Mediators of change in the stigmatization of depression among Caucasian and Asian populations

Public stigma negatively impacts public health by discouraging people with depression from seeking help. In North America, Asians reliably report higher levels of stigma and lower levels of help-seeking than do Caucasians. The reasons for this discrepancy and possible methods of reducing this have, however, rarely been explored. In Study 1, undergraduate students (n = 573) completed several questionnaires related to public stigma, values and ideological beliefs, attitudes and beliefs regarding people with depression and perceived norms. At least one week afterward, participants completed the second part of Study 1, where they were presented with contrived articles highlighting a biological cause for depression, a contextual causal for depression, or hope for recovery from depression, or were assigned to a control condition. Asian participants reported higher levels of stigma and increased desired social distance from people with depression compared to Caucasian participants. This difference was mediated by perceived norms, social dominance orientation, conservatism, and the belief that people with depression brings shame to their families. The articles presented were largely ineffective in reducing stigma or desired social distance. In Study 2, undergraduate students (n = 287), were presented with one of four anti-stigma videos with two actresses portraying a student with depression and a professor, respectively. The videos used the concept of social proof to effect change and presented either positive or negative descriptive norms. All videos were effective in reducing preferred social distance towards people with depression relative to the control condition for Asians, but not Caucasians. The effectiveness of the positive descriptive norm video was mediated through perceived norms, empathy, and self-efficacy. The effectiveness of the negative norm video was mediated through perceived norms and empathy only. Differences in preferred social distance between Asian and Caucasian participants were no longer significant. The findings can help guide interventions encouraging social engagement with people with depression among Asian student populations. Manipulating social norms and increasing self-efficacy may be especially effective, while changing attitudes may be less important in an Asian student population

IMPACT OF TELEWORK ON THE PERCEIVED WORK ENVIRONMENT OF OLDER WORKERS

Telework has become a natural part of regular work life of employees who use the information communication technology (ICT). Telework has a potential to support postponing retirement for mental workers. The objective of this research was to find out interaction between senior employees’ teleworking and well-being. The main research question was – can telework improve elderly employees’ well-being? Over 100 respondents from different areas in mental work were involved in a quantitative survey. The results of a conducted survey showed that telework is exaggerated to some extent as teleworkers’ well-being (M=7.79; SD=1.28) does not diverge from non-teleworkers’ well-being (M=7.75; SD=1.40). However, telework can be neither underestimated nor taken as interchangeable with traditional work. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to telework as a different way of working with its specialties. Systematic approach to telework enables companies to employ elderly by providing diversity of work forms.JEL Codes - J14, J26, J2

The impact of schizophrenia on patients and key relatives: a social cognitive approach

The impact of severe mental illness on the individual and their family can be substantial. In addition to living with the vagaries of a condition that can be of unpredictable duration and severity, individuals and their families may also have to live with public perceptions that can be devaluing, discriminatory or indeed hostile. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of severe mental illness on the individual and their key relatives using a social cognitive perspective. Chapter 1 provides a review of the mechanisms and consequences of stigma and discrimination in severe mental illness, and explores ideas for intervention that are predicated upon empirical research findings. Chapter 2 examines the pattern of desynchrony between lay representations of severe mental illness held by individuals, their carers, and a sample of the general public. It also highlights the association between aspects of perceived stigma and divergent patient-parent representations of schizophrenia. Chapter 3 adopts a self-regulation theory approach to distress in the relatives of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and concludes that aspects of the self-regulation approach, (perceptions of psychosis, coping, and primary appraisals) have some utility as a framework to understand distress in the carers of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Finally, chapter 4 reflects on the research process and discusses the development and course of the research. It also provides some further reflections by participants on the experience of severe mental illness

Evidence-based service modules for a sustained home visiting program

The Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the Royal Children’s Hospital has undertaken two literature reviews to inform the design of a sustained home visiting program for vulnerable families with young children; the program is now known as \u27right@home\u27. This project is being led by a collaboration between three organisations: The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), CCCH, and the University of New South Wales. The first literature review undertaken by CCCH (Sustained home visiting for vulnerable families and children: A review of effective programs (McDonald et al., 2012) (hereon in referred to as the Home visiting review of effective programs) sought to answer the question ‘what works in home visiting programs?’ The conclusion reached was that it was not possible to answer the question definitively, either because the evidence regarding the ‘components’ of home visiting programs is contradictory or contested, or the evidence is not available. As the home visiting review of effective programs focused on what was delivered (ie. the efficacy of different manualised programs), rather than how services were delivered (ie. the effect of the manner in which services were delivered and the nature of the relationships established between service providers and parents), a second literature review was undertaken: Sustained home visiting for vulnerable families and children: A literature review of effective processes and strategies (Moore et al., 2012) (hereon in referred to as the Home visiting review of effective processes and strategies). The home visiting review of effective processes and strategies identified converging evidence from a number of sources to support the idea that the process aspects of service delivery matter for outcomes – how services are provided is as important as what is provided. A number of key elements of effective service delivery processes have been repeatedly identified in the research literature and these represent the threshold features or bedrock on which all services should be based: if services are not delivered in accordance with these process features, then efforts to change people’s behaviour will be less effective (Moore et al., 2012). The evidence also indicated that the identification of goals, and of strategies to achieve these goals, needs to be done in partnership with parents. However, while the ultimate choice of strategies should be made by parents, the strategies on offer used must be evidence-based. Therefore, service providers should be able to draw on a suite of evidence-based strategies to address the range of challenges that parents face in caring for their children (Moore et al., 2012). In the light of the findings of this second literature review, it was decided that the right@home home visiting program would not involve the delivery of a manualised program. Rather, service delivery would be based on the processes of effective engagement and partnership, while the content of the program would take two forms: standard modules that are delivered to all participants, and e.g. information on the stages of child development), and evidence-based ‘service modules’ (i.e. specific strategies) that could be deployed to address issues that are of particular concern to individual parents.  Related identifer: ISSN 2204-340

