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.

Fostering SMART partnerships to develop an effective continuum of behavioral health services and supports in schools.
The education sector offers compelling opportunities to address the shortcomings of traditional mental health delivery systems and to prevent and treat youth mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) problems. Recognizing that social and emotional wellness is intrinsically related to academic success, schools are moving to adopt multi-tier frameworks based on the public health model that provide a continuum of services to all children, including services to address both academic and MEB problems. In this article, we review the potential value of multi-tier frameworks in facilitating access to, and increasing the effectivenes...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 10, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Bruns, Eric J.; Duong, Mylien T.; Lyon, Aaron R.; Pullmann, Michael D.; Cook, Clayton R.; Cheney, Douglas; McCauley, Elizabeth Source Type: research

Using communities that care for community child maltreatment prevention.
This article provides an overview of the CTC framework and discusses the adaptation process of CTC to prevent development of MEBs through preventing child abuse and neglect and bolstering child well-being in children aged 0 to 10. Adaptations include those to the intervention itself as well as those to the evaluation approach. Preliminary findings from the Keeping Families Together pilot study of this evolving approach suggest that the implementation was manageable for sites, and community board functioning and community adoption of a science-based approach to prevention in pilot sites looks promising. Implications and nex...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 10, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Salazar, Amy M.; Haggerty, Kevin P.; de Haan, Benjamin; Catalano, Richard F.; Vann, Terri; Vinson, Jean; Lansing, Michaele Source Type: research

Building an evidence-based multitiered system of supports for high-risk youth and communities.
This article describes a process and provides a case study example for implementing a comprehensive, multitiered approach in a high-risk community. This includes assessing and prioritizing the specific needs of individuals and communities; selecting evidence-based programs based upon assessed needs; and creating a continuum of programs to improve the health and well-being of youth across developmental age spans, social contexts, and levels of risk. Operational details and challenges for organizing and implementing this comprehensive approach are also described. We estimate that the collective impact of a multitiered eviden...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 10, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Kingston, Beverly E.; Mihalic, Sharon F.; Sigel, Eric J. Source Type: research

Launching forward: The integration of behavioral health in primary care as a key strategy for promoting young child wellness.
This article focuses on the lessons learned from 1 of the 5 core strategies: integration of behavioral health into primary care for young children. This paper analyzes the experiences of a sample of Project LAUNCH grantees, describing 10 common elements of integration approaches and exploring some of the challenges of promoting health and preventing social, emotional, and behavioral problems at a population level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry)
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 10, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Oppenheim, Jennifer; Stewart, Whitney; Zoubak, Ekaterina; Donato, Ingrid; Huang, Larke; Hudock, William Source Type: research

Toxic stress, behavioral health, and the next major era in public health.
Before the development of the germ theory in the late 19th century, infectious illnesses were largely uncontrollable and caused significant mortality. Implementing public hygiene, preventive, and treatment interventions created remarkable improvements in population health. Today’s U.S. public health crises involve threats to health and human capital evidenced by multiple indicators of deteriorating wellbeing. These problems result from the interaction of risk and protective factors. Specifically, we argue that the interaction of genetic vulnerability and toxic stress are antecedents to a developmental cascade that underm...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 10, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Shern, David L.; Blanch, Andrea K.; Steverman, Sarah M. Source Type: research

New frontiers in building mental, emotional and behavioral health in children and youth: Introduction to the special section.
The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA; 2010) has had tremendous influence on behavioral health in the United States (Alker & Chester, 2015). Shortly after its passage, the editors of this special section became interested in examining the provisions of the ACA related to care for mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders in children and youth and synthesizing their implications in the context of other contemporary trends in children’s behavioral health promotion. We first developed a white paper with the goal of increasing our own understanding of these issues and their possible influence o...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 10, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Evans, Mary E.; Bruns, Eric J.; Armstrong, Mary I.; Hodges, Sharon; Hernandez, Mario Source Type: research

Major discriminatory events and risk for psychotic experiences among Black Americans.
We examined the National Survey of American Life to analyze the effects of 9 major racial discriminatory events on lifetime psychotic experiences among Black Americans. By examining each event separately, we found that police discrimination was associated with increased risk for lifetime psychotic experiences after adjusting for demographic variables, socioeconomic status, and co-occurring psychological or social problems. Being denied a promotion, being a victim of police abuse, and being discouraged from pursuing education were associated with lifetime visual hallucinations, and being discouraged from pursuing education ...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 9, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Oh, Hans; Cogburn, Courtney D.; Anglin, Deidre; Lukens, Ellen; DeVylder, Jordan Source Type: research

Improving psychology students’ attitudes toward people with schizophrenia: A quasi-randomized controlled study.
Despite scientific evidence that the majority of people with schizophrenia (PWS) have personal histories of traumatic life events and adversities, their needs for psychological support often remain unmet. Poor availability of nonpharmacological therapies in schizophrenia may be partly because of professionals’ attitudes toward people diagnosed with this disorder. As future health professionals, psychology students represent a target population for efforts to increase the probability that PWS will be offered effective psychological therapies. This quasi-randomized controlled study investigated the effect of an educational...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 9, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Magliano, Lorenza; Rinaldi, Angela; Costanzo, Regina; De Leo, Renata; Schioppa, Giustina; Petrillo, Miriam; Read, John Source Type: research

