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)     

Postdoctoral training in severe mental illness: A model for trainee development.

The development of postdoctoral training in professional psychology has been gaining increased attention. This article presents a model of trainee development based on the processes of change that are deemed essential for the transition from an intern to a fully functioning professional psychologist. The model focuses on work with the severely mentally disordered, an area that currently lacks strong leadership within the mental health community. The program, which is highly integrated within the existing service-delivery system and teaching/research community of a medical center, emphasizes continuity with the internship experience, the integration of multiple treatment approaches, training in the provision of supervision, and scholarly contributions. The development of required, 1-yr, American Psychological Association-accredited postdoctoral training programs that provide the opportunity for specialization is recommended as the final stage in the professional initiation process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Malnutrition and mental development.

Reviews retrospective studies of the relationship between malnutrition and mental deficiency and examines the methodological problems involved. Procedural complications (e.g., inadequate controls, the problem of Ss' possible immobilization, and the difficulty in knowing the developmental history of Ss) are pointed out in 4 relevant studies. The ideal design for such research would be prospective (from the prenatal period), experimental (random assignment to level of nutrition and age of malnutrition), and longitudinal (at least to adolescence). Until methodological problems are corrected, the influence of malnutrition on mental development is questionable. (41 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring the fidelity of implementation of a mental health program model.

Developed a fidelity index of program implementation for assertive community treatment (ACT). In Study 1, 20 experts rated the importance of 73 elements proposed as critical ACT ingredients, also indicating ideal model specifications for elements. Agreement among experts on ratings of importance was high (intraclass r?=?.98). In Study 2, a 17-item subset of the expert-identified critical ingredients was used to construct a fidelity index with 3 subscales: Staffing, Organization, and Service. Internal consistencies ranged from .50 to .72, with a .81 reliability for the total scale. Fidelity was linearly related to program "generations," suggesting "program drift." In 18 ACT programs, fidelity also was associated with measures of reduction in days in psychiatric hospitals. The correlation was significant for the total scale and for the Organization and Staffing subscales but not for the Service subscale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Familial resemblance in infant mental development.

Compared the scores on a scale of mental development (N. Bayley) of 151 sets of 8-mo-old twins and 2,481 other sibling pairs in the Collaborative Perinatal Project. Intraclass correlation coefficients between scores of twins were high (.84, monozygotic; .55, dizygotic), suggesting a substantial genetic influence; however, the average correlation between scores of other siblings was only .22. The discrepancy between the values for dizygotic twins and other sibling pairs may have resulted from the twins' greater environmental similarity. The high heritability estimate derived from the difference between monozygotic and dizygotic correlations was due to the higher concordance for severe retardation in monozygotic pairs. It is noted that since infant twins are a unique sample in terms of retardation frequency as well as birth weight and gestational age, it may be inappropriate to generalize infant twin study results to singleton populations. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Sperry's mental model.

Argues that R. W. Sperry's (see record 1989-00022-001) mentalistic paradigm fails to undermine dualism, because it posits both mental and physical realms, as well as a universe that is both determined and free. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping strategies and mental health problems in a military unit

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of different coping styles on the development of self-reported mental health problems in a radically changing context. This was investigated, using a longitudinal design, by following soldiers from before entering service to 8 months of service. Based on their scores on the 30-item General Coping Questionnaire, soldiers were allocated to one of three groups: those whose coping styles were emotional, avoidance, or task focused. These three groups were assessed four times. The General Health Questionnaire (30-item version), Ursin's Health Inventory, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) were used as dependent measures. Avoidance-focused soldiers reported an increase in General Health Questionnaire scores over time. Furthermore, the avoidance-focused copers revealed higher scores on the AUDIT questionnaire as well as an increase in AUDIT scores over time. The present study showed that there was an interaction of personality variables and contextual factors involved. More specifically, young subjects with a preference for an avoidance-focused coping strategy are at greater risk of experiencing symptoms of mental health problems compared with task-focused and emotion-focused subjects when exposed to a radically changing environment.     

The development of a national plan for disaster mental health.

In this article, the author provides a history of the development of the national plan for disaster mental health, discusses its present state, and provides some suggestions for the future of theory, research, and practice in the field. The focus is on the provision of mental health services in the emergency phase of a disaster, rather than on the long-term follow-up. Consequently, the focus is on the American Red Cross's disaster mental health program and, to a lesser extent, the American Psychological Association's Disaster Response Network. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk and resilience in early mental development.

Examined mental development scores for 2 groups of at-risk twins throughout their childhood, those classified as small for gestational age (SGA), and those twins falling below 1,750 g birthweight. The Ss were recruited as newborns—about 30 new pairs were added each year—and the total sample included 450 pairs of twins. Ss were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at age 24 mo and the WPPSI at age 6 yrs. Results show that the SGA Ss showed only a modest deficit in IQ scores as compared to the full twin Ss, and thus these small-for-date Ss did not appear to be at special risk. The Ss below 1,750 g, however, did show a very significant deficit in IQ scores throughout childhood. When the recovery patterns were examined for this group, upper SES Ss appeared to recover completely, whereas lower SES Ss remained significantly depressed. Mother's education was significantly related to recovery from 24 mo onward, which suggests that maternal intelligence plays a prominent role in determining the level of recovery. When monozygotic Ss of markedly unequal birth weight were compared, the twins who weighed less than 1,750 g attained the same level of IQ scores at 6 yrs as did their heavier co-twins. Among these genetic replicates, the initially powerful effects of low birth weight did not exert a long-term handicapping effect on mental development. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning from text with diagrams: Promoting mental model development and inference generation.

