Public attitudes toward mental health professions.

"The study reported here involves the application of opinion sampling methods to public attitudes toward mental health professions." The following titles were employed: doctor, physician, nurse, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, psychologist, clinical psychologist, research psychologist, mental hospital attendant, social worker. The Semantic Differential was used. The sample of respondents was obtained from the Opinion Panel of the Institute of Communications Research; 207 of 239 panel members returned questionnaires on time. "A very high, positive, public attitude was found for the professions as a whole." Virtually no distinction is made between the concepts doctor and physician. "No distinction is made… among the concepts Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst, Clinical Psychologist, and Research Psychologist on the Semantic Differential… . There are large and significant differences between the concept Doctor and Physician and the cluster of concepts whose titles start with the morpheme 'Psych-.' " The mental hospital attendant is held in relatively high esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational climate configurations: Relationships to collective attitudes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.

Research on organizational climate has tended to focus on independent dimensions of climate rather than studying the total social context as configurations of multiple climate dimensions. The authors examined relationships between configurations of unit-level climate dimensions and organizational outcomes. Three profile characteristics represented climate configurations: (1) elevation, or the mean score across climate dimensions; (2) variability, or the extent to which scores across dimensions vary; and (3) shape, or the pattern of the dimensions. Across 2 studies (1,120 employees in 120 bank branches and 4,317 employees in 86 food distribution stores), results indicated that elevation was related to collective employee attitudes and service perceptions, while shape was related to customer satisfaction and financial performance. With respect to profile variability, results were mixed. The discussion focuses on future directions for taking a configural approach to organizational climate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using evidence-based treatments: The experiences of youth providers working under a mandate.

Whether as clinicians, administrators, or evaluators, psychologists are increasingly involved in efforts to implement evidence-based treatments (EBTs) within clinical practice settings. The state of Texas has undertaken what may be the largest EBT implementation effort to-date. A survey was conducted to understand the experiences of 197 children’s service providers working within this effort. Providers’ own attitudes toward the EBTs and their perceptions of their colleagues’ support for the EBTs were somewhat negative, although they gave positive ratings of the quality of their EBT training and of their agencies’ support for the EBTs. Significant, independent predictors of providers’ attitudes toward the EBTs included provider views of their colleagues’ and their agencies’ support for the EBTs, their opinions of the quality of their training in the EBTs, and their perceptions of institutional barriers to EBT use (all ps     

Cultural competence and evidence-based practice in mental health services: A complementary perspective.

The need for cultural competence and the need for evidence-based practice in mental health services are major issues in contemporary discourse, especially in the psychological treatment of people of color. Although these 2 paradigms are complementary in nature, there is little cross-fertilization in the psychological literature. The present article illustrates the complementary nature of these 2 paradigms. A main point of convergence is related to the development of culturally adapted interventions in the move from efficacy research to effectiveness studies. The implications of cultural adaptations of empirically supported treatments for mental health services in terms of research and practice with ethnic/racial minority populations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An expanded perspective on children's mental health.

Comments on three articles (see records 2005-11115-003, 2005-11115-004, and 2005-11115-005) on the status of children's mental health services in the United States, which appeared in the September 2005 issue of the American Psychologist. The current authors suggest that, although this series of articles provides important information, the articles fall short in meeting the mark of comprehensively describing the solutions necessary to effectively address the crisis facing children's mental health in this country. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A behavioral study of staff attitudes toward mental illness.

65 nurses and aides completed 2 factor analyzed attitude questionnaires. Hospitalized psychiatric patients (N = 188) screened for ability to identify their staff and make valid behavioral ratings, rated their ward staff on a 55-item interpersonal behavior inventory. Relationships between perceived behavior and endorsed attitudes were examined. Restrictive attitudes were consistently related to controlling and restricting behavior. Protective Benevolence was related to such behaviors as aloofness, distance, and dishonesty. Hence, some attitudes were related to behaviors which were congruent with the endorsed attitude, some attitudes were related to seemingly incongruent behaviors, while other attitudes had no significant behavioral correlates. A new attitude area, highly related to outgoing interpersonal behavior, was identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturation, enculturation, and Asian American college students' mental health and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help.

