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.

Israeli mothers’ meaning reconstruction in the aftermath of homicide.
This study is the first to our knowledge to provide an in-depth account of the meanings reconstructed by bereaved Israeli mothers of homicide victims. Homicide survivors tend to receive little or no support from society; this is especially true in Israel, where homicide victims are a neglected population whose voice is socially muted. Constructivist theories have informed understanding of grief, emphasizing the role of meaning reconstruction in adaptation to bereavement, as well as the role of social support in the process of meaning reconstruction. We derived 3 prototypes of meaning from interviews of 12 bereaved mothers:...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - September 6, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Mahat-Shamir, Michal; Leichtentritt, Ronit D. Source Type: research

Differential accounts of refugee and resettlement experiences in youth with high and low levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology: A mixed-methods investigation.
This study was conducted to broaden the conceptualization and examination of the outcomes of the refugee experience by jointly examining how adaptive processes, psychosocial factors, and psychopathology are implicated. A mixed-methods approach was used to specifically examine whether adolescents’ (N = 10) accounts of their refugee and resettlement experiences differed according to their level, “high” or “low,” of PTSD symptomatology. The superordinate themes of cultural belongingness and identification, psychological functioning, family unit functioning and relationships, and friendships and interpersonal process...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - July 13, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: McGregor, Lucy S.; Melvin, Glenn A.; Newman, Louise K. Source Type: research

Acculturative heterogeneity among Asian/Pacific Islanders in the United States: Associations with DSM mental and substance use disorders.
Extant studies on the links between acculturation and mental and substance use disorders among Asian/Pacific Islanders have been based on the assumption that acculturation is a homogeneous construct. However, emerging evidence suggests that the various components of acculturation do not manifest independently, but rather cluster in ways that reflect distinct profiles. We employ data on Asian/Pacific Islanders from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (n = 968). Latent profile analysis is used to identify acculturation subgroups on the basis of indicator variables related to cultural identific...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - July 13, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Salas-Wright, Christopher P.; Lee, Sharon; Vaughn, Michael G.; Jang, Yuri; Sanglang, Cindy C. Source Type: research

Happiness on the street: Overall happiness among homeless people in Madrid (Spain).
This article tests a hypothesized model of overall happiness among homeless people in Spain. The research was conducted based on a representative sample of homeless people in Madrid (n = 235), all adults, who had spent the night before the interview in a shelter for homeless people, on the street or in other places not initially designed for sleeping, or who were in supervised accommodation for homeless people at the time of the interview. Information was gathered using a structured interview. The results obtained show that around half of the homeless people in Madrid said that they were happy. A positive meta-stereotype a...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - July 13, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Panadero, Sonia; Guillén, Ana Isabel; Vázquez, José Juan Source Type: research

Suicide risk assessments: Examining influences on clinicians’ professional judgment.
This study revealed significant variations in clinical judgments of practitioners assessing suicide risk. While scores on standardized risk assessment measures were the strongest predictor of judgments regarding the need for hospitalization to ensure the safety of the patient, other influences included clinician age and levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Mental health clinicians and organizations that employ them should be aware of possible individual influences on professional judgments related to suicide risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry)
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - June 15, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Regehr, Cheryl; LeBlanc, Vicki R.; Bogo, Marion; Paterson, Jane; Birze, Arija Source Type: research

An exploratory study of nonsuicidal self-injury and suicidal behaviors in adolescent Latinas.
We describe each of these and offer suggestions for future research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry)
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - June 8, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Gulbas, Lauren E.; Hausmann-Stabile, Carolina; De Luca, Susan M.; Tyler, Tee R.; Zayas, Luis H. Source Type: research

Building resilience: A qualitative study of Spanish women who have suffered intimate partner violence.
This study used grounded theory to explore the factors that contribute to building resilience in Spanish women who have undergone IPV. A sample of 22 women who had experienced IPV participated in the study (mean age = 46.45 years, SD = 10.49). Findings revealed that these women were capable of using various factors, both individual and external, that promoted resilience. The women employed the following individual factors: physical activity, rediscovering oneself, altruism, control over one’s life, creativity, spirituality, focus on the present, sense of humor, introspection, optimism, and projects and goals. The externa...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 25, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: López-Fuentes, Iratxe; Calvete, Esther Source Type: research

Asylum-seeking children’s experiences of detention in Canada: A qualitative study.
Children and parents seeking asylum are regularly detained in Canada, however little is known about the experiences of detained families. International literature suggests that the detention of children is associated with significant morbidity. Our study aims to understand the experiences of detained children and families who have sought asylum in Canada by using a qualitative methodology that includes semistructured interviews and ethnographic participant observation. Detention appears to be a frightening experience of deprivation that leaves children feeling criminalized and helpless. Family separation further shatters c...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Kronick, Rachel; Rousseau, Cécile; Cleveland, Janet Source Type: research

