Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons^™

A Theory Of Veteran Identity, Travis L. Martin

Theses and Dissertations--English

More than 2.6 million troops have deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, surveys reveal that more than half feel “disconnected” from their civilian counterparts, and this feeling persists despite ongoing efforts, in the academy and elsewhere, to help returning veterans overcome physical and mental wounds, seek an education, and find meaningful ways to contribute to society after taking off the uniform. This dissertation argues that Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans struggle with reassimilation because they lack healthy, complete models of veteran identity to draw upon in their postwar lives, a problem they’re working through collectively …

A Case Study Exploration Of Teachers' Perspectives On Children's Mental Health Service Needs In Title I Elementary Schools, Natalie Denise Yates

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Children go to school for approximately 32 hours each week of an academic year. Many children who are in need of mental health treatment do not get the services they need because of barriers such as lack of access and stigma. Teachers are one of the primary sources of referrals for children's mental health services, and they often make referrals based on their perceptions of their students' mental health needs. Although teachers are typically the primary source of referrals for mental health services, they usually do not have any specialized mental health training. The purpose of this study was to …

Experiences Of Parents Of Self-Harming Adolescent Children, Sheila Nicole Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adolescent self-harm is a growing epidemic in the United States with thousands of adolescent children being treated in hospitals every year. Despite awareness that self-harm impacts the family unit, little attention has been given to the full impact that self-harm has on parents. Due to this lack of knowledge, counselor educators and supervisors are not equipped to train counselors to work with parents of self-harming adolescent children leaving counselors feeling unprepared to work with parents. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of parents who have self-harming adolescent children. Family systems theory was used to …

Self-Reported Pain In Male And Female Iraq/Afghanistan-Era Veterans: Associations With Psychiatric Symptoms And Functioning, Jennifer C. Naylor, H. Ryan Wagner, Mira Brancu, Megan Shepherd-Banigan, Eric Elbogen, Michelle Kelley, Teresa Fecteau, Karen Goldstein, Nathan A. Kimbrel, Christine E. Marx

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective. To examine pain symptoms and co-occurring psychiatric and functional indices in male and female Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans.

Design. Self-reported data collection and interviews of Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans who participated in a multisite study of postdeployment mental health.

Setting. Veterans were enrolled at one of four participating VA sites.

Subjects. Two thousand five hundred eighty-seven male and 662 female Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans.

Methods. Nonparametric Wilcoxon rank tests examined differences in pain scores between male and female veterans. Chi-square tests assessed differences between male and female veterans in the proportion of respondents endorsing moderate to high levels of pain vs no pain. Multilevel …

Similar Adverse Events From Two Disparate Agents Implicate Lipid Inflammatory Mediators For A Role In Anxiety States, Gordon Mccarter, Lauren B. Blanchard

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

We recently reported a case in which a 54-year-old male experienced maintenance insomnia, generalized anxiety and panic symptoms associated with consumption of a fish oil supplement enriched in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). We report here that the same patient has experienced identical but more severe symptoms in response to the use of the leukotriene receptor antagonist montelukast, in accordance with other cases reported to the Food and Drug Administration. Since omega-3 fatty acids like EPA are precursors for the biosynthesis of eicosanoids including leukotrienes, a common factor to these psychiatric adverse events may be perturbations in this highly complex system of …

Adolescents' Experiences Returning To School After A Mental Health Hospitalization, Pamela Iverson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative study explores how adolescents experience transition when they return to school after an acute mental health hospitalization. For this study, the term transition is used to describe the process of adjusting to the return from an acute mental health hospital to school. Eight adolescents from southern Minnesota, ages 15-17, were interviewed about their transition experience for this study. Each participant had experienced an acute hospitalization within 12 months of their interview. Each participant interview was recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using phenomenological research methods. For each participant, an individual textural description, structural description, and textural/structural description was provided through …

Online Versus In-Person Therapy: Effect Of Client Demographics And Personality Characteristics, Joel Joseph Kofmehl

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traditionally, mental health professionals have provided psychotherapeutic services through face-to-face sessions. As the Internet has become an increasingly important part of individuals' personal and professional lives, psychologists and clients have used this medium to expand access to psychotherapy. The purpose of this quantitative correlational design was to investigate whether demographic variables and the personality traits of extroversion/introversion (E/I), as assessed by the Big Five Inventory, predicted clients' preferences for a specific method of administered psychotherapy. The theoretical framework for this study was social information processing through computer-mediated communication. An online survey site was used to assist in survey design and …

