Development of the Mental Illness and Disorder Understanding Scale

Abstract: Although administrative bodies such as community health centers have implemented various awareness campaigns to promote community understanding of mental health and to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and disorder, there have been few reports that have quantitatively analyzed the effects of these campaigns in Japan. Therefore, this study was conducted for the purpose of developing the evaluative “Mental Illness and Disorder Understanding Scale (MIDUS)” for awareness campaigns and assessing its reliability and validity. A survey was conducted on 1 004 community residents using a self‐administered questionnaire. An assessment of the reliability and validity of the scale was then conducted. The Cronbach a coefficient of the MIDUS was 0.78, thus indicating adequate reliability. Factor analysis of the MIDUS revealed three factors: “Treatability of illness”, “Efficacy of medication” and “Social recognition of illness”. In addition, a significant correlation was observed between the MIDUS and existing scales, and fixed criterion‐based validity was demonstrated. The MIDUS utilizes items worded in the form of affirmative expressions so as to avoid promoting new bias. It was confirmed to be both reliable and valid, thereby suggesting its usefulness as an evaluative scale of awareness campaigns.     

Symptoms of Eating Disorders Among Females in Drug Addiction Treatment

The aim of this study is to measure and describe symptoms of eating disorders among females in treatment for drug addiction in Norway. Previous clinical and epidemiological studies have revealed coprevalence between eating disorders and substance use or abuse. However, few studies have measured eating disorders in drug-using samples and even fewer within the context of drug treatment. In this study, 29 females with drug use disorder in residential treatment were tested with the Eating Disorder Inventory–2. A subgroup of 9 females (31%) with significant symptoms of eating disorders was identified. The characteristics of this group and possible clinical consequences are discussed.     

Intimate partner violence in neighborhood context: The roles of structural disadvantage,subjective disorder,and emotional distress

Most theoretical treatments of intimate partner violence (IPV) focus on individual-level processes. Some researchers have attempted to situate IPV within the larger neighborhood context, but few studies have sought to link structural- and individual-level factors. The current analyses fill a research gap by examining the role of anger and depression in the association between neighborhood disadvantage and IPV. Using data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) and the 2000 Census, this study focuses on structural indicators of disadvantage as well as subjective disorder, and highlights the complex associations between neighborhood conditions, emotional distress, and IPV. Findings indicate that anger and depressive symptoms partially explain the association between neighborhood disadvantage and IPV. Additionally, the associations between disadvantage, disorder, and IPV depend on respondent’s level of anger. Results underscore the need to further consider the role of neighborhood factors (both objective and subjective) in relation to IPV, and also suggest the utility of introducing individual-level emotional measures to assess the circumstances under which neighborhoods matter most.     

Using small data to interpret big data: 311 reports as individual contributions to informal social control in urban neighborhoods

Informal social control is considered a vital component of the well-being of urban communities. Though some argue that the actions that constitute this social process are often said to reflect territoriality, little else is known about how individuals contribute to it. The current study leverages a database of over 600,000 requests for government services received by the city of Boston, MA's 311 system as a way to answer such questions, focusing particularly on reports of issues in the public space arising from incivilities. In order to establish construct validity for the “big data” of the 311 system, they are combined with the “small data” of a survey of 311 users, permitting the simultaneous analysis of objective reporting behaviors with self-report attitudes. The analysis occurs in two parts. First, reporting of incivilities is distinguished behaviorally from reporting public issues arising from natural deterioration, and people are found to specialize in one or the other. Second, the survey is used to test whether the reports are a reflection of territoriality. Reports of incivilities were unique in their association with a desire to enforce local social norms. They were also associated with a second territorial motivation to benefit the community. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Deactivating the Buttons: Integrating Radical Exposure Tapping with a Family Therapy Framework

The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate with case examples a brief intervention termed Radical Exposure Tapping (RET). RET can be integrated with family therapy to address stuck points where the therapy is hindered by a family member's affective block, an intense and unchangeable emotional reactivity to a specific trigger. RET draws from the methodology of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and combines it with the tapping sequence of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to produce an intervention that is more flexible than EMDR, provides greater rigor than using the EFT technique alone and can be effective in a single session within the context of family therapy. The paper puts this work into context by first over viewing definitions of trauma and Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder, arguing that family members' emotional reactivity may be a symptom of PTSD even when they would not qualify for the diagnosis because they had not experienced a life threatening event.     

