Promotion of Sexual Health and Sexual Responsibility in Women’s Health and Men’s Health Magazines

This study analyzed the promotion of sexual health and sexual responsibility in Women’s Health and Men’s Health magazines as characterized by the Surgeon General’s Call to Action along with sexual health objectives targeted by Healthy People 2020 and sexual healthy behavior outcomes established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This study also identified the most frequently addressed sexual health topics included in Women’s Health and Men’s Health. Two coders conducted a content analysis of a total of 599 articles from 64 issues (32 Women’s Health and 32 Men’s Health) published between January 2009 and November 2012. More than half of all articles addressing sexual health were found to promote sexual health (57 %). Promotion of sexual responsibility was rare with variables such as ensuring that pregnancy occurs only when desired, recognition and tolerance for diversity, limiting the number of sexual partners, and using birth control consistently each mentioned in <3 % of articles in this study sample. Among topics coded, improving sex life (29 %), what men like (19 %), and what women like (18 %) were the most common in Women’s Health while What women like (46 %), improving sex life (27 %), and other men’s sexual health (16 %) were the most frequent topics in Men’s Health. Among the least common topics mentioned were homosexuality (0.16 %) and HIV/AIDS (0.33 %). No articles addressed rape or dating violence.     

Health promotion--science or ideology?

This article is the author's American Psychological Association Division 38 Presidential Address, which was delivered at the 1987 APA meetings. It challenges health psychologists to be wary of becoming zealots in health promotion activities without continuing to recognize that health promotion programs should be anchored in sound science. This is discussed in terms of the biomedical research support for a recommended health practice or in terms of the psycho-socio-behavioral research support for techniques applied or advocated in intervention programs. To illustrate this problem in health promotion, the research foundations for recommendations of cholesterol control programs and the "Say No to Drugs" campaigns are explored. Other concerns relating to the appropriate role for the health psychologist in health promotion activities are also discussed.     

Mothers’ Mental Health Treatment Associated with Greater Adolescent Mental Health Service Use for Depression

Despite concerns surrounding depression in adolescence and the existence of effective treatments, adolescent depression often goes untreated. In 2014, only 41.2% of adolescents experiencing a major depressive episode (MDE) received mental health treatment. Parents play a key role in adolescents’ treatment utilization. We examined whether among mothers with any mental illness, mothers’ utilization of mental health treatment was associated with greater likelihood of their adolescent children who experienced an MDE receiving mental health treatment. Using nationally representative data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2008–2014), we performed logistic regression analysis to model the odds of adolescents (aged 12 to 17 years) with a past year MDE receiving any mental health treatment in the past year as a function of their mothers’ mental health treatment utilization in the past year, adjusting for control variables. The rate of adolescent treatment utilization was 66% when mothers had utilized treatment, as compared to 45% when mothers did not utilize treatment (p?<?0.001). The odds of an adolescent with an MDE receiving mental health treatment were two times greater when the mother received mental health treatment as compared to adolescents whose mothers did not receive any mental health treatment (OR?=?2.09, 95% CI [1.04, 4.17]). There was no effect of adolescent gender (OR?=?1.15, 95% CI [0.40, 3.28]) or interaction between gender and mothers’ treatment (OR?=?0.95, 95% CI [0.26, 3.46]). Barriers to adolescent mental health treatment may be lower when mothers receive mental health treatment.     

Buddhists’ Religious and Health Practices

A web survey of Buddhists’ religious practices and beliefs, and health history and practices was conducted with 886 Buddhist respondents. Eighty-two percent were residents of the USA. Ninety-nine percent practiced Buddhist meditation and 70% had attended a formal retreat for intensive meditation practice. Eighty-six percent were converts to Buddhism and had been a Buddhist for a median of 9 years. Sixty-eight percent of respondents rated their health as very good or excellent. A one-point increase on a Buddhist Devoutness Index was associated with a 15% increase in the odds of being a non-smoker and an 11% increase in the odds of being in good to excellent health.     

