Self-disclosure in a simulated psychiatric interview.

Describes 2 experiments in which a total of 192 undergraduates received 49 items of personal information previously scaled in terms of their intimacy and presented according to the method of constant stimuli. For each item, Ss indicated whether they believed they would have withheld or revealed that information under actual psychiatric interview conditions. Exp. I manipulated the professional role of the interviewer, confidentiality of obtained information, and sex of the interviewee in a 4 * 3 * 2 design. Results indicate that (a) Ss avowedly revealed more personal information to mental health professionals than they would in a control employment interview situation, with no differences between the mental health professionals; (b) informing Ss that the interview was not confidential produced significant information loss from female but not male Ss; and (c) Ss who received no information regarding confidentiality behaved like Ss who were told the information was confidential. In Exp. II, Ss were asked to assume the motivational-attitudinal state of persons either coerced or voluntarily seeking a psychiatric interview because they had violated interpersonal norms. Significant information loss occurred in coerced Ss while confidentiality had no effect on self-disclosure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Barriers to the provision of mental health services to individuals with severe physical disability.

Surveyed 86 consumer advocates (67 with physical disabilities), 157 rehabilitation counselors, 94 rehabilitation administrators, 323 mental health administrators and professionals, and 145 severely disabled Ss concerning Ss' perceptions of the nature and extent of mental health services, barriers to mental health service provision for individuals with severe physical disabilities, and personal data. Overall, there was a general consistency among the sample groups in their perceptions of the extent to which each of 10 variables is a barrier to service delivery. The lack of accessible public transportation, especially in nonmetropolitan areas, and the accompanying limitation on costly mental health outreach services were viewed as serious problems. The limited knowledge and skills of many mental health professional regarding severe physical disability was perceived to be a moderate to substantial barrier to service provision. Findings indicate that individuals with severe physical disability are an underserved group. Recommendations regarding policy and program development and training of professionals are offered. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health care benefits and perceptions of health insurance agents.

Many professionals play a role in evaluating and defining health service coverage in the current marketplace. It is useful to professional psychologists to understand how their perceptions of the current coverage of mental health services are similar to or different from those of other professionals. The authors examined the views of health insurance agents. Both psychologists and insurance agents agreed that, mental health benefits were adequate to effectively treat mild mental health problems, coverage was inadequate to treat major mental illness. Psychologists and insurance agents differed in their perceptions of whether patients and therapists used benefits unnecessarily. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of therapists' personal problems and treatment.

642 therapists drawn from mental health centers directories, psychiatric hospital and ward staff rosters, university counseling center staff lists, and telephone directory entries in Iowa were surveyed about their personal problems. 264 of 310 returned questionnaires were used in the analysis. Ss were 25–68 yrs old; their experience was 1–34 yrs; and 195 had master's-level degrees, while 69 were doctoral-level therapists. Results show that half of Ss had experienced relationship difficulties or depression. Master's-level Ss and agency employees were more likely than were other groups to have experienced depression. A substantial proportion of Ss had been in therapy, and female Ss were more likely than males to have sought therapy for depression and relationship concerns. Many Ss, particularly those working in agencies, were reluctant to seek therapy when needed for reasons such as having had prior relationships with nearby therapists and the availability of existing personal support sources. Ss in the group were likely to have been ill during the preceding 6 mo. Agency employees, psychologists, and relatively less experienced Ss missed more work days due to illness than did other groups. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health values and preference for mental health resources of Japanese-American and Caucasian-American students.

The authors investigated Asian-American underuse of mental health resources as a function of attitudes about the nature of mental health (mental health values) and resource preference for assistance with serious personal problems, with 91 Caucasian-American and 90 Japanese-American undergraduates. Results from a mental health values questionnaire (MHVQ) revealed that Japanese Americans more strongly related several MHVQ scales to mental health (good interpersonal relations, trustworthiness, and absence of negative personal traits) than did Caucasian Americans. Nevertheless, they were less likely than Caucasian Americans to rank mental health professionals as first choice for assistance with serious interpersonal/emotional problems and more likely to prefer close friends for assistance. Mental health values and attitudes about appropriate help-seeking behavior are discussed in relation to the Asian-American underuse phenomenon. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping skills training: An evaluation of a psychoeducational program in a community mental health setting.

40 21–60 yr old clients of a community mental health center were randomly assigned to either a coping-skills training program based explicitly on a psychoeducational model or a group-counseling control condition. Ss in the psychoeducational program were provided with 30 hrs of instruction and training in progressive relaxation, anxiety management, social skills, and self-reinforcement procedures. Group-counseling control Ss received an equal amount of attention devoted to analyzing personal problems with anxiety and interpersonal relations but with no direct skills training. Significant differences between the 2 groups on measures of general anxiety, fear, and assertiveness emerged immediately after treatment and at a 3-mo follow-up. Further analyses revealed that Ss were similar in terms of major demographic characteristics to clients who did not volunteer for training, that a greater percentage of program Ss than control Ss scored in the range of a sample of "normal" Ss on 2 of the 4 dependent measures, and that fewer program Ss were hospitalized within 1 yr after participation than were control Ss. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How the public perceives psychiatrists, psychologists, nonpsychiatric physicians, and members of the clergy.