The Critical Role Of The Psychiatric Emergency Response Team In The Adoption Of A Violence Risk Assessment Tool., Angela Mackay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Workplace violence is a persistent problem in health care, and incidence rates have increased over the years. Traditional reporting systems, relying mostly on paper formats, are inadequate for developing effective predictive models for intervention and reducing acts of violence by patients to staff. The purpose of the development and deployment of the psychiatric emergency response team (PERT) was to provide effective intervention within the MIAHTAPS (Altered Mental status, Irritability, Agitation, History of Violence, Threatening, Attacking Objects, Pacing, and Staring) behavior prediction tool to reduce the severity and rates of violence in a hospital setting. Lewin's change theory was used to …

Exploring Autism And The Caregiver Burden Relationship, Mary C. Drockton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to collect qualitative data on the different stresses and burdens associated with being a caregiver for an autistic individual, and discover strategies of stress relief for caregivers. A total of four autism support group meetings hosted by the Autism Society of Greater Akron were attended and observed, with documentation of the discussion between the moderator of the meeting and the caregivers in attendance. Through observation of these meetings, common themes of stress in caregivers were revealed. These include: difficulty with the diagnosis process and finding medical treatment; seeking additional information on available medical treatments; …

This Is Us Saying Who We Are: Speaking The Rhetoric Of Mental Disability, Renuka Uthappa

Wayne State University Dissertations

People with mental disabilities, or what are sometimes referred to as “mental illnesses,” face stigma when they interact with the public. To fight this stigma, the members of a small, grassroots, advocacy organization known as the Speakers Bureau travel to high school and college classrooms narrating their experiences with mental disability. They do so to replace culturally circulating stereotypes regarding such disability with more accurate and positive images. This dissertation is an auto-ethnographic exploration of the rhetoric of the Speakers Bureau. Through rhetorical analysis of members’ classroom speeches, of interviews with each speaker, and of the speaker’s self- assessment of …

Working Alliance Between Interpretive And Noninterpretive Therapy Services For Deaf Individuals, Sherri Lee Spain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Deaf individuals typically have access to 2 types of therapeutic services: interpretive (with an interpreter) and noninterpretive (with a sign-fluent therapist). Previous research indicates that the presence of an interpreter may hinder development of working alliance and attachment. There is a lack of empirical evidence assessing the effect of working alliance and attachment based on whether or not therapy incorporates an interpreter. The working alliance theory and the attachment theory were the theoretical foundations for this study. This study examined the difference between the strength of working alliance and attachment to the therapist given the presence or absence of an …

Reducing Stigma And Encouraging Help Seeking Intentions Through A Mental Health Literacy Program, Nicole Loreto

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many individuals do not seek help for a mental health problem due to stigma and fear of rejection by peers and family. Researchers have highlighted that the age group least likely to seek help is youth. Stigma acts as an important barrier to help-seeking. Evidence indicating how mental health literacy can reduce stigma and encourage help-seeking remains inconclusive. In this study, the health belief model was used to understand how college students perceived an individual's susceptibility to mental illness and the barriers associated with seeking help. A posttest-only randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of the Is It Just Me? …

Psychological Resilience In Correctional Officers: The Role Of Demographics, Manuel Chapa Villarreal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Correctional officers occupy an important societal role in maintaining safety and assisting in the rehabilitation of inmates; however, both their performance and mental health are highly susceptible to fatigue because of working in a high stress environment. This study investigated the relationship between correctional officers' demographic factors (level of education, marital status, gender, and race/ethnicity) and their psychological resilience. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC-10) was used to measure correctional officers' resilience when responding and or coping with stress. This study utilized the stress-vulnerability model as a framework to investigate protective factors against and risk factors for psychopathological symptoms. Participants …

Executive Director Experiences With Consumer Operated Service Provider Governing Board Members, Merideth Mccallick Erickson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Consumer Operated Service Providers (COSPs) are programs that are directed and administratively controlled by mental health consumers for their peers. As such, many mental health consumers have been placed in the position of serving on a COSP and often with unclear descriptions and no training. As a result, there is often a disconnect between the will of the board and the vision of the executive director, leading to tension and the possibility of failed mission. Using servant leadership as the guide, the goal of this case study was to explore the experiences of executive directors who operate Consumer Operated Service …