Caregiving-specific worry, affiliate stigma, and perceived social support on psychological distress of caregivers of children with physical disability in Hong Kong.
The present study tested a model on the relationship between functional status of children with physical disability, caregiving-specific worry, affiliate stigma, and psychological distress among their caregivers. One hundred thirty-one caregivers of children with physical disability in Hong Kong completed a self-report questionnaire. Structural equation modeling showed that the final model had good fit to the data: χ2 = 102.05, (df = 83, p = .08), comparative fit index = .98, nonnormed fit index = .98, standardized root mean square residual = .08, root mean square error of approximation = .04. Caregivers whose children ha...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 6, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Ma, Gloria Y. K.; Mak, Winnie W. S. Source Type: research

Evaluating dosage effects for the positive action program: How implementation impacts internalizing symptoms, aggression, school hassles, and self-esteem.
Positive Action (PA) is a school-based intervention for elementary-, middle-, and high-school students that aims to decrease problem behaviors (e.g., violence, substance use) and increase positive behaviors (e.g., academic achievement, school engagement). PA has a long history of documented success achieving these aims, making it an Evidence Based Practice (EBP). Intervention research on EBP’s has established the importance of implementation fidelity, especially with regard to program dosage; failure to properly implement an EBP can have negative consequences on targeted outcomes, especially if participants are exposed t...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - March 6, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Smokowski, Paul R.; Guo, Shenyang; Wu, Qi; Evans, Caroline B. R.; Cotter, Katie L.; Bacallao, Martica Source Type: research

Living in a continuous traumatic reality: Impact on elderly persons residing in urban and rural communities.
This study is an exploration of the contribution of exposure to the continuous threat of Qassam rocket attacks to PTSD among elderly residents of urban and rural communities. Specifically, we examined the contribution of sociodemographic variables, psychological resources, and perceived social support to PTSD, and whether this relationship is mediated by cognitive appraisals. The sample consisted of 298 residents of 2 different communities: urban (n = 190), and rural (n = 108). We examined the main research question by calculating the correlations of the sociodemographic variables, the psychological resource (self-esteem),...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Regev, Irit; Nuttman-Shwartz, Orit Source Type: research

A mental health intervention strategy for low-income, trauma-exposed Latina immigrants in primary care: A preliminary study.
This study sought to develop and preliminarily evaluate a mental health intervention for trauma-exposed Latina immigrants with depression and/or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for primary care clinics that serve the uninsured. The intervention was designed to be simultaneously responsive to patients’ preferences for individual psychotherapy and to the needs of safety-net primary care clinics for efficient services and to address the social isolation that is common to the Latina immigrant experience. The resulting intervention, developed on the basis of findings from the research team’s formative research, incorpo...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 24, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Kaltman, Stacey; Hurtado de Mendoza, Alejandra; Serrano, Adriana; Gonzales, Felisa A. Source Type: research

Risk and protective factors across multiple microsystems associated with internalizing symptoms and aggressive behavior in rural adolescents: Modeling longitudinal trajectories from the Rural Adaptation Project.
The current study examined risk and protective factors across microsystems that impact the development of internalizing symptoms and aggression over 4 years in a sample of culturally diverse, rural adolescents. We explored whether risk and protective factors across microsystems were associated with changes in rates of internalizing symptoms and aggressive behavior. Data came from the Rural Adaptation Project (RAP), a 5-year longitudinal panel study of more than 4,000 students from 26 public middle schools and 12 public high schools. Three level HLM models were estimated to predict internalizing symptoms (e.g., depression, ...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 14, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Smokowski, Paul R.; Guo, Shenyang; Evans, Caroline B. R.; Wu, Qi; Rose, Roderick A.; Bacallao, Martica; Cotter, Katie L. Source Type: research

Predictors of maternal depressive symptom trajectories over the first 18 months in home visiting.
Maternal depression negatively impacts maternal functioning and parenting behaviors. Mothers participating in home visiting programs are at particularly elevated risk for depressive symptoms due to demographic and associated risk factors. Moreover, additional empirical evidence has demonstrated that mothers with depression do not benefit from home visiting interventions to the same extent as their peers without depression. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of depression course in mothers participating in home visiting over the first 18 months of service. Participants were 220 low income mothers participa...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 14, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Teeters, Angelique R.; Ammerman, Robert T.; Shenk, Chad E.; Goyal, Neera K.; Folger, Alonzo T.; Putnam, Frank W.; Van Ginkel, Judith B. Source Type: research

Posttraumatic growth and perceived health: The role of posttraumatic stress symptoms.
The contested discourse regarding the nature of posttraumatic growth (PTG) includes 2 main competitive claims. The first argues that PTG reflects authentic positive transformation while the second posits that PTG reflects illusory defenses that could be maladaptive in the long run. The present study assesses these competing claims by investigating secondary PTG in relation to the somatic domain. Specifically, this study investigates: (a) the association between PTG, and perceived health (PH), as measured by 3 indices of somatic complaints, self-rated health (SRH) and a number of health problems; (b) the association between...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - February 10, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Lahav, Yael; Solomon, Zahava; Levin, Yafit Source Type: research