American Journal of Orthopsychiatry This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Positive aspects of being a heterosexual ally to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Research on heterosexual allies has focused on heterosexual identity development models and pathways to ally activism. The positive aspects or positive experiences of identifying as an ally to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identified individuals and communities have received little attention. Using an online survey of participants recruited from LGBT ally related social media, we collected open-ended responses to a question about the positive aspects of self-identifying as a heterosexual ally. A final analytic sample of 292 self-identified male and female heterosexual adults (age 18–71, M = 33.47, SD = 1...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 23, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Rostosky, Sharon S.; Black, Whitney W.; Riggle, Ellen D. B.; Rosenkrantz, Dani Source Type: research

Developmental delays at arrival and postmenarcheal Chinese adolescents’ adjustment.
Internationally adopted (IA) children often have delays at adoption and undergo massive catch-up after adoption. Before achieving developmental catch-up, however, delays at adoption present a risk for IA children’s adjustment, but it remains unknown whether such delays foreshadow IA children’s outcomes after catch-up development has completed or ceased. In the current analysis, we utilized menarche as a practical marker to indicate the cessation of developmental catch-up. We investigated how delays at arrival predicted long-term outcomes in 132 postmenarcheal teens (M = 14.2 years, SD = 1.7) who were adopted from China...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tan, Tony X.; Rice, Jessica L.; Mahoney, E. Emily Source Type: research

Perceived benefits and proposed solutions for teen pregnancy: Qualitative interviews with youth care workers.
The purpose of this article is to examine youth care workers’ perceptions of the specific and unique sexual health needs of youth at risk for foster care. Semistructured interviews were conducted with youth care workers (N = 10) at a shelter for youth in or at risk for foster care. Youth care workers perceive that youth have unique experiences and needs related to sexual health programming and pregnancy prevention. Reflecting a great deal of family dysfunction, 3 themes emerged that revealed perceived benefits of teen pregnancy: youths’ effort to prove themselves as adults, opportunity to secure their relationship with...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Boustani, Maya Mroué; Frazier, Stacy L.; Hartley, Chelsey; Meinzer, Michael; Hedemann, Erin Source Type: research

Coping with war trauma and psychological distress among school-age Palestinian children.
This study investigated the long-term effects of the 2012 war on children’s psychological distress in Gaza Strip. It was hypothesized that a) greater levels of exposure to war trauma would be associated with greater behavioral and emotional disorders, neuroticism, and PTSD symptoms; b) children who rely more on problem-focused coping will manifest less behavioral and emotional disorders, neuroticism, and PTSD symptoms whereas children who rely more on emotion-focused coping will manifest higher levels of behavioral and emotional disorders, neuroticism, and PTSD symptoms; and c) certain children’s characteristics (i.e.,...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Khamis, Vivian Source Type: research

A multilevel analysis of the relationship between neighborhood social disorder and depressive symptoms: Evidence from the South African National Income Dynamics Study.
The apartheid regime that governed South Africa from 1948–1994 established spatial segregation that is understood to have contributed to the magnitude of neighborhood social disorder in the postapartheid era. Although a number of neighborhood social disorder characteristics, such as perceived violence and crime in the community, are prominent issues in South Africa, the extent to which these perceived spatial attributes are linked to depression is unknown at the population level. Multilevel modeling of data from the second wave of the South African National Income Dynamics Study (SA-NIDS) was utilized to examine the rela...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tomita, Andrew; Labys, Charlotte A.; Burns, Jonathan K. Source Type: research

Understanding Bhutanese refugee suicide through the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior.
This study sought to understand the apparent high rates of suicide among resettled Bhutanese refugees in the context of the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicidal Behavior (IPTS). Expanding on a larger investigation of suicide in a randomly selected sample of Bhutanese men and women resettled in Arizona, Georgia, New York, and Texas (Ao et al., 2012), the current study focused on 2 factors, thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness, examined individual and postmigration variables associated with these factors, and explored how they differed by gender. Overall, factors such as poor health were associated w...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Ellis, B. Heidi; Lankau, Emily W.; Ao, Trong; Benson, Molly A.; Miller, Alisa B.; Shetty, Sharmila; Lopes Cardozo, Barbara; Geltman, Paul L.; Cochran, Jennifer Source Type: research

Teaching with strengths in trauma-affected students: A new approach to healing and growth in the classroom.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network in the United States reports that up to 40% of students have experienced, or been witness to, traumatic stressors in their short lifetimes. These include home destabilization, violence, neglect, sexual abuse, substance abuse, death, and other adverse childhood experiences. The effects of trauma on a child severely compound the ability to self-regulate and sustain healthy relationships. In the classroom, the effects of trauma may manifest as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiance disorder, reactive attachment, disinhibited social engageme...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Brunzell, Tom; Waters, Lea; Stokes, Helen Source Type: research