Accompanying two decades of change in the mental health system have been a diffusion of the roles and practices of mental health professionals as well as shifts in the public's perceptions of the various specialties. In the present study, samples of patients and nonpatients used a 4-point Likert scale to rate (a) the competence of psychologists, psychiatrists, nonpsychiatric physicians, and the clergy to treat 10 different patient types, and (b) the personal qualities of the four practitioner groups along nine different dimensions. Psychiatrists and psychologists received significantly higher ratings than both nonpsychiatric physicians and the clergy on competence to treat most mental health problems. Intergroup differences on the ratings of personal qualities suggest a less uniformly favorable perception of psychiatrists and psychologists in comparison with the other two groups. Implications for the marketing and public relations efforts of mental health practitioners are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapist heal thyself: I. The psychological distress and self-change of psychologists, counselors, and laypersons.

Investigated coping methods among mental health professionals and nonprofessionals to identify personal characteristics related to coping and to compare psychotherapists' self-change with laypersons' self-change. The all female Ss (83 33–91 yr old psychologists, 108 23–63 yr old counselors, and 94 18–77 yr old laypersons) were administered questionnaires to measure psychic distress, strategies used to change problem behavior, and ways of coping. Results indicate that approximately 80% of the psychotherapists and 90% of the laypersons experienced at least 1 episode of high distress in the past 3 yrs. Relationship and occupational problems were the most frequent precipitants. Psychotherapists' orientations were not related to personal coping; by contrast, laypersons' characteristics did influence their coping. Implications for clinical practice and research involve the assessment of self-change in naturalistic settings, the need to explore individual differences in the stability and variability of coping, and coping differences due to personal characteristics. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Primary Mental Health Project: Seven consecutive years of program outcome research.

The Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP) is a school-based mental health program for the early detection and prevention of school-adjustment problems. This study assessed the PMHP's effectiveness by evaluating 7 consecutive annual cohorts of children (N?=?2,310; 75% were primary graders) seen through the program from 1974 through 1981. Pre- and postprogram evaluations were based on teacher ratings on the Classroom Adjustment Rating Scale and the Health Resources Inventory and child-aide ratings of problem behaviors. At postevaluation, school mental health professionals rated educational and behavioral changes of PMHP Ss during the year. Results, from all 3 perspectives, strongly and consistently showed that Ss were judged to have improved in adjustment, thus supporting the conclusion that the model is effective and socially useful. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hairdressers and helping: Influencing the behavior of informal caregivers.

Six 30–55 yr old hairdressers who participated in a 10-wk group mental health consultation and training program were compared with 7 control hairdressers on pre- and posttests of an inventory designed to assess helping strategies. Although on the pretest both groups heavily used the strategies of advice giving and presenting alternatives, only program participants showed an increase in the "reflection of feelings" on the posttest. The consultation program included goals such as (a) maximizing helping effectiveness through modeling and (b) education about referrals within the local mental health network. It is suggested that training in interpersonal help giving be offered to other groups of informal caregivers. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consequences of beliefs about the nature of mental disorders.

Examined the attitudinal and behavioral effects of changing Ss' conceptualizations of mental disorders, along a social-learning/biosocial continuum, for their related attitudes and behaviors. 81 undergraduates in a field setting were exposed to communications that described mental disorders as almost exclusively a result of social learning, or to communications that also assigned a role to genetic and somatic factors. Several differences were observed between Ss in the 2 conditions. For example, those exposed to a biosocial orientation placed less value than those in a social-learning condition did on thinking about the cause and solution to emotional problems, and they felt they could do less on a personal level to control their problems. Also, they were more likely to use alcohol and/or drugs to relieve emotional distress in the 4 mo following the experimental manipulation. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of prior group memberships on subsequent reconnaissance activities.

1,134 college freshmen completed an orientation questionnaire assessing their experiences in high school groups and expectations about college groups. 220 Ss were also interviewed later about their behavior toward campus groups at an activities fair. Ss whose experiences in high school groups were more positive tried harder to identify potentially desirable college groups, primarily because they believed that belonging to such groups would be useful for achieving personal goals. Ss with prior experience in relevant high school groups used that experience to evaluate similar college groups and thus made more realistic (less optimistic) evaluations of those groups than did Ss without prior experience. Among Ss who wanted to join a college group, those who had belonged to a relevant high school group behaved differently at the activities fair than did those who had not. Ss with prior experience were more likely to approach their chosen group at the activities fair and to avoid other groups there of a similar sort. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word completion in chronic pain: evidence for schematic representation of pain?