In the present study, we tested a theoretically and empirically derived partially indirect effects acculturation and enculturation model of Asian American college students' mental health and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Latent variable path analysis with 296 self-identified Asian American college students supported the partially indirect effects model and demonstrated the ways in which behavioral acculturation, behavioral enculturation, values acculturation, values enculturation, and acculturation gap family conflict related to mental health and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help directly and indirectly through acculturative stress. We also tested a generational status moderator hypothesis to determine whether differences in model-implied relationships emerged across U.S.- (n = 185) and foreign-born (n = 107) participants. Consistent with this hypothesis, statistically significant differences in structural coefficients emerged across generational status. Limitations, future directions for research, and counseling implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A proposal to unite two different worlds of children's mental health.

Responds to comments made by Holden and Blau (see record 2006-11202-017) on the current authors' original article (see record 2005-11115-005). The current authors suggest combining the complementary strengths of the community-based approaches identified by Holden and Blau (2006) and the evidence-based approaches discussed in their original article, rather than argue about the comparative limitations of each approach. Given that the contents of both systems of care and wraparound are free to vary with available services in the community, they suggest ensuring that those specific services are, in fact, interventions that have been tested and shown to work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Methodological challenges encountered in summarizing evidence-based practice.

This paper details the challenges encountered by authors summarizing evidence from a primary study to describe a treatment's effectiveness using an effect size (ES) estimate. Dilemmas that are encountered, including how to calculate and interpret the pertinent standardized mean difference ES for results from studies of various research designs, are described. Recommendations are offered to authors of primary studies and to those conducting summaries of primary studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managed mental health care: The client's perspective.

Changes in psychotherapy services have been the focus of controversy between psychologists and the managed-care industry, yet too seldom have client preferences been directly heard in that debate. This study investigated consumer attitudes about the central elements of psychotherapy service delivery by 3 participant groups: self-pay clients, managed-care clients, and adults without therapy experience. Important differences of opinion were found among participant groups, yet results revealed that all 5 elements investigated were considered essential. Autonomy in treatment decision-making was ranked most important, followed by choice of therapist, copayment amount, limits to confidentiality, and ease of access to care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School-based disaster mental health services: Clinical, policy, and community challenges.

The consequences of Hurricane Katrina have far-reaching implications for the mental health system in the Gulf Coast region, with some of the most vulnerable survivors being children and adolescents. School-based services have been proposed as an ideal way to provide care; however, significant challenges remain in providing trauma-informed services in schools postdisaster. The authors discuss the consultation and training activities of the Los Angeles Unified School District Trauma Services Adaptation Center for Schools and Communities following Hurricane Katrina. Issues related to the dissemination of evidence-based treatment in schools following a disaster are discussed, as are the particular needs of providers and school staff and the importance of community collaboration in identifying ways to adapt implementation strategies for specific communities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facilitating practice changes in mental health clinics: A guide for implementation development in health care systems.

For more than a decade, health care systems have attempted to implement evidence-based practices and guidelines. These efforts have demonstrated the difficulty in making practice changes in complex systems of care. Many health care systems, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and state community mental health systems, have made adoption of evidence-based treatments, especially psychotherapies, a priority. Psychologists, as behavioral change experts and clinical leaders, are positioned to aid local implementation efforts but may have limited knowledge of the “implementation science” literature. This article provides a brief introduction to the implementation literature and offers a guide for developing an implementation plan to adopt evidence-based psychotherapies in local health care settings illustrated by a hypothetical example. Challenges to implementation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of service provider attitudes and employment status on citizenship behaviors and customers' attitudes and loyalty behavior.

The relationship among job satisfaction, affective commitment, service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty were examined for a sample of 249 hairstylists and 1 of their corresponding customers. Employee satisfaction was positively related to service-oriented OCBs, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty, whereas affective commitment was not related to these outcomes. The extent to which the predictor variables interacted with one another and the role of employment status on these relationships was also explored. High levels of job satisfaction or affective commitment resulted in more service-oriented OCBs for employees and self-employed workers, whereas high levels of both resulted in more service-oriented OCBs for owners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Migrant mental health: A model for indicators of mental health and health care consumption.

