Adolescent sexuality: values, morality and decision making

The first section of this paper presents a theoretical basis of morality and value formation which provides the background for an examination of adolescent sexual and cognitive development. Data from a study of influences on the sexual decisions of five hundred 13- to 19-year-olds are analyzed in the remainder of the article. Relationships between individual characteristics and the importance of various influences are interpreted in light of the structure of values and moral development.     

Life values and mental health: A longitudinal study comparing chronically ill women to women without chronic disease

We tested the hypothesis that among women who are chronically ill, a re-ordering of life values maintains mental health. A community-based prospective longitudinal study was conducted in which data were obtained from 601 women in 1986, when the women were with mean age 42 and again in 2003, when the women were with mean age 58. There was a significant change in life values as women aged with more change among women with chronic disease (n = 476) than those without chronic disease (n = 125). Increased valuation of intrinsic life values (health and love) and decreased valuation of extrinsic life values (power, fame and attractiveness) were associated with subsequent better mental health for women with chronic disease, but not for those without chronic disease.     

Measurement of state and trait anxiety in elderly mental health clients

Anxiety in elderly persons is frequently discussed but rarely measured. Difficulties in measuring state and trait anxiety with mental health clients aged 55 and older using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) led the authors to validate the use of the simpler, children's form of their scale. Four types of validity data were found: (1) the childrens' form was highly correlated with the adult form, (2) both scales were significantly correlated with objective ratings of anxiety made by staff, (3) the STAI measures were not correlated with behavioral ratings other than anxiety (discriminant validity), (4) the residential clients were significantly higher in A-trait than the day clients. The nonresidential clients were not more anxious than college students. Discussion emphasizes the necessity of distinguishing between and measuring both state and trait anxiety in order to understand anxiety in the elderly.     

Religious experience and mental health: anthropological and psychological approaches

ABSTRACT

Moreira-Almeida, Sharma, van Rensburg, Verhagen and Cook have written a very comprehensive position statement pertaining to religion and psychiatry. While presenting a good overview of studies of religion, spirituality and mental health it does not include the important area of the health implications of religious experience which is the focus of this piece. I begin by discussing definitions of religious experience before examining the work of William James. The second part of this paper focuses upon specific religious experiences and psychopathology with a focus on mysticism, hallucinations and culture.     

Infant day care: A social and psychological perspective on mental health implications

A review of infant group daycare programs abroad and in the USA leads to the conclusion that the degree of industrial and technological development is a major determinant of infant daycare practices. In the USA a culture gap exists between the middle class providers and the predominantly poor and non-caucasion recipients of the service. Difficulties in implementing programs, especially in transmitting child development information to parents stem from these basically different orientations. Some suggestions are made that may lead to more effective communication and collaboration between families using daycare personnel.     

Common morality, coherence, and the principles of biomedical ethics

The fifth edition of Beauchamp and Childress's Principles of Biomedical Ethics is distinguished by its emphatic embrace of common morality as the ultimate source of moral norms. This essay critically evaluates the fifth edition's discussion of common morality and, to a lesser extent, its treatment of coherence (both the model of ethical justification and the associated concept). It is argued that the book is overly accommodating of existing moral beliefs. The paper concludes with three suggestions for improving this leading text.     

Applied ethics in mental health in Cuba: part I--guiding concepts and values

As part of a project on professionals' lived experience of ethics, this article explores the guiding concepts and values concerning ethics of mental health professionals in Cuba. The data, obtained through individual interviews and focus groups with 28 professionals, indicate that Cubans conceptualize applied ethics in terms of its central role in professional practice and its connection to the social context and subjective processes. Findings also show that Cuban professionals are guided not only by a set of professional values but by a set of civic values as well. The former are subdivided into other-oriented values and self-oriented values. The study of ethics in another culture such as Cuba offers a unique point of view from which to critique the social construction of our own conceptions of applied ethics in North America.     

Early life origins of psychological development and mental health

According to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)‐hypothesis, conditions early in life may have life‐long consequences. In a series of epidemiological birth cohort and clinical studies and natural experiments, we have had the chance to test the extent to which this hypothesis is useful in understanding individual differences in psychological development and mental health. Our findings have provided evidence that individual differences in cognitive, social and emotional development and in mental health may lie in early life circumstances, and add significantly to the literature by pointing out which periods of early growth are the most critical. These findings are also important in translating pre‐clinical evidence to humans. What remains less clear, however, is what the mechanisms of programming are. Thus, further research is needed to elucidate these mechanisms before information on the early life origins of health and disease can be used in designing prevention and intervention programs.     

Therapeutic jurisprudence and conflicts among values in mental health law

Therapeutic Jurisprudence provides a conceptual framework for a research agenda designed to promote development of legal rules, procedures, and roles in a manner consistent with the therapeutic mission of the mental health system. As such, it draws attention to the tension between the jurisprudential values of autonomy and well-being that permeates mental health law specifically and the law and ethics of health care generally. This article advances an analysis of these values in the context of the patient-centered approach to health care. The article endorses a priority for the deontic aspect of autonomy over well-being but allows balancing of the consequentialist component of autonomy against well-being. Finally, it applies this framework to several traditionally difficult types of cases.     

