“Let’s Talk About Children” resource: A parallel mixed method evaluation

Psycho-education interventions for families affected by parental mental illness have been found to be effective. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of a psycho-educational resource for parents, designed to initiate family discussions about parental mental illness and educate parents about the impact of their illness on children. In a mixed methods design, 19 parents read the “Let’s Talk About Children” psycho-educational resource and completed pre-and-post questionnaires measuring their perspectives of mental illness and awareness of the impact of mental illness on their children and family. 18 of these participated in a follow-up, one hour, individual interview to obtain further feedback on the resource. After viewing the resource, changes in parents’ attitudes and/or behavior in relation to mental illness and parenting were recorded. Interview findings indicate that the resource gave parents an awareness of the skills and knowledge needed for initiating family discussions about parental mental illness. The results of this study can be used to inform future interventions targeting parents who experience mental illness.     

How can context and discourse affect teachers’ and mental health professionals’ interactions with adults with mental illness?

Patients with severe mental illness may have needs different from those of patients with more limited illnesses and might benefit from other types of intervention than traditional treatment. We interviewed health care professionals from two open, short-term psychiatric wards and teachers from two schools for adults with psychiatric diagnoses. The focus was to explore how differences in contextual factors such as time, tasks, and organizational demands might affect the actions and attitudes of health care professionals and teachers, as well as the potential consequences for patients and students. Data were collected through qualitative interviews. Participants included 14 health care professionals and 14 teachers. The informants worked with patients and students with similar diagnoses and illness durations. All interviews were conducted during the informants’ work time. Findings and interpretations showed that both teachers and health care professionals were engaged in their work and in the wellbeing of students and patients. However, they described marked differences in practice, including the amount of time spent with students/patients, the organization of their work, main tasks, amount of control over their tasks, and social structure. These differences seemed to affect relationships with students/patients, attitudes toward students/patients, norms and values, and opportunities for patient empowerment. Our findings suggest that while existing psychiatric health care might be appropriate for limited short-term problems such as single-episode depression, a model with a supportive environment, based on stable relations and possibility for learning, may improve personal development and mental health for persons with severe mental illness and disturbances in self-experience.     

Randomized controlled trial of the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with undergraduate university students

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the Resilience and Coping Intervention (RCI) with college students. Participants: College students (aged 18–23) from a large Midwest US university who volunteered for a randomized controlled trial during the 2015 spring semester. Methods: College students were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 64) or a control (n = 65) group. Intervention participants received three 45-minute RCI sessions over subsequent weeks. All participants completed pre- and post-intervention assessments at the beginning of Week 1 and end of Week 3. Student resilience, coping, hope, stress, depression, and anxiety were assessed. Results. RCI participants reported significantly more hope and less stress and depression from Week 1 to Week 3 compared with control participants. Results for resilience also approached statistical significance. Effect sizes were small to moderate. Conclusions: This study found preliminary evidence that RCI is an effective resilience intervention for use with college students.     

Mortality among elder abuse victims in rural Malaysia: A two-year population-based descriptive study

Our study aims at describing mortality among reported elder abuse experiences in rural Malaysia. This is a population-based cohort study with a multistage cluster sampling method. Older adults in Kuala Pilah (n = 1,927) were interviewed from November 2013 to May 2014. Mortality was traced after 2 years using the National Registration Department database. Overall, 139 (7.2%) respondents died. Fifteen (9.6%) abuse victims died compared to 124 (7.0%) not abused. Mortality was highest with financial abuse (13%), followed by psychological abuse (10.8%). There was a dose-response relationship between mortality and clustering of abuse: 7%, 7.7%, and 14.0% for no abuse, one type, and two types or more, respectively. Among abuse victims, 40% of deaths had ill-defined causes, 33% were respiratory-related, and 27% had cardiovascular and metabolic origin. Results suggest a link between abuse and mortality. Death proportions varied according to abuse subtypes and gender.     

政府适度干预简论

自由竞争经济下,资本家的过分自利行为造成了市场失灵,因此政府以一种"调控人"的身份对市场失灵进行干预,而长期的政府干预不可避免地出现了"政府失灵"。传统政府干预理论认为这种现象是由于经济法未完全生效的原因,并依此提出双向干预说,期望利用经济法克服政府失灵。但实际上政府失灵是经济法的一部分,对政府失灵的克服只能是完善经济法自身,具体措施可以引入适度干预学说:第一,引入契约机制的互动干预体系;第二,建立责任与干预相统一的问责制度;第三,将克服"政府失灵"列入除经济法以外的合适法律形式。     

社会工作介入留守儿童服务的方法与技巧——以XY市某社区为例

中国社会的急剧转型,城镇化进程加速,产生了一个特殊的农民工群体。随之出现数百万留守儿童。调查发现,85％以上的留守儿童是由祖父母隔代监护和亲友临时监管,而年迈体弱、文化素质较低的祖辈监护人难以满足孩子的学习辅导和生活监护的需要。加上家庭教育的缺失,学校与家庭之间的沟通不畅,家庭和学校监护不力,导致相当数量的留守儿童产生厌学、逃学、辍学等现象。作者从社会工作的角度出发,从留守儿童本身,留守儿童家庭、学校、社会等方面入手,提出三种切实可行的介入应对措施,即社会工作急需介入留守儿童的个案咨询和辅导、介入留守儿童互助支持小组活动、介入留守儿童家庭的亲子沟通。     

心理资本:组织竞争优势之源

从心理资本的概念与构成维度、心理资本的测量与干预、心理资本的影响效应研究三个方面对心理资本做了阐述。在对国内外现有文献进行回顾和评述的基础上,指出现有研究的不足,提出了对未来的展望。     

“非典”危机反应与危机心理干预

面对突如其来的SARS流行,社会上普遍出现恐慌、焦虑、担忧等心理反应。如何帮助人们调整心态,应对危机,在危机中获得成长,已经成为心理学家当前最关心的课题。文章从心理学的角度出发,探讨了SARS危机下人们出现的身心反应以及危机可能引发的后果,提出了危机干预的方法、过程,初步构建了危机干预的模式。对于如何应对SARS引起的过度的危机反应,文章中也提出了自我心理调适的途径和方法。     

论科研中的伦理干预

当代科学技术的发展给人类带来了诸多的伦理困惑, 科研必须受伦理的规范和引导,尊重伦理的基本价值。深入探析科技与伦理的内在关联性,保持二者间的张力与平衡,是未来科技发展与伦理全面进步的基础。在科技成为强势文化的背景下,尤其要强调伦理对科研的干预作用。     

“Double-dose” English as a strategy for improving adolescent literacy: Total effect and mediated effect through classroom peer ability change

“Double-dose” coursework has become an increasingly popular strategy to assist low-performing students succeed in academic coursework. Chicago implemented a “double-dose” English policy in 2003. This policy not only provided additional instructional time to struggling readers, but also intensified skill-based sorting in English classes. I use policy-induced variation to infer the policy effect on students’ reading achievement and the effect mediated by classroom peer ability change. Results show very weak, but positive effects of taking double-dose English for students with average skills. However, potential benefits of doubled instructional time are likely to be offset by negative effects of declines in classroom peer ability. Students with very weak skills experienced minimal change in classroom peer ability, and two-period coursework is likely to benefit these students.