Validating a Behavioral Health Instrument for Adults: Exploratory Factor Analysis

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, social workers and behavioral health practitioners use assessment instruments to support service planning and to monitor progress. Following statewide implementation of the Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment (ANSA) to identify behavioral health symptoms, related functional challenges, risks, and strengths, this validation study explored the underlying structure of the instrument. An exploratory factor analysis used routinely collected information for Midwestern adults with diagnosed behavioral health disorders who participated in community-based services (N = 46,013). Five factors with adequate to good internal consistency (α = 0.733?0.880) emerged: personal recovery, trauma and stress related problems, substance use risks, self-sufficiency, and cultural-linguistic considerations. Validation of the ANSA supports use of the instrument to engage individuals and families, to plan services, to monitor progress, and to conduct research. Implications for social work education, supervision, and practice include the importance of understanding culture, holistic assessment, and services supporting personal recovery for individuals living with mental illness or substance use disorders. Confirmation of findings requires additional research.     

Two-location families

In a study of two-location families, we have seen that this lifestyle is not historically atypical. Male-determined two-location families have been established for economic and other reasons. The women-determined two-location family seems to be a relatively new pattern. We suggest that the Women's Movement has helped create a situation where it is possible for women to get more support than men for women-determined two-location families. The sustaining of intimacy in such marriages becomes problematic. Stress may be minimized when there is high career motivation in both parties, acceptance of the wife's career motivation by the husband, high incomes, geographical propinquity, and a long-term marital relationship.     

Changing the Future: The Story of Attachment with a Child with Special Needs

This article, initiated by personal experience, looks at parental fear of attachment to children with conditions which put them at risk, the experiencing of grief at the loss of the fantasy baby, and the acceptance by the parents which enables the attachment to proceed. Reference is made to attachment issues in the case of adoption, styles of attachment, and some notion of reconstruction in therapy with 'special needs' survivors where attachment has been insecure or the process has been attenuated by length of risk.     

Evaluating multisystemic efforts to impact disproportionality through key decision points

Working in four communities, Casey Foundation/Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) Alliance on Racial Equity (the Alliance) have developed a Racial Equity Scorecard for measuring disproportionality at key decision points for use in impacting disproportionality in the child welfare system. The four communities include King County, Washington; Guilford County, North Carolina; Ramsey County, Minnesota; and Woodbury County, Iowa. Data from one site--Woodbury County, Iowa--are used as an example. This article provides the background and method for identification and measurement of key decision points in the child welfare system to track change effected by multisystemic approaches to reduce disproportionality. Interpretation of the results in the scorecard is provided and recommendations for future interventions based on the data are discussed.     

The Relevance of Attachment Research for Adult Narratives Told in Psychotherapy

This paper discusses categories of attachment organization in infants, with an emphasis on the avoidant and disorganized/disoriented category. An example of how the avoidant infant attachment organization shows continuity throughout the lifespan is discussed. Finally, a case example of a man seen to have a dismissing/unresolved pattern of attachment organization is presented. In the ensuing discussion, the authors suggest that knowledge of infant attachment research can help therapists identify patterns that manifest in adult psychotherapy.     

Modified moment and maximum likelihood estimators for parameters of the three-parameter gamma distribution

This article is concerned with modifications of both maximum likelihood and moment estimators for parameters of the three-parameter gamma distribution. Modifications employed here are essentially the same as those previously considered by the authors (1980, 1981) in connection with the lognormal distribution. Sampling behavior of the estimates is indicated by a Monte Carlo simulation. For certain combinations of parameter values, these new estimators appear better than both maximum likelihood and moment estimators with respect to bias, variance and/or ease of calculation.     

Career Service Needs of College Students With Disabilities

Students with disabilities at 2 midwestern universities were surveyed as to their use of campus career-related services, their behavior regarding disability disclosure and accommodations, and their knowledge of ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990) employment-related guidelines. The results indicate that most students with disabilities do not use existing career development and employment services on campus. Students frequently disclose their disability to a prospective employer; however, students are less likely to request accommodations on the job. These trends may be explained in part by the student's limited knowledge of their employment rights under the ADA.     

An Examination of Social and Socio-Psychological Factors in Party Preferences: The Case of Greece*

Two important traditions of research on the causes of voting preferences, one that stresses social variables and is associated with the University of Columbia and the other that examines current issues and is identified with the University of Michigan Survey Research Institute, are drawn upon to help provide an analysis of political party preference in Greece. Among the social variables used in the study, age is the only significant one. Issues related to foreign policy concerns, socioeconomic redistribution, and government record tend to have strong effects on left-leaning party preference. It is suggested that Greek parties do tend to proclaim rather distinct positions on foreign policy issues and socioeconomic redistribution, and Greeks perceive a difference between the parties on these issues. However, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in reality may not be as radical on foreign policy issues as some of its rhetoric suggests.