Attitudes and beliefs about mental health among African American older adults suffering from depression

Depression among older adults is a major public health concern leading to increased disability and mortality. Less than 3% of older adults utilize professional mental health services for the treatment of depression, less than any other adult age group. And despite similar rates of depression, African Americans are significantly less likely to seek, engage and be retained in professional mental health services than their white counterparts. Cultural differences in the way depression symptoms are manifested, defined, interpreted and labeled may in part explain some of these racial differences in help-seeking behaviors. Focus group methodology was utilized to identify and explore attitudes and beliefs about depression and mental health treatment utilization among 42 older African Americans who had recently suffered a major depressive episode. Thematic analysis of identified six overarching themes: (a) perceptions of depression, (b) the African American experience, (c) seeking treatment as a last resort, (d) myths about treatment, (e) stigma associated with seeking treatment and (f) culturally appropriate coping strategies. We discuss implications for practice, education and research.     

Adolescent attitudes toward random drug testing in schools

The current research examined students' perceptions of random drug testing for students participating in after-school activities. Results found students were more likely to endorse drug testing at their school if they are already engaged in after-school activities and not currently using drugs and/or alcohol. While middle and high school students' scores fell within the median, most reported if drug testing were implemented in their school they believed it would not deter continued participation in after-school activities. However, if drug testing were a prerequisite for participating in after-school activities, high school students were more apprehensive about getting tested than middle school students. Student respondents were more likely to endorse drug testing, if all members of the school system (i.e., teachers, coaches and staff) participated in drug testing. High school students' believed they had enough knowledge about drug abuse and were less likely to endorse drug testing because they believed it would violate their personal privacy compared to grade school students. Results also differed as a function of gender and self-reported drug and alcohol use.     

Coping With Ethnic Stereotypes in the Academic Domain: Perceived Injustice and Psychological Disengagement

Psychological disengagement is the defensive detachment of self-esteem from a particular domain. In the academic arena, disengagement can result from devaluing academic success or discounting the validity of academic outcomes. We review evidence for ethnic differences in these two processes of psychological disengagement and present results of a multiethnic study examining perceived ethnic injustice and academic performance as predictors of devaluing and discounting. Among African American students, beliefs about ethnic injustice (but not academic performance) predicted greater discounting and devaluing. Among European American students, poor academic performance (but not beliefs about ethnic injustice) predicted greater devaluing and discounting. Among Latino/a students, beliefs about ethnic injustice were associated with greater discounting, whereas poorer academic performance was associated with increased devaluing.     

Disability and participation in the professions: examples from higher and medical education

Learners with disabilities remain under-represented in higher education and courses, such as medicine, that grant access to ‘the professions’. National and professional legislation, policy and guidance have changed over the last few decades in response to reforms in the way disability is viewed and valued by society. Principles of equal rights and equality of opportunity inform the negotiation of widened participation in the professions. However, drawing on the example of medical education, it is possible to see that widening participation agendas may be insensitive to the needs of learners with disabilities. Analysing the development of practice and policy from a participation perspective suggests that tokenism may have played a role in deprioritising the voices of individuals with disabilities, rendering policy disconnected from the needs of marginalised groups. The concept of participatory parity may provide an opportunity to readdress this misrepresentation.     

Resolving inconsistencies in trends in old-age disability: Report from a technical working group

In September 2002, a technical working group met to resolve previously published inconsistencies across national surveys in trends in activity limitations among the older population. The 12-person panel prepared estimates from five national data sets and investigated methodological sources of the inconsistencies among the population aged 70 and older from the early 1980s to 2001. Although the evidence was mixed for the 1980s and it is difficult to pinpoint when in the 1990s the decline began, during the mid- and late 1990s, the panel found consistent declines on the order of 1%-2.5% per year for two commonly used measures in the disability literature: difficulty with daily activities and help with daily activities. Mixed evidence was found for a third measure: the use of help or equipment with daily activities. The panel also found agreement across surveys that the proportion of older persons who receive help with bathing has declined at the same time as the proportion who use only equipment (but not personal care) to bathe has increased. In comparing findings across surveys, the panel found that the period, definition of disability, treatment of the institutionalized population, and age standardizing of results were important to consider. The implications of the findings for policy, national survey efforts, and further research are discussed.     

