations between screentime and adolescent depression, and other researchers have posited that screentime is not intrinsically harmful. High screentime in African American adolescents may place them at risk for worse depressive symptom outcomes, but the relationship between screentime and depressive symptoms for this population is unknown. The three research questions of this study addressed whether there is a relationship between screentime and depressive symptoms in African American adolescents, and whether sleep duration and the frequency of physical …

Barriers, Challenges &Successes Among Human Service Professionals Stigma Reduction Treatment Among People With Mental Illness, Maureen Epps

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, over 9 million people in the United States suffer from a mental illness (MI). Although human service professionals seek the best practices to treat people with MI, people with MI sometimes struggle to seek treatment because of stigma. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the barriers and challenges of human service professionals who experienced using a stigma reduction treatment on a person with MI. The mental illness stigma framework and Goffman’s stigma theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with eight …

Lived Experiences Of Non-Licensed African American Pastors Providing Counseling For Race-Related Mental Health Issues To Their Parishioners, Brian Sutton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

It is important to understand treatment practices of clergy members due to their influence on the treatment seeking behavior for professional counseling services among African American parishioners. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe African American pastors’ experiences of providing counseling for race-related mental health issues to their parishioners. The conceptual framework for this study was critical race theory. The research design included a descriptive phenomenological study with semi structured interviews with five non-licensed pastors and clergy members. The results of data analysis revealed three main themes and nine subthemes related to the participants’ experiences. The …

Social Worker Perspectives Of Working With Aging African Americans With Depressive Disorders, Sherian Waite

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although there is a greater proportion of people living with depressive disorders within the African American older adult population compared to their White counterparts, fewer African Americans are engaging in mental health treatment when compared to the Caucasian community. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences and practices of social workers who are providing mental health care treatment to African American older adult patients (aged 65 and over) living with a depressive disorder. The study was framed using both the health belief model and critical race theory. To address the research questions, a generic qualitative design …

Behavioral Health Leadership Strategies To Increase Telehealth Engagement, Ramona Singletary-Robertson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One of the challenges brought on by the recent COVID-19 pandemic has been the promotion and use of telehealth services. While recent data from Medicare has depicted an increase in this new service delivery modality (over 4,000%), there has been a stark disparity in the use of telehealth services in lower socioeconomic demographics, such as rural and underrepresented communities, and among Medicare recipients. Equitable, consistent, and optimal service expansion of the telehealth modality requires therapists and leaders of behavioral health organizations to develop and deploy creative tactics to remedy this disparity. In this case study, leaders of Miss Emma's Behavioral …

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms Stratified By Age In Primary Care, Robin E. Mccoy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Little is known as to the age-related presentation of somatic complaints of those diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in primary care settings. A retrospective medical records review sought to identify the affective symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) by age as recorded by primary care providers and to test the association of these symptoms by age. Guided by Engle’s (1977) biopsychosocial (BPS) model, a large administrative claim database system was used to derive a sample of 1,336, including 500 patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder between 2018 to 2021. Binary logistics regression, one-way ANOVA, chi-square, correlation, and logistical regression with …

Moral Injury Themes Involving Criminal Recklessness Among Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder, Sandra Starch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Moral injury (MI) can emerge following transgressive acts against one’s deeply held moral beliefs. Its symptomology involves individual psychological, spiritual, behavioral, and social spheres. It has primarily been studied within the military and in a few select civilian populations. This descriptive phenomenological study involved exploring MI themes among adults with alcohol use disorder (AUD) who had engaged in criminally reckless acts. Data collected from semi-structured interviews with eight participants were coded and analyzed, leading to six major themes revealing the symptomology of MI. Responses from study participants supported Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance via their descriptions of alcohol abuse cycles …

Impact Of Climate Events, Pollution, And Green Spaces On Mental Health: An Umbrella Review Of Meta-Analyses, Pim Cuijpers, Clara Miguel, Marketa Ciharova, Manasi Kumar, Luke Brander, Pushpam Kumar, Eirini Karyotaki

Brain and Mind Institute

Climate change may affect mental health. We conducted an umbrella review of meta-analyses examining the association between mental health and climate events related to climate change, pollution and green spaces. We searched major bibliographic databases and included meta-analyses with at least five primary studies. Results were summarized narratively. We included 24 meta-analyses on mental health and climate events (n = 13), pollution (n = 11), and green spaces (n = 2) (two meta-analyses provided data on two categories). The quality was suboptimal. According to AMSTAR-2, the overall confidence in the results was high for none of the studies, for three …

Examining The Association Between Covid-19 And Anxiety In College Students With Varying Personality Traits, Ridha Anjum

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The goal of this thesis was to examine the relationship between personality types (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism) and anxiety levels among college students during the height of the pandemic. Specifically, this study examined whether factors contributed to anxiety and whether differences in anxiety scores differed by personality trait. It was hypothesized that individuals who scored high in both extraversion and neuroticism would report an increase in anxiety during the height of COVID-19 pandemic. Neuroticism is linked to emotional responses to a negative event (e.g., such as COVID), which may play a role on anxiety levels. The level of extraversion that …