Speed Limits: Out of Time in Organization Studies

A screaming comes across the sky. Others glare with a vacant intensity. Solaris studies at the very same time that the world appears to be becoming one vast recording studio. Our cameras are in the process of dissolution and decay. This paper hurtles headlong into the Green Burning Car that is the crash of organization studies today. On the cusp of a promised new mode of study in organizational analysis we write on speed, attracting found objects, jump cuts, wierd juxtapositions, and chance encounters in a ‘pataphysical’ dérive. As an exercise in sympathetic magic, or orgiastic ritual, we are able to exorcise here a number of ghosts in organization theory. Speed limits provide an occasion for shame: shame for its bombast and juvenility, its masculinity and narcissism; the end(s) of organization studies intrudes as event, a sacrifice for dreams of what might come.     

心理弹性研究对危机干预工作的启示

危机干预和心理弹性的研究都是从危机情境出发,前者关注危机导致个体的不适应症状,后者关注危机中积极适应的个体。本文通过对心理弹性这一领域研究成果的梳理,并探讨传统危机干预的特点和模式,总结心理弹性研究对危机干预工作的启示：打破所有经历创伤情境的人都需要干预的假设,凸显评估的重要性;将负面情绪内化的个体更需要危机干预;重视情绪表达在危机干预中的作用;加强目标、计划在危机干预中的作用;在危机干预中提升当事人的心理弹性。     

Commentary

Abstract

The diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) continues to be controversial. Three papers by Hill et al. (2005), Lev (2005), and Winters (2005) each offer a critique of this diagnosis. Drawing from our clinical experience and research with transgender youth and adults as well as the scientific literature on gender dysphoria, we will comment on the main issues raised by these authors: the criteria reflect bias, who needs this diagnosis, and how can we lessen the associated stigma. Our discussion will clarify the rationale behind GID, and illustrate the dilemmas inherent in reform or removal of the diagnosis from the DSM.     

Military Veterans Sharing First‐Person Stories of War and Homecoming: A Pathway to Social Engagement,Personal Healing,and Public Understanding of Veterans' Issues

What power, meaning and value may exist within a soldier's first‐person war story? Former Marine captain Tyler Boudreau, quoted below, suggests that constructing a personal narrative of the traumas of war and homecoming, then “asking questions” of the story, can provide a veteran with a “chart.” If this is so, can that chart help one along the road to healing from those traumas, especially when that story is shared with others? Could there be dangerous turns or pitfalls on the journey? How can a public sharing of narratives of wartime experiences help audiences to better respond to those veterans and families who must cope with a difficult transition from the battlefield to home? What guidelines can be used effectively to train and prepare storytellers for their role? In this collaborative article, strengthened by the clinical wisdom of various consulting clinicians, we examine these questions through the lenses of two programs that provide veterans opportunities to share their war stories publicly. They include the Veterans Education Project (VEP) and the “100 Faces of War Experience” project (100 Faces).     

Secondary Traumatic Stress of Service Providers who Practice with Survivors of Family or Sexual Violence: A National Survey of Social Workers

Past research demonstrates that professionals helping survivors of family violence or sexual assault are at risk of experiencing secondary traumatic stress. Although social workers frequently provide services to these families, the risk of exhibiting secondary traumatic stress symptoms has rarely been investigated. Using a national sample (N >= 154), this research project examines the prevalence and severity of secondary traumatic stress among social workers who assist survivors of family violence or sexual assault. Implications for social work practice are also discussed.