Ethnic Differences in Children’s Entry into Public Mental Health Care via Emergency Mental Health Services

For children and youth making a mental health crisis visit, we investigated ethnic disparities in whether the children and youth were currently in treatment or whether this crisis visit was an entry or reentry point into mental health treatment. We gathered Medicaid claims for mental health services provided to 20,110 public-sector clients ages 17 and younger and divided them into foster care and non-foster care subsamples. We then employed logistic regression to analyze our data with sociodemographic and clinical controls. Among children and youth who were not placed in foster care, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans were significantly less likely than Caucasians to have received mental health care during the three months preceding a crisis visit. Disparities among children and youth in foster care were not statistically significant. Ethnic minority children and youth were more likely than Caucasians to use emergency care as an entry or reentry point into the mental health treatment, thereby exhibiting a crisis-oriented pattern of care.     

Does Life Satisfaction Determine Subjective Health?

The majority of previous studies on life satisfaction and health status were conducted in the advanced developed countries, while less attention has been focused on transitional countries, especially those in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Balkans. This study is among a very few studies that focused on the regions which faced on the prolonged economic and political crisis during the transition. Drawing on comparable data from 28 transitional countries in Eastern and Central Europe, the Caucasus, the Central Asia, and Turkey, we quantify the effect of self-reported life satisfaction on the self-reported health status of the population. To rule out reverse causality and to reduce estimation biases, we employed simultaneous equation models with instrumental variables. Two models used standard simultaneous equation regression (2SLS) and bivariate ordered probit regression (bioprobit) for categorical ordered variables. Our main finding is that, regardless of the model used, higher levels of life satisfaction determine higher health status. The mechanisms regarding the effects of life satisfaction on health are discussed. Future researchers are encouraged to include life satisfaction in their analyses of health status. From a methodological standpoint, we demonstrate that a strong endogeneity exists between life satisfaction and health status, regardless of the models used. Ignoring endogeneity and estimating a single stage regression model with life satisfaction and health status will likely lead to biased results.     

Job’s Story and Family Health

This paper examines the book of Job for encoded psychological meaning. Its main conclusion is that the story imagery expresses a need to rectify fatherly and parental oblivion for a child who is the object of the destructive envy of a sibling. A family dynamic is constructed from the story’s repeated emphasis of Job’s blamelessness and the story’s position that Satan both proposes and causes Job’s sufferings. The emergent family model sees Job as representing a son, Satan an envious rival, and God a father or parent(s). This paper proposes that Job’s story may be reactive to a period where male authority was at risk of becoming excessive, threatening family and community health.

Public Health Asks of Community Psychology…

As the field of public health has increasingly recognized the social and behavioral aspects of the changing epidemiology of diseases and injuries, it has added social and behavioral scientists to the faculties of schools of public health and most federal and state public health agencies. Community psychology can play a crucial role in helping to bridge the dominant psychological theories with the family and community contexts in which individuals are conditioned and reinforced in their tendencies toward violent behavior. Public health asks of community psychology a helping hand in bridging the clinical endpoints of most NIH-sponsored behavioral research with the community endpoints of most CDC-sponsored programs such as injury control.     

Why Does Disaster Recovery Work Influence Mental Health?: Pathways through Physical Health and Household Income

Disaster recovery work increases risk for mental health problems, yet the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. We explored links from recovery work to post‐traumatic stress (PTS), major depression (MD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms through physical health symptoms and household income in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. As part of the NIEHS GuLF STUDY, participants (N = 10,141) reported on cleanup work activities, spill‐related physical health symptoms, and household income at baseline, and mental health symptoms an average of 14.69 weeks (SD = 16.79) thereafter. Cleanup work participation was associated with higher physical health symptoms, which in turn were associated with higher PTS, MD, and GAD symptoms. Similar pattern of results were found in models including workers only and investigating the influence of longer work duration and higher work‐related oil exposure on mental health symptoms. In addition, longer worker duration and higher work‐related oil exposure were associated with higher household income, which in turn was associated with lower MD and GAD symptoms. These findings suggest that physical health symptoms contribute to workers’ risk for mental health symptoms, while higher household income, potentially from more extensive work, might mitigate risk.     

