Modeling document classification to automate mental health diagnosis

The objective of this study is to determine if diagnosis documents can be used with document classification to automatically diagnose mental health conditions. Document classification allows text documents to be analyzed and organized into their appropriate classes based on the features and words presented in the text. One application of this is within the medical field to automatically classify different patient diagnosis based on medical or patient notes. This research applied mental health diagnosis documents to automatically diagnose a group of patients with a mental health condition based on text-based survey data. This classification was approached through several feature engineering and machine learning models to determine the optimal methods for diagnosis classification. A model was created that successfully classified diagnosis documents to their appropriate mental health condition, but due to limitation in the patient dataset, no model successfully classified patient diagnoses

An Integrative Survey on Mental Health Conversational Agents to Bridge Computer Science and Medical Perspectives

Mental health conversational agents (a.k.a. chatbots) are widely studied for their potential to offer accessible support to those experiencing mental health challenges. Previous surveys on the topic primarily consider papers published in either computer science or medicine, leading to a divide in understanding and hindering the sharing of beneficial knowledge between both domains. To bridge this gap, we conduct a comprehensive literature review using the PRISMA framework, reviewing 534 papers published in both computer science and medicine. Our systematic review reveals 136 key papers on building mental health-related conversational agents with diverse characteristics of modeling and experimental design techniques. We find that computer science papers focus on LLM techniques and evaluating response quality using automated metrics with little attention to the application while medical papers use rule-based conversational agents and outcome metrics to measure the health outcomes of participants. Based on our findings on transparency, ethics, and cultural heterogeneity in this review, we provide a few recommendations to help bridge the disciplinary divide and enable the cross-disciplinary development of mental health conversational agents.Comment: Accepted in EMNLP 2023 Main Conference, camera read

Detecting Mental Distresses Using Social Behavior Analysis in the Context of COVID-19: A Survey

Online social media provides a channel for monitoring people\u27s social behaviors from which to infer and detect their mental distresses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, online social networks were increasingly used to express opinions, views, and moods due to the restrictions on physical activities and in-person meetings, leading to a significant amount of diverse user-generated social media content. This offers a unique opportunity to examine how COVID-19 changed global behaviors regarding its ramifications on mental well-being. In this article, we surveyed the literature on social media analysis for the detection of mental distress, with a special emphasis on the studies published since the COVID-19 outbreak. We analyze relevant research and its characteristics and propose new approaches to organizing the large amount of studies arising from this emerging research area, thus drawing new views, insights, and knowledge for interested communities. Specifically, we first classify the studies in terms of feature extraction types, language usage patterns, aesthetic preferences, and online behaviors. We then explored various methods (including machine learning and deep learning techniques) for detecting mental health problems. Building upon the in-depth review, we present our findings and discuss future research directions and niche areas in detecting mental health problems using social media data. We also elaborate on the challenges of this fast-growing research area, such as technical issues in deploying such systems at scale as well as privacy and ethical concerns

IT’S ALL THE RAGE: AN ANIMATED APPROACH TO SCREENING FOR POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION

Postpartum depression presents a complication for mothers which can, in some cases, be severe and even life-threatening. Instruments commonly used to screen for this psychological condition have been challenged by an extensive body of literature, with many mothers being unidentified and even untreated for their symptoms. The presented research introduces a newly developed screening instrument for detecting probable postpartum depression using text-free scenario-based animations, based on the lived experience of the condition as qualified by empirical research and the existing body of literature. Developed items were controlled for quality via Think Aloud Protocol and alignment studies with subject matter experts (mothers and clinicians). A consequently revised version of a scale was piloted within the United States (N=433) using an online survey platform and was tested for psychometric quality. Overall, the presented studies show promise for this newly developed tool and provide ample reason to believe that using animated scenario-based items to measure the construct of postpartum depression in a screening context is a viable option for practice and a method that deserves additional research. Additional research related to the practicality of this method of assessment and its potential to increase access and fairness in receiving care for mental health conditions is needed. The development of this assessment has the potential to innovate psychological screening practices and clinical assessment for patients at large. This approach to assessment, being patient-informed and technology-based, provides promise for lowering the rate of maternal suicide, creating a common language between patients and providers, and potentially expanding the field of psychological assessment by forming ways of reaching those who have been missed by limited screening tools (i.e., historically marginalized groups). By freeing instrument development from typical protocol and grounding the entire process in the lived experience, using animation introduces an innovative method of assessing which is not only feasible, but also favored by the users themselves