Schematic representation of pain information was investigated in chronic pain patients, health professionals, and nonpatient controls. Under the guise of an English-language experiment, Ss were presented with 12 word stems to be completed with the first 2 English words that came to mind. Four of the stems could be completed with sensory pain words, 4 with effective, and 4 with words associated with pain or illness. All could be completed with at least 3 other nonpain words of equal or greater frequency. Results indicate that chronic pain Ss produced significantly more pain-related completions than control Ss and that in all 3 groups the types of pain words produced were related to the extent of personal experience of pain. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the organization of schema, implicit memory, and the activation of mental representations of pain (schema).     

Comparison of university mental health needs priorities identified by professionals and students.

A random and representative sample of 457 undergraduate and graduate students completed the Needs Assessment Questionnaire that required each respondent to rate on a 5-point scale the seriousness of 24 mental health problems among university students and their families. A similar questionnaire was completed by 30 university-employed mental health professionals. A comparison of the ratings given to specific mental health problems by student and professional groups revealed extensive between-groups differences. The students rated problems of substance abuse as most serious, whereas the professionals rated problems of an academic and neurotic nature as most serious. The results have important implications for the validity and utility of needs assessment strategies. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Referral patterns in ethnic-specific and mainstream programs for ethnic minorities and Whites.

The present study examined the referral patterns of 1,095 African, 2,168 Asian, 1,385 Hispanic, and 2,273 White Americans (18 years of age and older) in a public mental health system to determine whether group differences in help-seeking and referral patterns were related to participation in ethnic-specific versus mainstream programs. Results indicated that (a) ethnic minorities in both mainstream and ethnic-specific programs were more likely than Whites to have been referred by natural help-giving and lay referral sources (e.g., family or friends, health services, and social services) and (b) ethnic minorities in ethnic-specific programs were more likely than ethnic minorities in mainstream programs to have been referred by natural help-giving and lay referral sources if they were Asian and Hispanic Americans and self-referred if they were African Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sexual preference biases in counseling: An information processing approach.

Used an illusory correlation paradigm to measure the effect of stereotyping by mental health professionals on processing information about individuals identified according to sex and sexual preference (SP). 34 23–58 yr old mental health professionals (17 males and 17 females) rated themselves on an SP scale, were presented a series of cards that identified hypothetical persons according to sex and SP, and ascribed to these persons 2 randomly selected stereotypic characteristics associated with 1 of the SP groups. After studying the cards, Ss were asked to make judgments about the relationship between SP and sex and the stereotypic characteristics. Fewer errors were made on those items for which a stereotypic response was congruent with prevailing stereotypes than on those items for which the stereotypic response was incongruent, indicating that stereotyping did affect the processing of information relative to the sex and SP group. Ss had more difficulty correctly processing information attributed to gay men and lesbian women than information attributed to heterosexual men and women. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Credibility of young children in sexual abuse cases: Assessment strategies of legal and human service professionals.

Interviewed 51 professionals from the human service and legal professions to ascertain their methods of interviewing young children who allege sexual abuse and to learn how they assessed the credibility of children's statements. Gaps were evident between techniques recommended in the literature and those actually used by Ss. Human service professionals were aware of some significant changes in the law, but not others. Lawyers seemed generally unaware of problems with the use of anatomically detailed dolls. A possible remedy for these problems would be more sharing of information between these groups. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health needs of the chronically mentally ill elderly.

The treatment histories and current social, financial, and clinical status of 111 chronically mentally ill (CMI) persons over the age of 60 were examined. Information was obtained from Ss, family, mental health records, and mental health professionals familiar with Ss. Psychiatric symptoms were observed in 74% of Ss. Many Ss experienced long periods without acute episodes of illness. Recurring episodes eventually appeared in most Ss, however, and ongoing deficits in daily functioning and social contacts were prototypical. Two thirds of the Ss were living in the community, relying heavily on family contacts; the rest lived primarily in nursing homes (23.4%) or psychiatric hospitals (7.2%). Social support was the best predictor of level of functioning. Findings suggest that failure of CMI elderly to use mental health services is not due to lack of need. Mental health services currently do not appear to be meeting the needs of this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Help-seeking attitudes and perceptions of counselor behavior.

Evaluated with 219 female undergraduates the Fischer-Turner Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help inventory and its component factor scales in terms of their "known groups" validity and their predictive utility in counseling research. Ss reporting prior professional assistance for psychological problems espoused more favorable attitudes (including greater recognition of need, stigma tolerance, interpersonal openness, and confidence in mental health practitioners) than Ss without such professional contact. Ss listened to taped counseling interviews and rated the counselors on several perceptual and expectancy variables (including the Relationship Inventory). Help-seeking attitudes were found to represent a significant positive influence on the counselors' perceived expertise, trustworthiness, regard, empathy, genuineness, and general helpfulness; on Ss' expected willingness to return for a 2nd interview; and on their expectancies of improvement across a variety of personal problems. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)