The Assessment of Adult Health Care Orientations: Development and Preliminary Validation of the Multidimensional Health Profile–Health Functioning Index (MHP-H) in a National Sample

This paper describes the development and preliminary validation of the Multidimensional Health Profile–Health Functioning Index (MHP-H), a 69-item self-report instrument designed to assess a variety of behaviors, perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs presumed to influence health status and the pursuit of lay and professional health care. The MHP-H briefly measures adult health history, health habits, health care utilization, health beliefs and attitudes, and response to illness (help-seeking behaviors). A national sample of adults (N = 673) was assessed, comprising 3 age groupings (18–32, 33–50, and 51–89) crossed with gender and then further subdivided into several subsamples for purposes of reliability and validity assessment. In addition, a group of spouse key informants was also recruited. Preliminary validation of single-item indicators as well as confirmatory factor analyses of multi-item scales was achieved. The present findings support the psychometric and practical utility of the MHP-H and warrant its use by health psychologists in a variety of research and applied settings.     

Does Lack of “Genetic-Relative Family Health History” Represent a Potentially Avoidable Health Disparity for Adoptees?

Many adoptees face a number of challenges relating to separation from biological parents during the adoption process, including issues concerning identity, intimacy, attachment, and trust, as well as (for older adopted children) language and other cultural challenges. One common health challenge faced by adoptees involves lack of access to genetic-relative family health history (GRFHx). Lack of GRFHx represents a disadvantage due to a reduced capacity to identify diseases and recommend appropriate screening for conditions for which the adopted person may be at increased risk. In this article, we draw out common features of traditionally understood “health disparities” in order to identify analogous features in the context of adoptees’ lack of GRFHx.     

Is Social Justice Relative When It Comes to Oral Health? The Realities of a Complex Health Issue

For decades pastoral theology has emphasized care for the whole person and, more recently, this focus has been expanded to include caring for the physical health of parishioners. However, an overlooked area of general fitness has been the importance of oral health. Dental caries and periodontal disease are among the most common chronic diseases that disproportionately affect the most vulnerable populations. Despite significant progress in preventing and managing these oral diseases, there is a large segment of the population that have not experienced the same gains. This paper seeks to begin to fill this gap by identifying key epidemiological, professional and ethical issues related to social justice and oral health. Disparities of oral disease and access to oral health care in the United States will be addressed by examining questions and issues related to social justice. Critical problems are identified, including inadequate financial resources, a disjointed infrastructure of care, separation from the general medical care system, and poor understanding of important oral health determinants. Furthermore, if oral health is integral to one’s overall health and general well-being, then the concept of a basic human right should be entertained. Faith-based groups could provide a link for bridging this disparity gap in oral health among their parishioners through active listening, advocacy and targeted educational programs.     

Associations Between Maternal Mental Health and Child Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Does Prenatal Mental Health Matter?

This study examined associations between elevated symptoms of prenatal depression or anxiety and offspring emotional and behavioral problems during mid to late childhood taking into account the impact of later maternal mental health symptoms. The sample consisted of 2,891 women and their children (49 % male) from a prospective, community-based study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Women completed measures of depressive (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) and anxious (Crown Crisp Experiential Index) symptoms at regular intervals beginning in pregnancy. Mothers and teachers assessed offspring emotional and behavioral problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire when children were 10–11 years old. Multivariable regression models were fit to address study hypotheses. Exposure to elevated symptoms of maternal depression during pregnancy was associated with increased total offspring emotional and behavioral problems, even after controlling for later maternal mental health problems and a range of sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics, according to mothers’ but not teachers’ reports. Similarly, children exposed to elevated symptoms of maternal anxiety during pregnancy were reported to have increased total emotional and behavioral problems by mothers but not by teachers. We found support for modest associations between elevated symptoms of maternal depression and anxiety during the prenatal period and certain domains of offspring emotional and behavioral problems in mid to late childhood above and beyond the impact of later maternal mental health problems. These findings highlight the need for additional clinical and research attention to the prenatal period and to both maternal depression and anxiety.     

