From “4Rs and 2Ss” to “Amaka Amasanyufu” (Happy Families): Adapting a U.S.-based Evidence-Based Intervention to the Uganda Context

In Uganda, one in five children presents mental health challenges, including disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs). DBDs can persist through adulthood and result in negative outcomes. Effective interventions for DBDs have been developed and tested in high-poverty communities in developed countries. Yet, most African countries, such as Uganda, lack such interventions. This paper describes the adaptation process of an evidence-based intervention of U.S. origin to optimize fit to context with intervention fidelity, as part of a randomized trial conducted with youth that exhibit behavioral challenges and their caregivers in 30 schools in Uganda. The process involved: initial meetings with headteachers and teachers to introduce the study and the main concepts of the intervention; initial manual review focusing on 4Rs and 2Ss content by the Uganda team; engagement of community stakeholders for additional feedback on content and cultural relevance; final revision of the manual; and collection of children’s drawings for the illustration of the manual. This paper describes both similarities and differences between the original and adapted intervention content and methods of delivery. The findings also highlight the importance of involving community stakeholders in the adaptation process.     

Occupational Choices for People with Psychiatric Disabilities: Comparing Attendees and Non-Attendees at Community-Based Day Centers

Research has shown that people with psychiatric disabilities who attend a day center rate their satisfaction with daily occupations equally in comparison with non-attendees. The current study investigates which occupations the target group performs and also differences in occupational choices between attendees and non-attendees. Reported occupations were analyzed with content analysis. Day center attendees reported more productive occupations, while non-attendees reported more recreational occupations and a greater breadth of occupations. This implies that non-attendees might compensate a lack of work-like occupations at a day center with satisfying recreational occupations. The results can guide development of psychiatric occupational-based rehabilitation.     

OCCUPATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL THERAPY

No abstract available for this article.     

Toward an Understanding of the Connections in Creating Lasting Family Connections

Abstract

The Creating Lasting Family Connections^® (CLFC) program is designed to help improve relationship skills and reduce antisocial behaviors. Strader and colleagues propose that prosocial connectedness is responsible for program outcomes. We propose that the intersection of high agreeableness and low impulsivity represent an operational definition. We examined this definition in the context of a RCT with 246 men in prison reentry. CLFCFP increased the number of connected individuals. Being connected and the program independently impacted relationship skills, but no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that the program impacts would be more pronounced among those who were connected.     

INTEGRATING INTERIORITY IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

This article explores Integral community development; an approach that integrates material needs (such as economic growth, resource management, and decision-making structures) and interior needs (such as cultural, spiritual, and psychological wellness). Including “interiority” in development is unique to conventional and alternative development practices, and analysis suggests it is necessary for sustainability. Integral community development works in three domains of action/application, dialogue/process, and self-growth/reflection, and recognizes the importance of changes in worldviews. Using this approach in a case study in El Salvador, research outcomes showed increased collaboration and self-reflection, where economic objectives merged with equality and environmental concerns.     

Overgeneral autobiographical memory predicts changes in depression in a community sample

This study investigated whether overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM) predicts the course of symptoms of depression and anxiety in a community sample, after 5, 6, 12 and 18 months. Participants (N = 156) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) at baseline and were subsequently reassessed using the DASS-21 at four time points over a period of 18 months. Using latent growth curve modelling, we found that OGM was associated with a linear increase in depression. We were unable to detect changes over time in anxiety. OGM may be an important marker to identify people at risk for depression in the future, but more research is needed with anxiety.     

Time for Men's Liberation

The Women's Liberation movement has granted women the right to think, and thereby become "whole people." There is now a crying need for men to be made "whole" by granting them the right to feel.     

Digital Animation as a Method to Disseminate Research Findings to the Community Using a Community-Based Participatory Approach

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has garnered increasing interest over the previous two decades as researchers have tackled increasingly complex health problems. In academia, professional presentations and articles are major ways that research is disseminated. However, dissemination of research findings to the people and communities who participated in the research is many times forgotten. In addition, little scholarly literature is focused on creative dissemination of research findings to the community using CBPR methods. We seek to fill this gap in the literature by providing an exemplar of research dissemination and partnership strategies that were used to complete this project. In this paper, we present a novel approach to the dissemination of research findings to our targeted communities through digital animation. We also provide the foundational thinking and specific steps that were taken to select this specific dissemination product development and distribution strategy.     

Community Psychology and Transformative Policy Change in the Neo-liberal Era

I present ideas about how community psychologists, as researcher-activists, can influence public policy. I begin by describing the current neo-liberal era, noting the immense obstacles it poses to progressive policy change. Next I contrast two approaches to understanding policy formation, evidence-based policy and discursive policy analysis, and argue that transformative policy change can benefit from both approaches. I then propose three types of policy outcomes that community psychology research and activism should aim to promote: (a) shaping problem definition, (b) controlling channels for debate and participation, and (c) allocating resources. I use examples from community psychologists’ involvement in policy, mostly in Canada, to illustrate how such policy change can be both achieved and constrained. I conclude by discussing implications for theory and practice related to policy change.