Effects of workshop trainings on evidence-based practice knowledge and attitudes among youth community mental health providers

Enhancing the public health impact of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in usual care settings is a key priority of the National Institute of Mental Health. Longitudinal data from community mental health providers (N = 268) participating in a series of state-sponsored workshops in modular approaches to EBPs for youth are presented. EBP workshop attendance for youth anxiety resulted in increased knowledge for EBPs for anxiety (and not other conditions) and EBP workshop attendance for youth disruptive behaviors resulted in increased knowledge for EBPs for disruptive behaviors (and not other conditions). Providers' tendencies toward incorrectly classifying non-EBP therapies as evidence-based increased over time, suggesting that providers over-generalize the EBP label as a result of attending these types of workshops. Regarding EBP attitudes, most measures of attitudes improved when providers attended a workshop. Additionally, an overly inclusive view of what constitutes an EBP at intake was related to significant decreases in openness to trying EBPs over time, whereas more positive attitudes at intake was related to achieving a more refined view of what constitutes an EBP over the course of attending trainings. Study limitations and implications for implementation of EBPs in usual care settings are discussed.     

Examining college students' food security coping strategies and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

College students' food situations may have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have affected their health and well-being. However, little is known about how the pandemic impacted students' food experiences and how students coped with food-related disruptions, particularly from the student's own perspective. This study reviews data from 571 undergraduates who attended public colleges during Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 and wrote a narrative about the pandemic's impact on their food experiences. Most students indicated they experienced a wide range of food difficulties and adapted new food practices. Despite these challenges, students emphasized proactive coping strategies and positive pandemic outcomes rather than difficulties and negative outcomes. These findings have implications for students' long-term health and well-being.     

Psychometric Properties and Clinical Utility of the School Refusal Assessment Scale in a Multiethnic Sample

Kearney and Silverman (1993) developed the School Refusal Assessment Scale (SRAS) to assess the function of and to prescribe treatment for school refusal behavior. The present investigation examined the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the SRAS in a multiethnic sample. Participants were 30 children and their mothers who were identified as school refusers after an initial screening. Results indicated that scales measuring negatively reinforced school refusal were intercorrelated, whereas scales measuring positively reinforced school refusal were not. Concurrent validity of dimensional and categorical scoring algorithms was examined. Although parent–child agreement was relatively low, validity analyses suggested that each reporter contributed important information. Clinical implications and areas for future research were discussed.     

Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale: a Psychometric Examination in Chinese Youth

There remains a need for a disorder-specific inventory of children’s depression and anxiety that can reliably screen anxious and depressive disorder symptomatology in Chinese children. The Revised Child and Anxiety Depression Scale (RCADS) is a self-report questionnaire assessing anxiety and depression in children (Chorpita et al., 2000; Piqueras et al., 2017). This study sought to evaluate its psychometric properties in a Mainland Chinese sample. Students from the 4th to 11th grades (N?=?1001) participated in this study. Each of the RCADS subscales, by age and sex, possessed reliability coefficients ranging between .63 and .81. Means and standard deviations for RCADS subscales calculated for the age and sex sub-samples were reported. Participants reported slightly lower levels on five subscales than for Chorpita et al. (2000) normative sample. The scales were significantly and strongly correlated with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) subscales (somatic, withdrawal, anxiety) as well as CBCL internalizing scores. Fit statistics suggested marginal to adequate fit for the six-factor model for the Chinese youth. The present study provides foundational support for the psychometric properties of the RCADS in a large sample of Chinese youth yet indicates that factor structure might be improved through enhanced sampling of culturally relevant symptom expressions.

     

Differences in Internalizing Symptoms Across Specific Ethnic Minority Groups: An Analysis Across Chinese American,Filipino American,Japanese American,Native Hawaiian,and White Youth

Research to date on child and adolescent anxiety and depression have focused predominantly on major ethnic groups. Very few studies to date have been conducted on specific ethnic minority groups and the relatively few studies on these ethnic minority samples have produced mixed findings. The following question therefore still remains: Do specific ethnic subgroups differ with respect to their expression of anxiety and depression? And do these differences differ as a function of reporter type (i.e., youth versus parent)? If the expression of internalizing symptoms differs across specific ethnic subgroups, these differences could inform approaches to assessing and treating these populations. In the current study, we therefore examined ethnic differences in anxiety and depression symptoms in ethnic subgroups. A total of 629 children and adolescents from various public and private schools, aged 8–18 years (M = 12.37, SD = 2.8) and their caregivers completed anxiety and depression scales. Multiple indicators, multiple causes confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the following specific ethic subgroups were associated with significantly greater anxiety and depression relative to Caucasian youth: Chinese American, Filipino American, Japanese American, and Native Hawaiian. These results were found only among parent (but not youth) reports. Age and low SES status was also associated with more internalizing problems among Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese American youth. Implications related to ethnic minority subgroup differences and the role of multi-informant reports in understanding the relationship between anxiety, depression and ethnic minority subgroups are discussed.     

"Shaking Out the Mat": Schism and Organizational Transformation at a Mexican Ark of the Virgin

The apocalyptic Marian colony of Nueva Jerusalén, Mexico suffered a violent schism in 1982, marking a turning point in the history of the sect. The rift resulted in a major organizational transformation and helped to establish the centralized system of authority now observable in the colony. This article examines the ideological and structural factors that promoted the schism. A succession crisis, caused by the death of a Marian apparition seer, precipitated schismatic activity as dissidents struggled to block the charismatic leader's attempts to revise the sect's authority structure and identity. At the same time, the prophet escalated tensions by reframing the conflict as a commitment test. Wallis's theory of structural opportunity for schism is used to show how the conflict grew out of long-standing interest groups and ambiguous authority arrangements in the colony.     

Alcohol and Acquaintance Rape in Australia: Testing the Presupposition Model of Attributions About Responsibility and Blame1

According to the presupposition model of attributions about responsibility and blame (Bradbury & Fincham, 1990), an attribution of blame presupposes an attribution of responsibility. Both constructs share the dimensions of choice, intention, and accountability, but an additional dimension of liability relates only to blame. Reactions of 260 university students to acquaintance‐rape scenarios portraying different levels of alcohol intoxication were examined. Results showed that the model's dimensions explained much of the variance in attributions of responsibility and blame, although the hierarchical structure was not supported. Mediational analyses suggest that different attributional principles apply when assigning victim and perpetrator responsibility, which may explain why intoxicated victims are assigned more responsibility than sober victims, but intoxicated perpetrators are assigned less responsibility than sober perpetrators.