Comments from the new editors.
This editorial provides comments from the new editors of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (AJO). In the previous issue of the journal, former editors highlighted some of the changes that have occurred over the last several years. AJO will continue its bimonthly production schedule in 2015. In the fall, however, AJO subscribers will receive two special issues that include The Community articles. Each issue will be organized around a theme. One issue will focus on the dramatic generational changes our society is experiencing. It will focus on the ways in which these changes manifest themselves in the mental health nee...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 2, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: McLeigh, Jill D.; Spaulding, William D. Source Type: research

Deep in the heart of Texas: A phenomenological exploration of unsheltered homelessness.
This study supports the use of nontraditional housing interventions and robust community-based approaches to care for individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry)
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - January 19, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Petrovich, James C.; Cronley, Courtney C. Source Type: research

“I have lost everything”: Trade-offs of seeking safety from intimate partner violence.
A primary aim of mainstream domestic violence (DV) programs is to help survivors and their children achieve safety from intimate partner violence. That goal, however, is neither simple nor straightforward. Instead, research demonstrates that the very actions survivors take to achieve safety may trigger a wide range of negative consequences. Missing from this research, however, is a focus on survivors’ own perception, evaluation, and expectation of the costs surrounding their safety-seeking efforts. Using a mixed-methods design, this study explored safety-related trade-offs among a convenience sample of 301 female survivo...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - January 12, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Thomas, Kristie A.; Goodman, Lisa; Putnins, Susan Source Type: research

School-based service delivery for homeless students: Relevant laws and overcoming access barriers.
Schools in the United States are facing a record number of homeless students. These students are highly at-risk for experiencing negative life outcomes, and they face considerable academic and social-emotional functional impairments. To help address the complex needs of homeless students, this article reviews the intersection of laws and practices that impact homeless students, as well as contemporary school-based service delivery efforts to support the academic and social-emotional needs of these students. In addition, this article also reviews several barriers to school-based service delivery for homeless students and wa...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Sulkowski, Michael L.; Joyce-Beaulieu, Diana K. Source Type: research

A conceptual framework for understanding the association between school bullying victimization and substance misuse.
This article reviews current research findings and presents a conceptual framework for better understanding the relationship between bullying victimization (hereafter referred to as victimization) and substance misuse (hereafter referred to as SM) among adolescents. Although victimization and SM may appear to be separate problems, research suggests an intriguing relationship between the 2. We present a brief, empirical overview of the direct association between victimization and adolescent SM, followed by a proposed conceptual framework that includes co-occurring risk factors for victimization and SM within family, peer, a...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Hong, Jun Sung; Davis, Jordan P.; Sterzing, Paul R.; Yoon, Jina; Choi, Shinwoo; Smith, Douglas C. Source Type: research

Rethinking social inclusion: Experiences of persons in recovery from mental illness.
This qualitative study examines the relational dimension of social inclusion by exploring the ways in which persons in recovery from mental illness understand and define their relationships with various communities. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 participants who were heterogeneous with respect to gender, psychiatric diagnoses, sexual orientation and gender identity, and living environments. We found competencies for establishing reciprocal social relationships and taking on responsibility as citizens and community members, rendering support for the capabilities approach as a promising schema for understa...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Wong, Yin-Ling Irene; Stanton, Megan C.; Sands, Roberta G. Source Type: research

Interpersonal relationship narratives of older adults with schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses.
Shared themes connected to interpersonal relationships across the life courses of older adults with schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses were identified in first-person life history narratives and explored in depth. Findings were developed through thematic narrative analysis of 35 interviews with 7 older adults currently in treatment for schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses. A combination of open-ended questions, life history calendars, and time diaries were used to structure interviews, and narrative and analytical development. Themes of relational losses, relational voids, relational adjustments, relational adaptations, and the ...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Ogden, Lydia P. Source Type: research

The health equity promotion model: Reconceptualization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health disparities.
National health initiatives emphasize the importance of eliminating health disparities among historically disadvantaged populations. Yet, few studies have examined the range of health outcomes among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. To stimulate more inclusive research in the area, we present the Health Equity Promotion Model—a framework oriented toward LGBT people reaching their full mental and physical health potential that considers both positive and adverse health-related circumstances. The model highlights (a) heterogeneity and intersectionality within LGBT communities; (b) the influence of stru...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - December 29, 2014 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen I.; Simoni, Jane M.; Kim, Hyun-Jun; Lehavot, Keren; Walters, Karina L.; Yang, Joyce; Hoy-Ellis, Charles P.; Muraco, Anna Source Type: research