The Influence of Previous Traumatic Experiences on Haitian Child Refugees\u27 Conceptualization of Fear

This study investigates how children\u27s experiences as Haitian refugees influence the development of atypical childhood fears. Eighteen child refugees were interviewed about their personal primary fear objects and their interpretation of fear in a series of drawing and picture observation exercises. Five of these eighteen children were Haitian refugees. Each of the refugee children had one adult representative who was interviewed about the child, the family\u27s demographic information, and the child\u27s previous traumatic experiences in his/her native country. The refugee children and their adult representatives\u27 responses to the interview questions were coded and analyzed according to themes. Results suggest that Haitian refugee children have a higher rate of moderately life-threatening and life-threatening previous traumatic experiences. Results also indicate that the majority of Haitian refugee children reported amphibians as their primary fear objects, suggesting that the geographic location and characteristics of Haiti contribute to the development of Haitian children\u27s primary fear objects. While animal and imaginary/cultural creatures may be the most prominently identified and interpreted Haitian fear, Haitian refugee children may interpret more life-threatening fears when prompted by the image of a child under a tree

Global Collaborative Team Performance for the Revision of the International Classification of Diseases: A Case Study of the World Health Organization Field Studies Coordination Group

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Background/Objective: Collaborative teamwork in global mental health presents unique challenges, including the formation and management of international teams composed of multicultural and multilingual professionals with different backgrounds in terms of their training, scientific expertise, and life experience. The purpose of the study was to analyze the performance of the World Health Organization (WHO) Field Studies Coordination Group (FSCG) using an input-processes-output (IPO) team science model to better understand the team's challenges, limitations, and successes in developing the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Method: We thematically analyzed a collection of written texts, including FSCG documents and open-ended qualitative questionnaires, according to the conceptualization of the input-processes-output model of team performance. Results: The FSCG leadership and its members experienced and overcame numerous barriers to become an effective international team and to successfully achieve the goals set forth by WHO. Conclusions: Research is necessary regarding global mental health collaboration to understand and facilitate international collaborations with the goal of contributing to a deeper understanding of mental health and to reduce the global burden of mental disorders around the world

Predictors of Dissertation Publication in Clinical and Counseling Psychology

A doctoral dissertation constitutes a student's original research and a novel contribution to scientific knowledge. Yet, few psychology dissertations, particularly in professional subfields, are published in the peer-reviewed literature, and the reasons for this are unclear. The present study investigated student, advisor, and doctoral program variables that might predict dissertation publication in professional psychology. Using a stratified random cohort sample of 169 PhD dissertations in clinical and counseling psychology, we conducted exhaustive searches to determine whether dissertation studies were published in peer-reviewed journals within 0-7 years following their completion. Logistic regression models were estimated to test whether dissertation publication was predicted by student and advisor prior research productivity, dissertation length, and doctoral program's training emphasis, accreditation status, and subfield. Results indicated that dissertations that were supervised by more research-productive advisors and that were relatively brief (<180 pages) were significantly more likely to be published in peer-reviewed journals. No other predictors were significant. Results are discussed with regard to implications for training and mentorship. Faculty advisors who publish frequently might be more likely to attract research-oriented students, to mentor students in preparing a publishable dissertation, and/or to encourage students to publish their dissertation research. By systematically promoting research dissemination as part of doctoral research training, graduate programs and faculty mentors in clinical and counseling psychology could help facilitate students' sharing their dissertation findings with the scientific community. Public Significance Statement One part of becoming a clinical or counseling psychologist involves completing a doctoral dissertation, or an original research study aimed to fill a gap in scientific knowledge. Unfortunately, most of the knowledge gained by dissertation research is left to sit on the shelf rather than being shared with other scientists, professionals, and the public where it can more readily benefit society. Investigating several possible reasons why this is the case, the present study found that dissertation research is more likely to be published in peer-reviewed journals when the students writing those dissertations have research-productive mentors and when the documents themselves are not extremely long

Readiness for mHealth interventions in Jordan: Refugee camp and urban community survey

Jordan hosts one of the largest populations of refugees in the world. This study evaluated the capacity, infrastructure, and interest in mobile health interventions to address unmet mental health needs among refugees and non-refugees in Jordan. We surveyed 209 (141 refugees) adults and youth in urban, rural, and refugee camp settings. Survey results indicated that mobile device ownership was lower among refugees than non-refugees (71 % vs. 100 %, respectively). Refugee phone users had less access to smartphones than non-refugees (75 % vs. 96 %, respectively). Refugees and non-refugees reported using mobile devices for diverse activities including calling (83 % vs. 100 %, respectively), texting (28 % vs. 87 %, respectively) social media (45 % vs. 94 %, respectively), watching videos (23 % vs. 90 %, respectively), and studying (34 % vs. 72 %, respectively). Most respondents had reliable access to electricity (75 % vs. 99 %, respectively) and to mobile-cellular service (67 % vs. 97 %, respectively). Refugees and non-refugees differed substantially in their access to WiFi (14 % vs. 91 %, respectively). Both groups identified anger, anxiety, depression, traumatic memories, and eating problems as the most common mental health problems in their communities. Approximately half of refugees (44 %) and non-refugees (50 %) reported that their communities had insufficient or no access to mental health resources. Most refugees (78 %) and non-refugee (87 %) believed that using mobile devices to provide support for people with mental health conditions would be helpful. Overall, both groups' reported access to mobile technologies and openness to digital mental health treatment options suggest that mHealth interventions may be feasible and welcomed in these communities

Taxonomy and utility in the diagnostic classification of mental disorders

Objective One strategy for improving the clinical utility of mental health diagnostic systems is to better align them with how clinicians conceptualize psychopathology in practice. This approach was used in International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD‐11) development, but its underlying assumption—a link between taxonomic “fit” and clinical utility—remains untested. Methods Using data from global mental health clinician samples (combined N = 5404), we investigated the association between taxonomic fit and clinical utility in mental disorder categories. Results The overall association between fit and utility was positive (r = 0.19) but statistically not different from zero (95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.06, 0.43) in this small sample (N = 39 ICD/DSM categories). However, a positive association became clear after correcting for outliers (r = 0.34 [0.05, 0.58] or higher). Further insights were apparent for specific diagnoses given their locations in the scatterplot. Conclusions Results suggest a positive link between taxonomic fit and clinical utility in mental disorder diagnoses, highlighting future research directions

Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychology: Insights and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has presented a variety of challenges to the provision of psychology services. In the first month of the pandemic, pediatric consultation-liaison (CL) psychologists reported significant changes in methodology of service delivery (Steinberg et al. in Clin Pract Pediatr Psychol 9:1, 2020). To better understand how and if these changes persisted, as well as other emerging trends, a follow-up study examined changes and challenges six months into the pandemic. An anonymous questionnaire assessed topics related to pediatric CL psychology including practice changes, perception of changes, and institutional support. The questionnaire was sent to the APA Society of Pediatric Society's special interest group listservs. Thirty responses were analyzed. Quantitative results showed participants' beliefs that telemedicine is equally efficacious to in-person services for outpatient psychological care, but less effective for inpatient care. Participants reported their perception of how institutions supported their safety, psychology trainee safety and training goals, and patient care. Qualitative results demonstrated that most psychologists experienced changes related to their dynamics with medical teams, which included changes in team efficiency, workload, transition, and team collaboration