Glossary of Recreation Therapy and Occupational Therapy

This glossary of recreation therapy and occupational therapy terms is meant to serve as a study guide for students and a reference book for practitioners. It may also be a valuable aid to those preparing for comprehensive examinations, such as national certification exams or graduate school comprehensive exams

End-of-life caregiving

Over the past decade, changes in health, economic, and social policies have shifted the dying process out of hospitals and into the community. This exploratory,hypothesis-generating study investigated positive and negative caregiving as well as care management resources of community-based end-of-life caregivers and how they related to caregivers' personal growth following the death of the care receiver.Retrospective, cross-sectional survey data were collected from 144 respondents in Lane County, Oregon who reported having provided care for at least one terminally ill person. Data were analyzed using an adapted stress process conceptual framework.Factor analyses determined whether internally consistent measures could be obtained from two new indices related to end-of-life care: a caregiving inventory and a care management resource index. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis examined the mediational relationships between care management resources and positive and negative caregiving in predicting personal growth of end-of-life caregivers following bereavement.Factor analyses verified that the investigator-developed caregiving inventory was comprised of two conceptually distinct factors, negative caregiving and positive caregiving, and the care management resource index was comprised of a single factor,care management resources. Factor scores were generated as a last step in factor analyses. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was then undertaken with personal growth as the dependent variable. Control variables (age, gender, ethnicity, education,income, and level of caregiving) were entered first, the care management factor score was entered next, and the positive and negative caregiving factor scores were entered last. As predicted, higher levels of care management resources were associated with more positive caregiving and higher levels of positive caregiving were associated with greater personal growth. There was no relationship between negative caregiving and personal growth, nor was negative caregiving related to care management resources.The regression analysis did not support a mediational model.Results from this study add to the evidence that positive and negative aspects of caregiving should be treated separately and demonstrate the influence of positive perceptions of end-of-life caregiving experiences on long-term bereavement outcomes.Findings suggest the value of interventions designed to promote and enhance positive aspects of the end-of-life caregiving experience.Keywords: personal growth, bereavement, end-of-life, positive caregiving, caregivin

Students' empathy and classroom climate as predictors of attitudes towards immigrants: a case study in three EU countries

The development of positive attitudes towards immigrants among students can be addressed at the individual level through their empathic abilities and at the school or classroom level, where the classroom climate plays an important role.In the present study, we have taken a closer look into the relationship between attitudes towards immigrants, two components of empathy (perspective taking, empathic concern), quality of student-teacher relations (both positiveand negative) and inclusive classroom climate(presented as perceived intercultural sensitivity of teachers) in a sample of 814 8th-grade students in three EU countries (Slovenia, Croatia, and Sweden). The findings showonlyempathy (especially perspective taking) was associated with better attitudes towards immigrantsin all three countries. Additionally, in two out of three countries, the importance of the relationship with teachers and inclusiveclassroomclimate was important as well. The results are discussed in the light of guidelines for school practice

The Role of TikTok in Students’ Health and Wellbeing

Students are exposed to various academic, financial and psychosocial stressors while studying at a university, and have increasingly turned to social media to alleviate stress and access social support. While evidence suggests that social networking sites may promote health awareness and health-protective behaviours, little research has explored TikTok, a relatively new platform with over 800 million active users. Seven university students (6 females, 1 non-binary; all White British; mean age = 20.57) were interviewed about their experiences on TikTok, their motivations behind using it and its effects on their psychological wellbeing. A thematic analysis of this data revealed that while TikTok use temporarily relieved academic stress, it also encouraged addictive behaviour and upward social comparisons. These differential effects were largely mediated by TikTok’s algorithm, which recommended content based on users’ previous interactions

PREDICTING COLLEGE ADAPTATION AMONG STUDENTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES

The number of college students with psychiatric disabilities has been growing steadily in higher education in recent years. Most of these students choose not to disclose their mental health conditions and do not register with disability services. Thus, little is known about the subjective experiences of these students in their college lives. This study seeks to identify college students with psychiatric disabilities and to explore the factors predicting college adaptation among these students. Participants in the study were 292 college students with psychiatric disabilities who completed at least one semester in a large mid-Atlantic University. Participants completed an on-line survey of college adaptation, internalized stigma, social supports, and coping strategies. With hierarchical multiple regression analyses, results of the study suggest that internalized stigma of mental illness has significant relationships with college adaptation. Supports from different sources may play different roles in adaptation to college. Family support was found to be associated with academic adjustment and personal-emotional adjustment, while support from friends was significantly related to better social adjustment and attachment. Use of coping strategies was also found to be predictive of college adaptation. Greater use of seeking support and less use of venting and self-distraction are associated with better academic adjustment. Particularly, self-blame coping was negatively related to all three types of psychosocial adaptation. The current study suggests that interventions that reduce internalized stigma and increase use of effective coping strategies should be developed and implemented in college. Collaboration among special educators in middle schools, families, and college disability services staff is also addressed. Finally, efforts should be made to create services that meet students' needs and increase their willingness to understand and use available resources