Objective: This study explores the relationship between mental health and health care consumption among migrants in the Netherlands. Design: Samples of the Turkish (n = 648), Moroccan (n = 102), and Surinamese (n = 311) populations in Amsterdam were examined. The study tested a hypothesized model of risk factors for psychiatric morbidity, indicators of well-being, and indicators of health care consumption. The model was specified on the basis of information from earlier research on the sample and literature on the topic. The model was tested and refined using structural equation modeling. Main outcome measures: Psychiatric morbidity and well-being measures were assessed with the CIDI 1.1 and MOS-sf-36 subscales, respectively. Health care consumption was assessed by the question "Have you ever consulted one or more of these professionals or health care facilities with respect to mental health problems or problems related to alcohol or drugs usage?" Results: The primary result of this study was the confirmation that health care consumption among migrants is predicted by need and predisposition factors, such as health condition and sociodemographic characteristics. In addition, mental health care consumption of migrants is predicted by acculturation characteristics. This result suggests an effect of cultural and migrant-specific factors in help-seeking behavior and barriers to mental health care facilities. Conclusions: Findings confirm the existence of migrant-specific mechanisms in health care consumption. Mental health care professionals should be aware of these. However, ignoring common ground for interventions unnecessarily creates distance between migrant groups and between migrant and indigenous Dutch groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Servant leadership, procedural justice climate, service climate, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior: A cross-level investigation.

This study tests the influence of servant leadership on 2 group climates, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior. Results from a sample of 815 employees and 123 immediate supervisors revealed that commitment to the supervisor, self-efficacy, procedural justice climate, and service climate partially mediated the relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior. Cross-level interaction results revealed that procedural justice climate and positive service climate amplified the influence of commitment to the supervisor on organizational citizenship behavior. Implications of these results for theory and practice and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An editor's last word.

This is my last issue as editor of International Journal of Play Therapy (IJPT). I experienced a great honor serving in this role over the last four years. Dr. Stephen Armstrong has graciously agreed to serve as the new editor of IJPT. The members of Association for Play Therapy (APT) are consummate professionals who share a vision for mental health intervention for all children. Although it can clearly be seen through my editorship and my research focus in APT that I am a proponent of evidence-based practice research, I am also dedicated to the idea that there are many parts of what play therapists do that simply cannot be measured. Consequently, it appears that the field of play therapy will continue to debate the need for and process of conducting research. However, it also appears that in order for play therapy to grow in credibility, research and the publication of research is necessary and vital. I conclude my final editorial by thanking all of the authors who have submitted to IJPT over the last four years. Their contributions to the field are unparalleled. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research strategies toward a conception of positive mental health.

Problem areas in the field of science for a concept of mental health and the question of how research may be brought to advance our understanding of optimal human functioning are considered. Major sections are: Some Conceptual Difficulties with "Mental Health," The Frontal Assault, The Multiple Criterion Approach, Fundamental Research in Personality, and Systems Theory as a Frame of Reference. "The systems framework as a way of thinking ties mental health to our most general conceptions of personality in a schema that permits or, better, requires elaboration by research… . Mental health… is complex and not easily schematized." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward reflective practice: A multicultural competence training model from a community mental health center.

Despite the importance of multicultural competence in clinical practice and training, there is a surprising dearth of innovative training models from fieldwork sites that would be replicable in other practicum settings. The authors illustrate a multicultural competence training model from a community mental health center that highlights the Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organization Change for Psychologists (American Psychological Association, 2003). The model focuses on providing multicultural training through two separate but linked training teams for the dual purposes of internal reflection and reflective practice. The authors conclude with a discussion of the implications of this training model for practice, research, and organizational change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evidence missing from evidence-based practice.

Comments on the report by the APA Presidential Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice (see record 2006-05893-001) entitled Evidence-based practice in psychology. Regrettably, the task force report was largely silent on three critical issues. As a consequence, it omitted much of the evidence necessary for a complete picture of evidence-based practice. First, the task force report did not operationalize "evidence." Second, the task force report did not address the crucial problem of iatrogenic treatments. Third, the task force report said little about the necessity for ongoing objective evaluation of clinical cases, which is critical to ethically responsible services. Current debate centers on how research findings should be factored into interventions, not on whether it is necessary to do so. Rather than waiting for the resolution of competing views on the matter, psychologists bear an ethical obligation to offer evidence-informed services. Three critical steps that were largely neglected by the task force report can go far toward helping psychologists honor that commitment: (a) providing a clearer operationalization of scientific evidence, (b) using current research to rule out the use of potentially harmful methods, and (c) using objective criteria to evaluate all of their cases on an ongoing basis. These steps, in turn, clarify the menu of options available to therapists, help protect clients from harm, and offer the advantage of allowing clinicians to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about what does and does not work in psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)