Racial/ethnic matching of clients and therapists in mental health services: a meta-analytic review of preferences, perceptions, and outcomes

Across several decades the effects of matching clients with therapists of the same race/ethnicity have been explored using a variety of approaches. We conducted a meta-analysis of 3 variables frequently used in research on racial/ethnic matching: individuals' preferences for a therapist of their own race/ethnicity, clients' perceptions of therapists across racial/ethnic match, and therapeutic outcomes across racial/ethnic match. Across 52 studies of preferences, the average effect size (Cohen's d) was 0.63, indicating a moderately strong preference for a therapist of one's own race/ethnicity. Across 81 studies of individuals' perceptions of therapists, the average effect size was 0.32, indicating a tendency to perceive therapists of one's own race/ethnicity somewhat more positively than other therapists. Across 53 studies of client outcomes in mental health treatment, the average effect size was 0.09, indicating almost no benefit to treatment outcomes from racial/ethnic matching of clients with therapists. These 3 averaged effect sizes were characterized by substantial heterogeneity: The effects of racial/ethnic matching are highly variable. Studies involving African American participants demonstrated the highest effect sizes across all 3 types of evaluations: preferences, perceptions, and outcomes.     

Analyses of mental contamination: Part I,experimental manipulations of morality

The fear of contamination is thought to be comprised of two separate but related fears: those pertaining to physical and mental contamination. Previous research on mental contamination involved studies in which more than one independent variable was manipulated simultaneously. In particular, an immoral act (e.g., a non-consensual kiss) had been coupled with an immoral man (e.g., the person who forces the kiss) in each manipulation. The purpose of this study was to separate manipulations of the immorality of the man from the immorality of the act. Female undergraduate students (n = 148) listened to an audio recording and imagined that they were experiencing either sharing a consensual kiss with a man described as moral or immoral, or receiving a forced, non-consensual kiss from a man described as moral or immoral. Participants indicated the presence and degree of mental contamination and then completed a behavioural task for which spontaneous washing was recorded. Results indicated that a non-consensual kiss evoked greater feelings of mental contamination than a consensual kiss. In particular, participants who imagined a non-consensual kiss from a man described as either moral or immoral reported the greatest feelings of mental contamination, whereas participants who imagined a consensual kiss from a man described as moral reported the least. Results are discussed in terms of cognitive–behavioural conceptualizations of and treatments for contamination fears.     

Towards an integration of science,art and morality: The role of values in psychology

The purpose of this paper is to define the role of values in therapy. From both an historical and theoretical perspective, values are an integral part of the therapeutic process. Hence, a review of the research which highlights the effects, interplay and outcome of values in psychology is undertaken. The implications of this review are discussed with particular reference to cross-cultural and religious issues. The current trend for ‘value-free’ therapy is suggested as unattainable and, moreover, as reflective of the dominant sociopolitical structure. In addition, the impact of this research on the role of the professional is explored and the possibilities of future research highlighted. In sum, psychology is discussed as a value-laden process which needs to better integrate the science, art and morality of the discipline if it is to fulfill its potential as a therapeutic process.     

Violence: incidence and frequency of physical and psychological assaults affecting mental health providers in Georgia

Threats to the physical safety and psychological well-being of mental health professionals present serious problems, according to 1,131 licensed mental health professionals in the state of Georgia. The professionals included clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. From a total of 6,431 surveys sent out, 1,131 (18%) were returned. The results revealed 2.696 separate accounts of 14,120 acts of physical or psychological assaults committed by 8,292 perpetrators. The results also showed that 61% of the respondents had been victimized in violent acts of a psychological or physical nature and that 29% had feared for their lives at least once during their professional careers. These data are consistent with other research that indicates that 6 out of 10 professionals will be assaulted during their professional careers.     

Examining associations among factor-analytically derived components of mental health stigma, distress, and psychological flexibility

Mental health stigma can be detrimental not only for the recipient, but also for the stigmatizer. As mental health stigma is often conceptualized as a multidimensional construct, Study 1 first examined the factor structure of mental health stigma as assessed by the Stigmatizing Attitudes-Believability (SAB; Masuda, Price, Anderson, Schmertz, & Calamaras, 2009). Study 2 investigated differential relations between the factor-analytically derived components of mental health stigma and psychological distress and psychological flexibility. Results of Study 1 revealed that mental health stigma consisted of two related, yet separable components: Exclusion and Course/Origin. The Exclusion component was characterized by negative emotions and cognitions associated with an increased desire for social distance. Course/Origin was marked by pessimistic views toward treatment prognosis and recovery. Results of Study 2 suggested that these two components have differential associations with psychological distress and flexibility. The Course/Origin component of stigma, but not Exclusion, was associated with psychological distress of the stigmatizer. Furthermore, this association was fully mediated by lower levels of psychological flexibility. These findings suggest the importance of conceptualizing mental health stigma multidimensionally.     

Chinese values and health: A cultural-level examination

Abstract

Previous research has identified two factors from the Chinese Value Survey, Integration vs Inwardness and Reputation vs Morality. In an effort to further establish their validities, the scores of a student sample on these two dimensions were calculated for each of 23 countries. These value profiles were then used as predictors of a number of health indices, after partialing out the confounding influence of per capita GNP. This country-level analysis revealed many relationships between the two value dimensions and 1. longevity measures, 2. modes of death, 3. health endangering behaviors, and 4. indicators of social well-being. These findings were related to theorizing about cultural emphases on individualism and on material success. It is hoped that this research will stimulate more comprehensive within-and cross-cultural research on the link between values and health.