Should Counseling Be Considered a Health Care Profession? Critical Thoughts on the Transition to a Health Care Ideology

The counseling profession has increasingly identified with health care ideology. The logical justifications for this transition are critically examined. Ideological and practical consequences of the health care transition are also considered. The author concludes that the usual ways of justifying the transition to health care are insufficient and that this transition has generally had negative consequences for the counseling profession.     

Do Health Care Workplaces Affect Treatment Environments?

Previous research has demonstrated that characteristics of the health care workplace influence staff outcomes such as morale and burnout, but the potential effect of health care workplaces on the treatment environment has been little studied. Building on a model proposed by Schaefer and Moos (1993), we propose that the workplace factors of supervisory work environment (e.g. support from supervisors, managerial control) and programme philosophical orientation (e.g. disease model of addiction, psychosocial learning model of addiction) predict four treatment environment elements: patient autonomy, staff control, staff sensitivity, and patient alienation. Multiple regression analysis of data drawn from a survey (response rate = 86%) of 327 staff members at 15 Veterans Affairs (VA) inpatient substance abuse treatment programmes revealed that greater managerial control over staff predicted greater patient alienation, lower staff sensitivity towards patients, and greater staff control over patients. Stronger disease model programme orientations predicted less patient alienation and greater staff sensitivity, whereas stronger psychosocial model programme orientations predicted less staff control. These results suggest that health care workplaces may influence treatment environments. Implications for further research and practice are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How Adolescents’ Mental Health Predicts Their Physical Health: Unique Contributions of Indicators of Subjective Well-being and Psychopathology

Studies among youth have established a link between mental health and physical health, and highlight the importance of attending to these relationships to provide a more complete picture of functioning. However, most previous investigations have limited their focus to examining the relationship between physical health and either particular aspects of psychopathology or particular aspects of subjective well-being. The current study serves as a first examination that includes both positive (subjective well-being [SWB]) and negative (psychopathology) indicators of mental health in relation to physical health functioning, assessed via self-report measures completed by a sample of 401 early adolescents from the general population. Mental health indicators accounted for 30% of the variance in physical health ratings, and 4 of the 5 mental health indicators were unique predictors of physical health. Positive affect, a component of SWB, explained the most unique variance in physical health, followed by the other components of SWB. Results support the importance of attending to positive indicators of mental health when determining the link with physical health among youth. Implications for a research and practice focus on comprehensive wellness among youth are discussed.     

Rabbis and Health: A Half-Century Review of the Mental and Physical Health Care Literature:1950–1999

Electronic searches were conducted on PubMed and the American Psychological Association's database (PsycINFO) for articles that discussed the role of rabbis in relation to some aspect of healthcare. The two searches were conducted in each electronic database using the search-terms: (1) (rabbi OR rabbinical OR synagogue) OR (2) (Judaism OR Jewish) AND (clergy OR chaplain). Articles were classified by the year of their publication, professional discipline, type of journal (either religious or secular), and type of article: either research, or narrative and expositional. Rabbis were discussed most often in psychology, psychiatry, and behavior-related fields, and close to two-thirds of the articles dealt with mental health concerns. A statistically significant increase in articles across decades was found in the secular journals, r=.98, p≤.01, with over 70% of the articles about rabbis in the secular journals being published between 1980 and 1999. Many of the articles addressed collaboration between rabbis, psychiatrists, and other and mental health professionals and discussed previously identified themes related to professional collaboration and referral.