Clinicians' Perceptions Of Trauma Treatment For People With Intellectual Disabilities, Katherine Elaine Schoech

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in similar ways as individuals in the general population. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe clinicians perceptions of trauma treatment for people with ID. Theories of trauma, PTSD, and stigma were part of the conceptual framework from which interview questions were developed. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit 8 participants in the Denver, Colorado area. Four participants had experience working with people with ID, and 4 participants did not have this experience. Participants sat for semi structured open-ended recorded interviews, which …

A Pilot Study Of Online Feedback For Adult Drinkers 50 And Older: Feasibility, Efficacy, And Preferences For Intervention, Alexis Kuerbis, Lisa Hail, Alison A. Moore, Frederick Muench

Publications and Research

Normative (NF) and personalized feedback (PF) are moderately effective brief interventions for at-risk drinking middle-aged and older adults. This study tested the feasibility of online feedback for drinkers 50 and older. This study’s aims were to identify whether there is differential effectiveness of PF over NF in prompting drinkers 50 years old and older to plan for change and to determine potential preferences for intervention among adult drinkers 50 and older with practical knowledge about computers. Method—Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, 138 male and female drinkers aged 50 to 75+ were recruited to complete an online survey that asked about their: …

Testing Cross-Sectional And Prospective Mediators Of Internalized Heterosexism On Heavy Drinking, Alcohol Problems, And Psychological Distress Among Heavy Drinking Men Who Have Sex With Men, Alexis Kuerbis, Ethan Mereish, Marie Hayes, Christine Davis, Sijing Shao, Jon Morgenstern

Publications and Research

Objective: Minority stress theory is often used as a causal explanation for substance use among lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations. This study tested whether drinking to cope with stress (DTC), loneliness, and gay community participation (GCP) mediated the relationship between one type of minority stress (i.e., internalized heterosexism, IH) and behavioral health outcomes. Method: Utilizing secondary data analysis and the PROCESS procedure, relationships between IH, the mediators (DTC, loneliness, and GCP), and outcomes (heavy drinking, alcohol problems, and psychological distress) were explored, both cross-sectionally and in a lagged manner, among both treatment seeking and non-treatment seeking problem drinking men who …

Concept Of Self: Approach To Behaviors In Mental Health, The Tapout Program, Tina Goodrow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Violence in mental health care continues to be a problem. The incidence of violent episodes in healthcare settings with aggressive behavior of patients aimed at staff members or other patients is almost four times greater in healthcare than in other industries. Reducing violent episodes enhances the quality of care and improves safety for staff members and for patients. The project focused on development of a staff education program exploring the practice-focused question: Will this program effectively guide staff member approaches to mental health patients with challenging behaviors? The purpose of this project was to address the identified gap in practice …

Teacher And Student Variables Affecting Special Education Evaluation And Referral, Lorenzo Adrian Woodson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Past research has revealed that African American/Black boys are referred for special education evaluation at disproportionately higher rates than boys of other racial/ethnic groups. This correlational study used survey methodology to examine whether student and teacher demographic variables predicted how likely a teacher would refer boy students for special education evaluation. The following questions guided this research: 1) To what degree does student race/ethnicity, teacher gender, teacher race/ethnicity, and teacher attitude toward inclusion predict how likely a teacher would refer boys' to special education after controlling for teacher's years of experience in general and special education? 2) What are the …

Recovery-Oriented Care In A Psychiatric Health Setting, Renita Denise Hargrow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Psychiatric recovery-oriented care is aimed at improving patients' quality of care while increasing the efficiency of health care providers. Despite the benefits of recovery-oriented care, this approach is often lacking in health care settings. The purpose of this project was to implement a recovery-oriented training on psychoeducational groups on a 26-bed psychiatric unit. The Iowa model of evidence-based practice and adult learning theory provided the framework for the project. The objectives were to (a) assess training needs, (b) evaluate barriers for recovery-oriented psychiatric nursing, (c) develop strategies to address barriers, (d) train staff in psychoeducational approaches, and (e) evaluate the …