Two experiments investigated learning outcomes and comprehension processes when students learned about the heart and circulatory system using (a) text only, (b) text with simplified diagrams designed to highlight important structural relations, or (c) text with more detailed diagrams reflecting a more accurate representation. Experiment 1 found that both types of diagrams supported mental model development, but simplified diagrams best supported factual learning. Experiment 2 replicated learning effects from Experiment 1 and tested the influence of diagrams on novices' comprehension processes. Protocol analyses indicated that both types of diagrams supported inference generation and reduced comprehension errors, but simplified diagrams most strongly supported information integration during learning. Visual representations appear to be most effective when they are designed to support the cognitive processes necessary for deep comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infants' meaning-making and the development of mental health problems.

We argue that infant meaning-making processes are a central mechanism governing both typical and pathological outcomes. Infants, as open dynamic systems, must constantly garner information to increase their complexity and coherence. They fulfill this demand by making nonverbal “meaning”—affects, movements, representations—about themselves in relation to the world and themselves into a “biopsychosocial state of consciousness,” which shapes their ongoing engagement with the world. We focus on the operation of the infant–adult communication system, a dyadic, mutually regulated system that scaffolds infants' engagement with the world of people, things, and themselves, and consequently their meaning-making. We argue that infant mental health problems emerge when the meanings infants make in the moment, which increase their complexity and coherence and may be adaptive in the short run, selectively limit their subsequent engagement with the world and, in turn, the growth of their state of consciousness in the long run. When chronic and iterative, these altered meanings can interfere with infants' successful development and heighten their vulnerability to pathological outcomes. Cultural variations in meaning-making and implications for clinical practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of auditory strategies of attention.

Investigated focused and divided attention in right-handed children in 2 age groups: 6.5–7.5 and 10–11 yrs. Ss listened to lists of simultaneous word pairs that were monitored for the presence of designated target words. An analysis of correct and incorrect response rates showed that there was a general increase in the efficiency of both attention tasks with age, although selective listening performance improved to a greater extent than divided attention. In focused attention, selecting one input and ignoring another developed at different rates. In divided attention, there was a right ear advantage that remained constant across the 2 age groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of coping strategies of aging mothers of adults with mental illness or mental retardation.

Differences in coping by 105 aging mothers of adults with mental illness and 389 similar mothers of adults with mental retardation were investigated. Although no differences in problem-focused coping were found, mothers of adults with mental illness used more emotion-focused coping, which predicted greater maternal depression. For mothers of adults with retardation, depressive symptoms were a function of their child's behavior problems, although this source of stress was buffered by coping. For mothers of adults with mental illness, depression was a function of caregiving demands, but coping did not buffer the effects of stress. Explanations for findings include maternal perceptions of the context of care, of her control over the disability, and her caregiving efficacy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applying research on family education about mental illness to development of a relatives' group consultation model

Results from a random field trial of family education interventions were applied to create a new model of family education programs. This paper reviews the family education literature, the random field trial results, and the pre-piloting of an adapted service model called group consultation. The new model emphasizes a more interactive approach to the conventional group workshop model as opposed to adherence to a pre-planned curriculum. Pre-pilot group participants were all past members of group workshops. In a process evaluation these group members were questioned about their reactions to the new group format and its usefulness.     

A componential model for mental addition.

A componential model capable of representing simple and complex forms of mental addition was proposed and then tested by using chronometric techniques. A sample of 23 undergraduate students responded to 800 addition problems in a true–false reaction time (RT) paradigm. The 800 problems comprised 200 problems of each of four types: two single-digit addends, one single- and one double-digit addend, two double-digit addends, and three single-digit addends. The results revealed that the columnwise product of addends, a structural variable consistent with a memory network retrieval process, was the best predictor of mental addition for each of the four types of problems. Importantly, the componential model allowed estimation of effects of several other structural variables, e.g., carrying to the next column and speed of encoding of digits. High levels of explained variance verified the power of the model to represent the RT data, and the stability of estimates across types of problem implied consistent component use by subjects. Implications for research on mental addition are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A mental model for early arithmetic.

Examined young children's ability to solve nonverbal calculation problems in which they must determine how many items are in a hidden array after items have been added into or taken away from it. Earlier work showed that an ability to reliably solve such problems emerges earlier than verbal calculation ability but did not examine when it first appears. The authors propose that the ability to solve such problems involves domain-general symbolic processes similar to those involved in symbolic play and the use of physical models. Hence the ability to calculate should appear at about 2 yrs and should be related to overall level of intellectual competence. The authors show that the ability to reliably solve nonverbal calculation tasks emerges only after 2 yrs of age and that performance on nonverbal calculation problems is highly related to overall level of intellectual competence in children between 3 and 4 yrs of age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emergence of collective strategies in a prey-predator game model

The emergence of collective strategies in a prey-predator system is studied. We use the term "collective" in the sense of the collective motion of defense or attack often found in behaviors of animal groups. In our prey-predator system, both prey and predators move around on a two-dimensional plane, interacting by playing a game; predators can score by touching the backside of a prey. Thresholds are assumed for the scores of both prey and predators. The species with the higher scores can reproduce more, and that with the lower scores will be diminished. As a result, strategies as collective motions are observed; these consist of rotating cluster motions, line formations, disordered but one-way marching, and random swarming. In particular, the strategy of random swarming encourages symbiosis in the sense that it is associated with a low extinction probability for the whole system.     

Needed: Metaphors for the prevention model of mental health.

Comments on the article by J. D. Coie et al (see record 1994-09654-001) regarding prevention science. It is argued that the reason that prevention science has not taken its rightful place in national research programs is that metaphors from the medical model still pervade the prevention model of mental health. Metaphors from architecture may be more helpful in generating ideas within the prevention model, because they deal with planning, working with large populations, the interaction of people and the environment, and building healthy and aesthetic surroundings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)