Mental Health Service Utilization in African American and Caucasian Mothers and Fathers

Mental health services have been routinely underutilized. This study investigated the influence of parents\u27 gender, race, and psychopathology on perceived barriers and attitudes toward mental health utilization for themselves and for their children. A unique contribution of this study is the examination of father, mother, and child factors influencing service utilization from the parents\u27 perspective. A total of 194 African American and Caucasian parents were recruited from the community to participate. Parents completed measures on barriers and attitudes toward treatment for themselves and for their children, history of mental health service utilization for themselves and for their children, and their own current psychological symptoms. Results indicated that 36.3% and 19.4% of parents and children, respectively, had used mental health services during their lifetime. Parents perceived fewer barriers and had more positive attitudes toward seeking services for their children than for themselves. Race and gender differences were found in parents\u27 perceptions of barriers and attitudes toward treatment. Furthermore, barriers, attitudes, and psychopathology predicted parents\u27 plans for future utilization of mental health services. The clinical implications of this study and directions for future research are discussed

Mental Health Service Utilization Among African American and Caucasian Mothers and Fathers

Mental health services have been routinely underutilized. This study investigated the influence of parents' gender, race, and psychopathology on perceived barriers and attitudes toward mental health utilization for themselves and for their children. A unique contribution of this study is the examination of father, mother, and child factors influencing service utilization from the parents' perspective. A total of 194 African American and Caucasian parents were recruited from the community to participate. Parents completed measures on barriers and attitudes toward treatment for themselves and for their children, history of mental health service utilization for themselves and for their children, and their own current psychological symptoms. Results indicated that 36.3% and 19.4% of parents and children, respectively, had used mental health services during their lifetime. Parents perceived fewer barriers and had more positive attitudes toward seeking services for their children than for themselves. Race and gender differences were found in parents' perceptions of barriers and attitudes toward treatment. Furthermore, barriers, attitudes, and psychopathology predicted parents' plans for future utilization of mental health services. The clinical implications of this study and directions for future research are discussed

Condom Carnival: feasibility of a novel group intervention for decreasing sexual risk

Young people who engage in unprotected sex are at risk of negative consequences. The current study explored pre-post assessment data from 124, mostly Black, young people (M age = 19.6, SD = 2.8) attending an educational and vocational training programme who participated in the Condom Carnival, a novel, brief, interactive, peer-led, culturally tailored, sexual risk reduction group intervention. Condom Carnival activities provided practice negotiating condom use and using condoms correctly, instruction on safe lubricant use, and opportunities to dispel myths regarding condom size and breakage. We examined the preliminary impact of the Condom Carnival in increasing participants’ condom-related self-efficacy, lubricant safety awareness, and condom-related behavioural intentions and behaviour likelihood. Despite previous exposure to prevention efforts, participants reported significant increases in lubricant safety awareness (p \u3c 0.001) and intentions to carry a condom in the next year (Z = −2.05, p = 0.04). Although participants reported high condom-related self-efficacy and intentions to use a condom, only three-quarters of young people endorsed intentions to always carry a condom. Findings indicate the need to explore the gap between intentions to use and carry condoms and to develop effective strategies to increase condom carrying among young people. Further assessment of the Condom Carnival as an add-on intervention to enhance sexual risk reduction efforts among youth is warranted

Going Above and Beyond: Exemplar Diversity Training in Pediatric Psychology

Diversity and health disparities have been highlighted as 1 of the 10 core crosscutting knowledge competencies for pediatric psychology training. Specifics about the actual implementation and integration of diversity training across various types of pediatric psychology programs are largely unknown. We surveyed program directors of graduate and predoctoral internship programs listed on the Society of Pediatric Psychology website (N = 103) about their diversity training experiences that went above and beyond what is typically required (e.g., graduate courses, continuing education). We received responses from 23 programs; 14 of these programs reported having expanded diversity training primarily at the readiness for practice (n = 15) level, followed by readiness for practicum (n = 5) and readiness for graduate school (n = 2) levels. Seven programs had diversity training that spanned more than 1 training level. We provided in-depth descriptions of exemplar diversity training at 5 programs spanning multiple training levels. Institutions aiming to integrate diversity programming into their training, with the goal of meeting recommended guidelines, can use this article as a practical guide. Future studies exploring the impact of integrated diversity training and impact on students at varying developmental levels are needed