The Motherhood Crusade: Rural Low-Income Mothers, Support, and Empowerment

Previous research has shown that postpartum women with untreated mental health conditions are more likely to fail to manage their own health, have inadequate nutrition, abuse substances, experience abuse, be less responsive to their baby’s needs, have fewer positive interactions with their baby, experience difficulties breastfeeding, and question their abilities as a mother. Rural culture plays a complex role in the transition to motherhood, influencing whether mothers seek out and use resources. While more is known about location and access issues, less is known about how rural culture and, more specifically, how empowerment and social support impact postpartum experience. The frameworks of Empowerment Theory, Zauszniewski’s Mid-range Theory of Resourcefulness and Quality of Life, and the Hage Framework guided the study through the concepts of support, cultural context, and empowerment. The study used a focused ethnography lens to give cultural context, and grounded theory analysis was used to understand the experiences of rural low-income mothers in Missouri. Data sources included observations of rural communities and semi-structured interviews with eighteen low-income women, the majority of whom identified as Black. Questions focused on support, wellbeing, and empowerment. From the analysis, five categories were developed: 1) “cultural context” (2) “social supports” (3) “perinatal mood” (4) “agency” and (5) “future oriented notions of contented mothering.” The mothering journey included the distinct lens through which mothers perceived experiences (cultural context), aspects of support (social supports), and the volatile landscape of the perinatal mood. Mothers discussed some degree of empowerment in the context of resourcefulness (social supports and agency), and achievement (future oriented notions of contented mothering). The new model was called Empowerment Framework for a Subculture of Rural Low-income Missouri Mothers. Future research is suggested to a) expand the understandings of immigrant postpartum mothers and their experiences in rural America and b) explore the identity journey in order to build trusting relationships and interventions post-birth

The Mental Health Impact of Intensive Mothering Ideology on Contemporary Mothers

This research explored how exposure to Intensive Mothering Ideology (IMI) may impact maternal mental health in modern mothers. Susan Hays coined the IMI term in 1996, inspiring a significant body of research around the topic which has shown that mothers generally process intensive mothering discourse contextually with consideration for unique era-specific societal challenges (Constantinou, Varela, & Buckby, 2021; Hays, 1996). To this author’s knowledge, there have been no general examinations of the impact of IMI on maternal mental health since before the outbreak of COVID-19 (though there have been a few pointed examinations of IMI in relation to the pandemic). This research aims to understand mothers’ experiences around intensive mothering discourse during the summer of 2022 (when seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted) with respect to the unique social context of that time, how IMI content was consumed, processed, and internalized, and to what extent their experiences may have impacted their psychological wellbeing. Using the Auerbach and Silverstein (2003) method, interview transcripts were methodically coded and analyzed to uncover relevant text, repeating ideas (62 total), themes (14 total), and theoretical constructs (six total which were validated through study member checks) (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003). Results showcase participant reflections on the roles that make up their identities, their values around mothering including external support systems, the pressures they feel to mother in a certain way, how they conceptualize the “ideal” mother, their relationships to social media, their experiences mothering during COVID-19, and their mental and physical wellbeing. Discussion contextualizes results within intersecting theories and sews the data together in light of these theories to craft a narrative that meaningfully represents participant experiences

Jefferson Digital Commons quarterly report: January-March 2021

This quarterly report includes: Articles Dissertations Grand Rounds and Lectures JCPH Capstone Presentations Journals and Newsletters Know Diabetes by Heart Meetings Library Resources MPH COVID-19 Infographics Posters Scholarly Inquiry Graphics The Big in Big Data Symposium What People are Saying About the Jefferson Digital Common

An evaluation of the Sure Start Widnes Trailblazer pampering group

This project report discusses an evaluation of the pampering group of the Widnes Sure Start Widnes Trailblazer programme. The pampering group is a weekly service of health and beauty tratments to parents and parents-to-be, as well as informal advice from other parents and professionals about childbirth and child rearing in order to support parents during pregnancy and a baby's first year.The report was comissioned by Sure start Widnes Trailblazer and funded by Halton Borough Council

A New Mother’s Cry: Analyzing Traditional Social Support versus Online Social Support in Relation to the Postpartum Crisis

The present study examines the gap that remains involving the transition from traditional to online social support that many mothers have participated in and how this change in communication methods during postpartum recovery may contribute to mental health disorders. This qualitative study aims to examine the differences in lived experiences among mothers regarding in-person and online forms of social support and how these experiences may impact a new mother’s mental well-being. Based on previous research, the present study hypothesizes that a more significant amount of online social support compared to in-person support will result in a detriment to a new mother’s mental well-being during postpartum recovery. The results demonstrated that online support group preferences were low, while participation was high. The opposite was also true regarding in-person social support methods. Preference levels for in-person support were high, while in-person support group participation was low. The findings indicated that informal in-person support methods were the most utilized during postpartum recovery. Additional findings demonstrated a gap that may remain regarding a new mother’s expectations of interpersonal social support and the received amount of this support method. Finally, despite positive reports regarding current support methods, mental health concerns remained prevalent among the studied population. Ultimately, the study provides endorsement for continued integration of in-person support methods during a new mother’s postpartum recovery