Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons^™

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 …

The Impact Of Perceived Mental Illness Stigma On Caregivers’ Desire To Relinquish Care, Tyler R. Corson

Theses and Dissertations

Caregiving can be stressful, and older adults’ health and well-being may be impacted by the roles and responsibilities they assume as caregivers for persons with serious mental illness (SMI). This study is the first to apply the Stress Process Model of Caregiving (SPM) in an attempt to understand how mental illness stigma influences caregiver outcomes, specifically their desire to relinquish care. The intent of this study was to call attention to care relinquishment as an under-studied stress process outcome and to explore stress factors, with a focus on mental illness stigma, that contribute to SMI caregivers’ desire to relinquish care. …

Associations Of Suicidal Ideation With Opioid/Prescription Drug Use, Violence, Food Insecurity, And Community Factors Among New Hampshire High School Students, Emily R. Carbonara, Semra Aytur

Honors Theses and Capstones

Purpose: Suicide is the second leading cause of death for New Hampshire (NH) youth. Evidence-based public health emphasizes the use of data for translating research into practice/policy. We utilized data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to support community-academic partnerships and inform suicide prevention interventions. Methods: Data from the 2011 NH YRBS, a cross-sectional survey of 9th-12th grade students, were analyzed. Gender-stratified, adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using logistic regression models (SAS 9.4, ProcSuveylogistic) to evaluate associations between suicidal ideation (seriously considering attempting suicide within the past 12 months), violence (e.g., physical bullying, …

Unheard Voices: Black Adolescents' Perceptions Of Mental Health In Urban Communities, Brian James Ludden

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mental health in the United States is a rising concern. More concerning still is the growing number of children and adolescents with serious depression and other mental health disorders (SAMHSA, 2009; Merikangas et al., 2010). Despite a growing list of proven and best-practice prevention and intervention initiatives that have been made available to children and adolescents, 80 percent of children and adolescents with a diagnosable mental health disorder will not receive services for their associated mental health concerns (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999; Cummings 2014). Children and adolescents with mental health disorders are faced with an ever-increasing …

Spirituality Among African American Christian Women Who Have Contemplated, Marilyn Wiley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that African American women had the lowest recorded number of suicide completions among all ethnic and gender groups in the United States. In addition, the number of suicides among African American women continued to soar without a clear reason or understanding of their lowest completion rates. Further research in the area of spirituality among African American women may be critical in understanding why African American women's rates of completed suicides are statistically lower than other ethnic groups and how to prevent future rate increases. A phenomenological framework was used to examine the …

Evaluating The Impact Of Integrated Care On Service Utilization In Serious Mental Illness, Heidi C. Waters

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Serious mental illness (SMI) affects 5% of the United States population and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Use of high-cost healthcare services is common, including hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits. Integrating behavioral and physical healthcare may improve care for consumers with SMI, but prior research findings have been mixed. This quantitative retrospective cohort study addressed the impact of integrated care on physical health and ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) utilization via a program evaluation of an integrated health clinic (IHC) at a community mental health center (CMHC). The research questions assessed whether there was a predictive relationship between …

Social Workers' Perceptions Of A Rural Emergency Mental Health Trauma Service, William L. Getz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies have shown that emergency mental health trauma (EMHT) services can significantly reduce the long-term effects of trauma after a disaster. However, rural municipalities may find they do not have the capacity to create such a service, or may not realize that their disaster planning includes no provision for emergency mental health care. Such was the case in a rural island community in the state of Washington, where, in 2014, several residents initiated a discussion that helped to identify the community's lack of EMHT services. This project, framed by action research and based on collaboration theory, sought to advance the …

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 …

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 …

A Clinical Practice Guideline To Reduce Behavioral Outbursts In Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Mary Adejumoke Badru

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital on the East Coast of the United States, behavioral outbursts result in 2 out of 10 veterans dismissed from a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) unit prior to completing the 6-week program. The purpose of this evidence-based quality improvement project was to create a clinical practice guideline (CPG) based on social cognitive theory (SCT) to provide new strategies for managing veterans with PTSD and to improve the confidence of the nurses in managing outbursts. The Star Model guided the project development with the Delphi method to achieve participant consensus, the AGREE II to assess …

Relationship Between Educational Leisure Motivation And Recovery From Mental Illness Among Members Of Clubhouse International, Dianna Rene Pearce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) exhibit low motivation to participate in educational leisure activities at Clubhouses accredited by Clubhouse International (CI). This correlational study examined the relationship between each of 4 motives, intellectual, social, competence-mastery, and stimulus-avoidance, to engage in leisure activities, and the perception of recovery from SMI. Knowles's theory of andragogy supported the concept of informal self-directed learning, which occurs with leisure activities. Literature indicates that participating in leisure activities such as those offered at Clubhouses aids in the recovery from SMI. Quantitative data were collected from a convenience sample of 75 individuals at 4 CI clubhouses …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

An Examination Into The Relationship Between Iron Deficiency And Postpartum Depression, Sara A. Burroughs

Senior Honors Theses

Postpartum depression is recognized as the most common complication of childbearing; however, its etiology remains fairly undetermined. Many different influences have been hypothesized as to what may cause postpartum depression, including changes in levels of various hormones (such as estrogen and progesterone), a decrease in serotonin, low levels of vitamin D, social factors, and iron deficiency. The lack of strong evidence for one specific cause makes it fairly clear that there are many factors that play a role in the development of postpartum depression. Iron deficiency is one issue that is thought to contribute to the development of postpartum depression …

Suicide And Disability: Three Different Analyses Of A Nation-Wide Sample Of American Adults, Emily M. Lund

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Suicide is a major public health issue and the 10^th leading cause of death in the U.S. People with disabilities are one group that may be at high risk for suicide. This dissertation presents three studies that examined suicidal thoughts and behaviors in a national sample of individuals with and without disabilities. They also examined the ways in which depression scores and sociodemographic factors such as gender, religion, race, and employment, interact with disability status to influence suicidality. I found that people with disabilities reported more suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts and were more likely to believe that they …

Attachment Styles And Trust Propensity In Females With Borderline Personality Disorder, Jacob Matthew White

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is one of the most frequently encountered and complex disorders in mental health care. Interpersonal impairment is a central issue for individuals with BPD. This complex disorder has received negative stigma along with historically more females than males receiving this diagnosis (Linehan, 1993). Therefore, this study examined a clinical sample of 30 females diagnosed with BPD. Through the collection of data this study used the following measures: a basic demographic questionnaire gathering specific age, ethnicity, current relationship status, parental relationship status, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR; Brennan, Clark & Shaver, 1998), and the Propensity …