Shared decision making from the service users’ perspective: A narrative study from community mental health centers in northern Norway

This article aims to contribute to the understanding of shared decision making as an important aspect of user involvement in mental health care from the perspectives of service users. A thematic analysis of interviews with 25 individual service users in three different community mental health centers in Norway identified different understandings of shared decision making. Shared decision making was identified as essential in four contexts: 1) during admission, 2) in individualized treatment, 3) in different treatment contexts, and 4) in user-professional relationships. We consider shared decision making to be intertwined with treatment from the service user perspective.     

Unfinished Business: Disentangling Sex,Gender, and Sexuality in Sociological Research on Gender Stratification

Focusing on two major strands of research on gender stratification, labor market inequality and health disparities, we argue that cisnormativity and heteronormativity obscure the rich variation in how people experience their own sense of gender and sexuality, as well as how others perceive them. Although researchers’ reliance on static notions of gender and sexuality is starting to shift, there is room for improvement, especially in the area of gender inequality. To highlight the advancements in researchers’ thinking, we spotlight exemplary work that incorporates gender expansive realities using empirically and/or theoretically grounded approaches. We conclude by outlining best practices to measure gender identity, sexual identity, gender expression, gender conformity, and other facets of gender and sexuality.     

Discontinuities in robust nonparametric regression with α-mixing dependence

The main idea of the paper is to introduce a robust regression estimation method under an α-mixing dependence assumption, staying free of any parametric model restrictions while also allowing for some sudden changes in the unknown regression function. The sudden changes in the model may correspond to discontinuity points (jumps) or higher order breaks (jumps in corresponding derivatives) as well. We firstly derive some important statistical properties for local polynomial M-smoother estimates and we will propose a statistical test to decide whether some given point of interest is significantly important for a change to occur or not. As the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic depends on quantities which are left unknown we also introduce a bootstrap algorithm which can be used to mimic the target distribution of interest. All necessary proofs are provided together with some experimental results from a simulation study and a real data example.     

Two‐Year Follow‐up Outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: An Investigation of Relationship Satisfaction and Attachment Trajectories

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT; The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy: Creating connection. New York, NY: Brunner‐Routledge) is an evidence‐based couple therapy that aims to create lasting change for couples (Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 6(1), 67–79). Although studies have demonstrated strong results in follow‐up (Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 28(4), 391–398), less is known about relationship functioning across time after therapy has ended. We modelled change in relationship satisfaction and attachment from pre‐therapy through 24 months follow‐up in 32 couples. HLM results confirmed a significant growth pattern demonstrating increases in relationship satisfaction and secure base behaviour and decreases in relationship specific attachment anxiety over the course of therapy and across follow‐up at a decelerated rate. These findings support the theoretical assumption that EFT helps couples engaged in therapy create lasting relationship satisfaction and attachment change.     

Child Psychiatry in the Chinese Setting

This article introduces the history and social background and describes the present situation of child psychiatry in China. Certain Chinese social, political and cultural issues are explored, as the one-child policy and the Chinese family structure. Numerous currents of thought coexist in Chinese child psychiatry. Four examples of mental health disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry and their treatments in the Chinese public health care system are described (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anorexia nervosa, posttraumatic stress disorder and internet addiction).     

Iraqi refugees in Jordan: lessons for practice with refugees internationally

Asylum seekers, refugees who are resettled in third countries or those who are forced into refugee camps, present new challenges to social work practitioners. In an attempt to advance theory and develop specialised practice in the area of refugee studies within social work as an international profession, we argue that whatever the flight context, the country of asylum or of resettlement, there is a process underlying what Malkki referred to as refugeeness. This article focuses on the situation of Iraqi refugees in Jordan as an example of the challenges that confront today's refugees. We show that salient issues raised in a local community centre's needs assessment mirror those elements that are central to integration processes that have been discussed in much of the refugee studies literature across the world. We show how these concerns are closely linked to processes that resettled refugees and asylum seekers face, regardless of the country of resettlement. We introduce a framework for analysing an individual refugee's situation and show how an international phenomenon is linked to local practice.     

Strategy implementation and organizational change: How formal reorganization affects professional networks

Strategy implementation is difficult, particularly as it often requires changes in formal organization structures. Prior research has shown that change in the formal structure may affect employee networks. Yet, we know relatively little about how such changes affect different network ties. This paper considers how formal structural change affects senior managers’ ability to maintain their intraorganizational networks. The hypotheses are tested on sample of 884 work-related relationships of 96 partners in a global professional services firm. This firm had recently implemented a new strategy, which led to a change in the product-market focus and the resulting formal structure. Our findings reveal that the characteristics of a specific network tie determine whether it is affected by formal structural change. In particular, we find that network ties that are highly embedded in the social structure are more likely to be affected by change in the formal structure. In contrast, ties that are relationally embedded are less likely to be affected by change in the formal structure. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results. In particular, the findings may have consequences for the success of strategy implementation and strategic transformation efforts.     

Associations Between Systemic Quality of Life and Burnout Among French Canadian Workers

Social Indicators Research - Burnout has very often been studied from a work-life specific perspective. However, a recent field of research leads to wonder about the impact that life events can...     

Twelve-Month Prevalence of DSM-5 Gambling Disorder and Associated Gambling Behaviors Among Those Receiving Methadone Maintenance

This study sought to: (1) determine the prevalence of gambling disorder using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Version 5 (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association in Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, American Psychiatric Publishing, Arlington, 2013) criteria; (2) identify the frequency and amount of money spent on gambling behaviors; and (3) determine demographic and treatment related predictors associated with gambling disorder in a substance using population. People receiving methadone maintenance treatment (N = 185) in an urban medical center consented to participate in the study. We used DSM-5 criteria to assess the 12-month prevalence of gambling disorder. Questions adapted from a previously developed measure were used to identify, describe and quantify the frequency of use and amount of money spent on gambling behaviors. Most participants were African-American (71.4 %), male (54.1 %), unmarried (76.8 %), unemployed (88.1 %) and had an income of <$20,000 (88.5 %). On average, participants were receiving 81.0 mg of methadone (SD: 22.8) daily. Nearly half (46.2 %) of participants met DSM-5 criteria for gambling disorder. Compared to those without gambling disorder, those with gambling disorder did not differ significantly with respect to demographic characteristics nor methadone dose. However, those with gambling disorder had been in methadone maintenance treatment for significantly less time. Those with gambling disorder were significantly more likely to report engaging in a variety of gambling behaviors. Given that the 12-month prevalence of DSM-5 defined gambling disorder was nearly 50 % future efforts to screen and treat gambling disorder in the context of methadone maintenance treatment are clearly warranted.