Risk for behavior problems in children of parents with substance use disorders.
This study also tested whether parenting mediated the relations between these variables. Results suggest that children of parents with current diagnoses were at elevated risk for externalizing and internalizing problems, but children of parents with recovered diagnoses were only at risk for externalizing problems. Perceived parental consistency of support mediated the relations between parent current SUD and child externalizing and internalizing problems. Disruption of the home environment may in part explain why children of parents with SUDs are at risk for externalizing and internalizing problems. However, even after par...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Bountress, Kaitlin; Chassin, Laurie Source Type: research

Impact of Inuit customary adoption on behavioral problems in school-age Inuit children.
This study examined the actual extent of the increase in the number of behavior problems seen in Inuit children adopted in accordance with traditional customs. In a prospective longitudinal study conducted in the Canadian Arctic (n = 46 adopted and 231 nonadopted children), prenatal and familial variables were documented at birth and at school age (M = 11.3 years). Behavior problems were assessed on the Teacher Report Form of the Child Behavior Checklist. Adopted children lived in more economically disadvantaged families, but their caregivers were less prone to depression, domestic violence, or alcohol abuse compared with ...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Decaluwe, Béatrice; Jacobson, Sandra W.; Poirier, Marie-Andrée; Forget-Dubois, Nadine; Jacobson, Joseph L.; Muckle, Gina Source Type: research

A structural equation modeling study of the Spanish Mental Illness Stigma Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-27-E).
The main purpose of this study was the translation and analysis of psychometric properties of the Attribution Questionnaire for use in Spanish-speaking populations (AQ-27-E) and to test the dangerousness and responsibility models of mental illness stigma in a Spanish sample. The sample consisted of 439 adults from the general population of the community of Madrid (Spain). The questionnaire was translated using the translation/back-translation method. Cronbach’s alpha was used to carry out the reliability analysis, and structural equations were used to test the dangerousness and the responsibility models of stigma. Intern...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Muñoz, Manuel; Guillén, Ana I.; Pérez-Santos, Eloísa; Corrigan, Patrick W. Source Type: research

The Danieli Inventory of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma, Part II: Reparative Adaptational Impacts.
The impacts of the Holocaust on children of survivors have been widely investigated. However, consensus is limited, and no validated measures have been tailored with or to them. We aimed to develop and validate a scale that measures these specific impacts (Part II of the Danieli Inventory of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma). We studied 484 adult children of survivors who participated in a cross-sectional web-based survey in English or Hebrew; of these, 191 participated in a clinical interview. Exploratory factor analyses of 58 items to reduce and refine the measure yielded a 36-item scale, Reparative Adaptational Impa...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Danieli, Yael; Norris, Fran H.; Lindert, Jutta; Paisner, Vera; Kronenberg, Sefi; Engdahl, Brian; Richter, Julia Source Type: research

A broader perspective of gun control.
The point of this commentary is not to advocate for either position. Rather, the aim is to put the matter of gun control into a broader context, inclusive of a theological and spiritual perspective. Shining a different light on the roots of gun control provides a different understanding of it. A different understanding has the potential to change the tone of the national debate. It is the authors' belief that the tone and complexity of the national debate does not stem from the content of the issue but from the emotionality. The perspective of this comment is taken from a systems view of life in America that includes an at...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Hargrove, David S.; Perdue, Roland P. Source Type: research

Preventing the invisible plague of firearm suicide.
There is an underappreciation among the general public and among health professionals that firearms are implicated in just over half of all suicide deaths. Suicide attempts with firearms are much more lethal than attempts using other methods, with more than 85% of individuals using a firearm dying compared to 2% for individuals using poisoning, 31% by jumping, and 69% by hanging. There is a well-researched and clear connection between access to firearms in the home and an increased risk of firearm suicide of a family member. Additionally, it has long been demonstrated that states and cities with fewer guns have fewer suici...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Runyan, Carol W.; Brown, Talia L.; Brooks-Russell, Ashley Source Type: research

Our schools are safe: Challenging the misperception that schools are dangerous places.
Massive public attention to school shootings has created the misperception that schools are dangerous places, even though crime statistics show that schools are one of the safest places in the United States. The fear of school shootings has caused many school systems to divert their budgets to excessive building security measures and adopt dubious crisis response plans. School disciplinary practices have shifted toward the criminalization of student misbehavior and a zero tolerance philosophy that fails to improve school safety and results in high rates of student suspensions and dropouts. The use of a threat assessment ap...
Source: American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - May 18, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Cornell, Dewey Source Type: research