Development and validation of the illness perceptions questionnaire for youth anxiety and depression (IPQ-Anxiety and IPQ-Depression)

Background: The Revised Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (IPQ-R) is a well-established measure for measuring illness representations with sound psychometric properties. However, one limitation is that it provides a generic measure of illness representations and lacks specificity to individual health conditions, making it difficult to capture the nuances of illness beliefs for different populations. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop reliable and valid versions of the IPQ-R for young people with anxiety and depression to better understand how they perceive and cognitively represent the course, severity, impact, and treatability of their anxiety and depression. Methods: This mixed-methods study consisted of a qualitative study, involving semi-structured interviews (n = 26) followed by think-aloud interviews (n = 13), and a quantitative study (n = 349), resulting in the development of the IPQ-Anxiety (IPQ-A) and IPQDepression (IPQ-D). Item development is reported, along with the psychometric properties of the measures. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the IPQ-A and IPQ-D with the Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (B-IPQ) across equivalent dimensions. Results: Results suggest that the IPQ-A, IPQ-D, B-IPQ-A and B-IPQ-D are valid and reliable tools for measuring mental illness representations. The measures show acceptable model fit, high factor loadings, and good to excellent internal consistency, test – retest reliability across subscales and concurrent validity with mental health measures. Conclusions: The development of these measures represents an important step in the field of youth mental health by providing the opportunity for reliable assessment of young people’s conceptualisations of their anxiety and depression. Better understanding of young people’s illness beliefs has the potential to open a range of intervention possibilities by prioritising illness perceptions over the supposed objective condition severity and trajectory

Development and validation of the illness perceptions questionnaire for youth anxiety and depression (IPQ-Anxiety and IPQ-Depression)

Background: The Revised Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (IPQ-R) is a well-established measure for measuring illness representations with sound psychometric properties. However, one limitation is that it provides a generic measure of illness representations and lacks specificity to individual health conditions, making it difficult to capture the nuances of illness beliefs for different populations. Objective: The aim of this study was to develop reliable and valid versions of the IPQ-R for young people with anxiety and depression to better understand how they perceive and cognitively represent the course, severity, impact, and treatability of their anxiety and depression. Methods: This mixed-methods study consisted of a qualitative study, involving semi-structured interviews (n = 26) followed by think-aloud interviews (n = 13), and a quantitative study (n = 349), resulting in the development of the IPQ-Anxiety (IPQ-A) and IPQ-Depression (IPQ-D). Item development is reported, along with the psychometric properties of the measures. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the IPQ-A and IPQ-D with the Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (B-IPQ) across equivalent dimensions. Results: Results suggest that the IPQ-A, IPQ-D, B-IPQ-A and B-IPQ-D are valid and reliable tools for measuring mental illness representations. The measures show acceptable model fit, high factor loadings, and good to excellent internal consistency, test – retest reliability across subscales and concurrent validity with mental health measures. Conclusions: The development of these measures represents an important step in the field of youth mental health by providing the opportunity for reliable assessment of young people’s conceptualisations of their anxiety and depression. Better understanding of young people’s illness beliefs has the potential to open a range of intervention possibilities by prioritising illness perceptions over the supposed objective condition severity and trajectory

Social Movement Response to State Framing Activity: The Influence of State Frames in the Anti-SOPA Movement

Honors (Bachelor's)SociologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120583/1/isaaclev.pd

Potential Harms from Emphasizing Individual Factors Over Structural Factors in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Stigmatized Groups

Experiences of oppression and stigma contribute to poor mental health among a wide variety of marginalized groups. Examples in the United States are not sparse. Race-based discrimination is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes among African Americans (Mays et al., 2007; Soto et al., 2011). Exposure to interpersonal victimization, structural discrimination, and negative social attitudes are all associated with poorer mental health among LGBTQ+ youth (Russell & Fish, 2016). On college campuses, women and LGBTQ+ individuals are the most likely to be the victims of sexual assault, which can have severe consequences for mental health (Campbell et al., 2009; Carey et al., 2018; Ford & Soto-Marquez, 2016). Multiple overlapping stigmatized identities confer additional risk (Seng et al., 2012). While oppression and stigma impact the mental health of individuals, their causes are structural (e.g., cultural norms, public policies). This poses a challenge for cognitive behavioral therapists who seek to help clients affected by oppression and stigma, as the ultimate cause of the clients’ problems are largely not within the control of either the client or the therapist. Generally speaking, cognitive behavioral therapists approach this challenging presentation by focusing on the individual-level factors that are in the client’s control (e.g., a client’s appraisal of an experience of discrimination, or how a client copes with experiences of victimization). Moreover, cognitive behavioral therapists strive to do this in a culturally responsive way (e.g., by validating the client’s experiences of discrimination; Hays, 2009). In keeping with this approach, cognitive behavioral practitioners have developed interventions that effectively treat distress and mental illness in stigmatized groups (e.g., Pachankis et al., 2015; Williams et al., 2022), and have adapted evidence-based practices for work with these groups (e.g., the adaptation of cognitive restructuring described by Graham et al., 2013). However, there may still be ways that the individual-level focus inherent to cognitive behavioral therapy leads to unintended consequences for clients—even when it is applied in a culturally responsive manner. In this article, we outline some potential harms that could result from (over-)focusing on individual-level factors in cognitive behavioral therapy with oppressed groups. First, we review current knowledge of stigma processes, and how this knowledge is reflected in current cognitive behavioral approaches. Then, we outline potential unintended harms that could result from focusing on individual-level factors over structural factors in cognitive behavioral therapy with stigmatized groups. Finally, we discuss future directions for research and practice that can examine and, if necessary, remedy these harms

Secondary Effects of Body Dissatisfaction Interventions on Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: Depression is a leading cause of disability among adolescents, yet existing treatments are variably effective, suggesting needs to identify novel intervention targets. Body dissatisfaction (BD) may be a promising, but understudied, target: BD is common among adolescents; prospectively associated with future depression; and modifiable through intervention. BD interventions are typically evaluated in terms of impacts on eating disorders, but many trials also measure depression-related secondary outcomes. However, BD intervention effects on depression have not been systematically examined. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis to estimate secondary effects of BD interventions on depression symptoms and related outcomes in adolescents (ages 12-19). Method: Our systematic review included RCTs published between January 2006-December 2020. Across-group effect sizes were analyzed using robust variance estimation. Pre-registered methods, data, and analytic code are available at https://osf.io/734n8/. Results: The meta-analysis included thirteen RCTs, 50 effect sizes, and 6,962 participants. BD interventions led to significant post-intervention reductions in depression-related outcomes versus control conditions (g = -.19 at post-intervention, 95% CI -.07, -.31, p = .005). No evidence emerged for moderators of this meta-analytic effect. Discussion: Overall, BD-focused interventions significantly reduced adolescent depression, with mean post-intervention effect sizes comparable to those observed for interventions targeting depression explicitly. Results are bolstered by pre-registered methods and robustness checks. Limitations include a lack of data on participants’ sexual and gender identities and a significant risk of bias in the underlying literature. Future research on BD interventions should measure depression symptom severity as a secondary outcome