Developmental Assets, Defiance, and Caregiver Communication among Black Adolescents with High Body Weights

Families facing significant stressors may be particularly vulnerable to less adaptive adolescent-caregiver communication, which can foster adolescent oppositional defiant behaviors (ODB). Black adolescents with high body weights (i.e., Body Mass Index [BMI] ≥ 95th percentile) face a myriad of intrapersonal and interpersonal stressors. However, the developmental assets model suggests that adolescent assets (i.e., positive characteristics and resources) may disrupt negative associations between risk factors and negative outcomes. The present study uses a strengths-based approach to assess whether adolescent assets strengthen or weaken the relation between adolescent ODB and adolescent-caregiver communication among Black adolescents with high body weights. Black youth aged 11–17 years and one of their primary caregivers (N = 64, 32 adolescent–caregiver dyads) were recruited from a healthy lifestyle clinic at a Midsouth pediatric hospital. Youth completed in-person interviews, while caregivers completed questionnaires assessing adolescent ODB, adolescent assets, and adolescent–caregiver communication. Two moderation models were conducted to examine associations between ODB and communication, with adolescent assets as a moderator, based on adolescent- and caregiver-report, respectively. The adolescent moderation model was significant, and the interaction between ODB and assets was significantly associated with communication. In the caregiver moderation model, the interaction effect was nonsignificant. Overall, assets were associated with adaptive adolescent–caregiver communication and acted as a buffer among Black adolescents with high body weights. Study findings highlight the potential value of strengths-based interventions among adolescent–caregiver dyads in which challenging communication or behavior exist

The Differential Effects of Perceived Social Support on Adolescent Hope: Testing the Moderating Effects of Age and Gender

In an effort to deepen our understanding of the development of one future-oriented psychological strength, hope, we examined how multiple sources of perceived social support (i.e., parent, teacher, classmate, friend) predicted hope and if these relations were moderated by age and gender in adolescents across a 1-year time span. Our sample was composed of adolescents in middle and high schools with ages ranging from 10 to 19 years old (Mage = 14.19, SD = 2.05) living in the United States (N = 991). The results showed that perceived social support from parents significantly predicted later hope in adolescents, and this relation was moderated by age but not gender. Specifically, the effect of perceived social support from parents on later hope declined as age increased. Perceived social support from teachers, classmates, and friends did not predict later hope, after controlling for baseline hope and race; neither age nor gender moderated the relation between these sources of social support and hope. These findings suggest that it is necessary to consider the developmental needs associated with ages within adolescence when promoting adolescents’ hope, especially in the family context. Future directions to extend the understanding of hope development and implications of the findings in mental health practices are discussed

Associations between spirituality and mental health in women exposed to adversity.

Urban women of color are at risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Both IPV and HIV are individually associated with negative psychological outcomes and spirituality has sometimes been linked to positive outcomes in the context of these adversities. Guided by syndemic theory, 155 women who were exposed to recent IPV and/or were living with HIV were interviewed for the present study. Women were recruited from community organizations in the United States Midsouth, serving survivors of IPV or individuals living with HIV. Hierarchical multiple regression with interaction terms was used to examine associations between demographics, HIV status, IPV severity, spirituality, and mental health symptomology (an average score of depressive, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms). The moderating effect of spirituality on the association between adversity (i.e., HIV and IPV) and mental health symptomology was also examined. Results revealed that women who were both living with HIV and experiencing severe IPV had greater mental health symptomology. Findings also revealed that spirituality moderated the HIV interaction, such that among women living with HIV high spirituality was associated with greater mental health symptomology. However, among women not living with HIV, higher spirituality was associated with lower mental health symptomology. Results of an IPV by spirituality and three-way interaction were not significant. Findings contribute to the literature by highlighting how spirituality is differentially associated with mental health among women exposed to adversity, suggesting the need for future research on how components of spirituality may relate to mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved