A Social Ecological Approach to Investigating Relationships Between Housing and Adaptive Functioning for Persons with Serious Mental Illness

This paper seeks to advance mental health—housing research regarding which factors of housing and neighborhood environments are critical for adaptive functioning, health, and recovery for persons with serious mental illness (SMI). Housing and neighborhood environments are particularly important for persons with SMI because of the prevalence of poor housing conditions among this population. Most mental health—housing research has been limited by a focus on problems in environments and functioning. The paper seeks to expand the mental health—housing research agenda to consider protective factors that promote community integration and adaptive functioning. We provide an account of how social ecology theory transformed a research program, from examining individual risk factors to investigating the functioning of persons in the contexts of their housing and neighborhood experiences. The resulting housing environment framework—physical aspects of housing and neighborhoods, social environment of neighborhoods, and interpersonal relationships tied to housing—allows for identification of opportunities for health promotion and facilitation of participation in community-based settings. This program of research draws upon several methods to understand the social experience of persons with SMI living in community settings—survey research, qualitative interviews, Geographic Information Systems, participatory research, and visual ethnography. In this paper, we present how social ecology theory was instrumental in the development of new housing environment measures, the selection of appropriate research methods, and framing research questions that are building a new empirical base of knowledge about promoting adaptive functioning, health, and recovery for persons with SMI living in community settings.     

Capturing Dynamic Processes of Change in GROW Mutual Help Groups for Mental Health

The need for a model that can portray dynamic processes of change in mutual help groups for mental health (MHGMHs) is emphasized. A dynamic process model has the potential to capture a more comprehensive understanding of how MHGMHs may assist their members. An investigation into GROW, a mutual help organization for mental health, employed ethnographic, phenomenological and collaborative research methods. The study examined how GROW impacts on psychological well being. Study outcomes aligned with the social ecological paradigm (Maton in Understanding the self-help organization: frameworks and findings. Sage, Thousand Oaks 1994) indicating multifactorial processes of change at and across three levels of analysis: group level, GROW program/community level and individual level. Outcome themes related to life skills acquisition and a change in self-perception in terms of belonging within community and an increased sense of personal value. The GROW findings are used to assist development of a dynamic multi-dimensional process model to explain how MHGMHs may promote positive change.     

The development and coherence of future-oriented behaviors during the preschool years

Although previous research has identified a number of interesting aspects of future thinking in adults, little is known about the developmental trajectory and coherence of future-oriented behaviors during early childhood. The primary goal of this study was to explore these issues by administering a battery of tasks assessing different aspects of future thinking, including mental time travel, delay of gratification, planning, and prospective memory, to 72 preschoolers. Results revealed that performance on all of the tasks increased significantly between 3 and 5 years of age. Although most tasks were correlated, suggesting “behavioral” coherence, many of these significant correlations dropped out once age and receptive vocabulary were controlled. These results are discussed with respect to theories about, and measurement of, future orientation.     

“And Let Us Make Us a Name”: Reflections on the Future of the Religion and Health Field

After years of marginality, research on religion and health is entering the academic mainstream. Scholarship on this topic has evolved into a large, productive field. As in any emerging field, there are competing visions for what the field should be about and what research questions should be pursued. Different opinions exist as to which constructs should be researched. Words like religion, spirituality, faith, and prayer, and health, healing, medicine, and healthcare, imply different things. The study of their various interconnections can thus take myriad forms. This article argues for a welcoming approach open to the widest range of research subjects. An earlier version of this article was presented as a Visiting Scholar Seminar, Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, March 6, 2008.     

Message framing and color priming: How subtle threat cues affect persuasion

Message framing involves the presentation of equivalent decision outcomes in terms of either gains or losses. Loss-framed messages tend to be more persuasive than gain-framed messages when the decision is perceived to involve uncertainty or threat. The current study examined whether the effectiveness of loss-framed information would be enhanced by the presence of a peripheral threat cue - the color red - which was expected to prime threat via its association with blood and danger. In addition to being primed with the color red or gray (control), male participants (n = 126) read either a gain- or loss-framed pamphlet promoting human papillomavirus vaccination. As predicted, vaccination intentions were higher among participants exposed to a loss-framed message than to a gain-framed message, but only when primed with red (not gray). Findings shed light on the interactive effects of message framing and color priming, and demonstrate that peripheral threat cues may affect processing of persuasive health messages.     

Mental toughness, stress, stress appraisal, coping and coping effectiveness in sport

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between mental toughness, stressor appraisal, coping strategies and coping effectiveness among a sample of athletes. Participants were 482 athletes (male n = 305; female n = 177), aged between 16 and 45 years (M age = 20.44 years, SD = 3.98). In support of a priori predictions, mental toughness was associated with stress intensity and control appraisal, but not the type of stressor experienced by athletes. Total mental toughness and its six components predicted coping and coping effectiveness in relation to the self-selected stressor. In particular, higher levels of mental toughness were associated with more problem-focused coping, but less emotion-focused and avoidance coping. Coping effectiveness was influenced by the coping strategy employed by the athletes.     

COVID-19 Interconnectedness: Health Inequity,the Climate Crisis,and Collective Trauma

The COVID-19 pandemic brings to the forefront the complex interconnected dilemmas of globalization, health equity, economic security, environmental justice, and collective trauma, severely impacting the marginalized and people of color in the United States. This lack of access to and the quality of healthcare, affordable housing, and lack of financial resources also continue to have a more significant impact on documented and undocumented immigrants. This paper aims at examining these critical issues and developing a framework for family therapists to address these challenges by focusing on four interrelated dimensions: cultural values, social determinants of health, collective trauma, and the ethical and moral responsibility of family therapists. Given the fact that family therapists may unwittingly function as the best ally of an economic and political system that perpetuates institutionalized racism and class discrimination, we need to utilize a set of principles, values, and practices that are not just palliative or after the fact but bring forth into the psychotherapeutic and policy work a politics of care. Therefore, a strong call to promote and advocate for the broader continuum of health and critical thinking preparing professionals to meet the challenges of health equity, as well as economic and environmental justice, is needed. The issues discussed in this paper are specific to the United States despite their relevance to family therapy as a field. We are mindful not to generalize the United States' reality to the rest of the world, recognizing that issues discussed in this paper could potentially contribute to international discourse.     

A randomised controlled trial of the Adult Resilience Program: A universal prevention program

A randomised, waitlist controlled, trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of the Adult Resilience Program (ARP), a universal prevention social–emotional programme for adolescents and adults, on self-reported depression, anxiety, stress, resilience, and self-esteem. Seventy-six students from a private university in Singapore were randomised to the ARP group or wait-list control (WLC) group and assessments were conducted at pre-intervention (T1), post-intervention (T2), and 6-month follow-up (T3). A 2 × 3 mixed between-within groups multivariate analysis of variance with the between-group factor of Group (ARP, WLC) and the within-group factor of time (T1, T2, and T3) and the dependent variables of depression, anxiety, stress, resilience and self-esteem, with age and stage of degree as covariates showed a significant decrease over time in depression (ηp² = .20), and anxiety (ηp² = .06). There was a significant decrease in stress for the ARP only from T1 to T2 (ηp² = .16). While there was a significant interaction of Time and Group for resilience (ηp² = .07), there was no significant change in resilience for the ARP group alone. The results provide preliminary support that the ARP can impart essential skills that can have a positive impact on mental health in university students.     

Marginalized Identities,Trump-Related Distress,and the Mental Health of Underrepresented College Students

The current study sought to determine whether holding targeted marginalized identities was associated with greater experiences of distress related to Trump's presidency and whether participants’ level of Trump-related distress predicted decrements in mental health. Participants in the current longitudinal study included 338 underrepresented college students attending a predominantly White institution. Results indicated that individuals who held targeted marginalized identities reported greater Trump-related distress compared to their non-targeted counterparts, and that holding multiple targeted marginalized identities was associated with greater levels of Trump-related distress. Findings also indicated that Trump-related distress was associated with increases (relative to previous trajectories) in anxious but not depressive symptoms. Overall, our results suggest that a shift in sociopolitical circumstances that promulgates bigotry may be harmful to those who possess targeted marginalized identities.     

Co-Occurring Youth Profiles of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Protective Factors: Associations with Health,Resilience, and Racial Disparities

It is important to understand racial/ethnic differences in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), given their relationship to long-term physical and mental health, and the public health cost of the significant disparities that exist. Moreover, in order to inform interventions and promote resilience, it is critical to examine protective factors that mitigate the relationship between adversity and poor health. The current study utilized latent transition analyses (LTA) to examine co-occurring profiles of ACEs and protective factors (from school, family, and community contexts) and links to health outcomes among 30,668 Black (10.4%), Latinx (12.3%), and White youth (77.3%) ages 12–17 (52.5% male) who participated in the 2011–12 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). Results suggested that greater adversity was associated with worse health, while more access to protective factors was associated with better health. White youth had consistently lower endorsement of ACEs, greater access to protective factors, and better health compared to their Black and Latinx counterparts. Efforts to improve child health and racial/ethnic disparities in research and practice must consider adversity, protective factors, and the systemic inequities faced by racial/ethnic minority youth in the United States.