Childfree by choice: Attitudes and adjustment of sterilized women

This research compares the attitudes, values and adjustment of childfree women to those of two relevant comparison groups. The study represents a methodological advance in that: (a) the childless sample represents women clearly committed to that lifestyle and (b) childfree women are compared with women who also have made active, although dissimilar, childbearing decisions. Discriminant analysis suggests that voluntarily sterilized, childless women differ from women pregnant for the first time and from women sterilized after having two children in attitudes and values but not adjustment. Findings are discussed in relation to those of other studies which have used: (a) objective assessments of attitudes, values and/or adjustment, and (b) comparison groups.This study was supported in part by Biomedical Sciences Support Grant FR-RR07087 to the second author from the General Research Support Branch, Division of Research Resources, Bureau of Health Professions, Education and Manpower Training, National Institutes of Health. The authors would like to thank Robert F. DeVellis, Jo Anne L. Earp, Charlotte Friedberg and an anonymous reviewer for comments on an earlier draft of this article.     

Transferring training to child welfare practice: Individual and collective efforts

The transfer of training to practice constitutes an ongoing challenge in child welfare services. Many efforts to understand and promote training transfer address the concept as an individual-level behavior. This study suggests that training transfer is both an individual and collective process. The study involves a survey at two time points of 214 workers from child welfare agencies who attended a training program. Principle components analysis identified two meaningful sub-components within the concept of the training transfer. Hierarchical linear regression was used to assess the influence of individual-level and contextual factors on both components. Findings suggest that to promote collective training transfer and enhance both individual and group performance, child welfare administrators may need to strengthen supervisory support and to promote positive work climates in which trainees can discuss training concepts and work together to apply them.     

A longitudinal study of newspaper and wire service coverage of nanotechnology risks

This study reviewed coverage of nanotechnology risks in 20 U.S. and 9 U.K. newspapers and 2 wire services from 2000 to 2009. It focused on information that citizens could come across in daily newspaper reading that could highlight the salience of these issues and alert readers to potential risks. Few articles about nanotechnology health, environmental, and societal risks were found in these publications during this period, averaging only 36.7 per year for both countries. The coverage emphasized three main narratives over time: runaway technology, science-based studies, and regulation. Health risks were covered most frequently, followed by environmental and societal risk issues. Regulation coverage was not as frequent but increased over time. The majority of the coverage focused on news events and 10 events drew modest media attention. Scientific uncertainty discussions appeared in about half of the articles, and scientists and engineers were the dominant information sources in both countries. Some significant differences between U.S. and U.K. coverage were found: U.K. coverage emphasized more societal concerns, while U.S. coverage paid more attention to environmental risks. Because the volume of coverage was not extensive and was counterbalanced by many more articles extolling nanotechnology's benefits, it is questionable whether this coverage alerted readers about potential nanotechnology risks. Coupled with citizens' minimal knowledge about nanotechnology, this type of coverage could create public distrust of nanotechnology applications should a dangerous risk event occur.     

The continued lived experience of the unexpected death of a child

The purpose of this qualitative study was to further examine the lived experiences of families that faced the sudden loss of a child. Six mothers that had previously participated approximately 9 years ago in the study entitled "The Lived Experience of the Unexpected Death of a Child" were interviewed. All of the mothers were Caucasian and had achieved a high school or greater level of education. Taped interviews and field notes were transcribed for data display. Together, two raters completed data reduction and coding for theme identification and categorization. Six themes were revealed that described helpful coping behaviors used by the mothers: positive beliefs, faith beliefs, everlasting love, pleasant remembrances, social engagement, and staying connected. Two themes, avoidance and rumination, described the behaviors that did not help the mothers cope with their loss. Finally, answers to the questions regarding acceptance and healing time were also revealed.