Miscellaneous Journals

The purpose of this exploratory study is to identify facilitators and barriers to care coordination between medical and early intervention (EI) providers for children with special health care needs and their families. Fifty adults participated in one of six focus groups. Participants included parents/caregivers, pediatricians, hospital therapy providers, and EI providers. Guiding questions were designed to obtain participants' perceptions. All focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed. Transcript analysis included identification of open codes, grouping into axial codes and using constant comparative methods in data analysis. The two primary researchers established interrater reliability (? = 0.85) before data analysis. The six themes that emerged from data analysis are as follows: (1) information exchange; (2) approaches toward child and family care; (3) supporting family social and emotional needs; (4) perceptions of service provider roles; (5) communication among parents and providers; and (6) understanding service delivery systems. Focus group participants suggested that provider roles should be defined and family and child strengths and needs should be addressed. Recommendations for improved care coordination were provided and include communication training and skill building and using technology to enhance communication and collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Grandparents, and particularly grandmothers, are an important source of family support for parents of young children with developmental disabilities. This study examines the relationship between parenting stress of mothers and fathers and their grandmother support, self-esteem, and key family attributes. For mothers (N = 60), Time1 self-esteem and emotional support from maternal and paternal grandmothers jointly accounted for 28% of the variance in parenting stress at Time2. Higher self-esteem and grandmother emotional support were related to lower parenting stress in mothers. For fathers (N = 41), Time1 self-esteem and Time 1 level of parenting stress in their conjugal partners accounted for 28% of the variance with parenting stress at Time2. Higher self-esteem and lower spousal parenting stress were related to low parenting stress in fathers. While support from grandmothers was an important predictor of parenting stress for mothers, grandmother support did not predict parenting stress over time for fathers. These findings suggest important gender patterns in the value of grandparent support and the saliency of parent self-esteem in coping with parenting stress by parents of young children with developmental disabilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

The present study describes an examination of the relationship of parent self-focused negative attributions to specific parenting variables, namely parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress. Parents of children diagnosed with one of three chronic illnesses, Type 1 diabetes (DM1), asthma (AS), or cystic fibrosis (CF), completed self-report measures of attributions for illness-unrelated events, parental overprotection, perceived child vulnerability, and parenting stress. Results indicated that parent self-focused negative attributions were significantly associated with parenting stress among the combined and DM1-only samples. In addition, parent self-focused negative attributions were associated with perceived child vulnerability among the CF-only group, whereas self-focused negative attributions were not associated with any of the parenting variables within the AS-only group. The current results suggest that parent self-focused negative attributions may exert illness-specific influences on other cognitive processes (e.g., perceptions of child vulnerability, perceptions of stress), which have the potential to influence child adjustment outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

This study used a grounded theory approach to examine and describe the process of conducting Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) in an inpatient psychiatric system. Fifteen clinical cases were analyzed from the point of view of the patient, family/support member, referring providers, and MedFTs. In this study, MedFT appears to function well when there are high levels of collaboration with the patient, family, and referring provider. The participants in this study reported that MedFT was effective in helping them deal with complex family dynamics that often surround psychiatric hospitalization, and in helping patients and their families initiate systemic changes that help to reduce the possibility of further hospitalization for psychiatric issues. Effective MedFT approaches used in this setting are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Comments on article (see record 2008-09502-004) by Ryan J. Anderson et al, which used a grounded theory approach to examine and describe the process of conducting Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) in an inpatient psychiatric system. The current authors comment on how family involvement occurs on most psychiatric inpatient units. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a couple-oriented education and support intervention for osteoarthritis was more efficacious than a similar patient-oriented intervention in terms of enhancing spouses' support of patients and their positive and negative responses to patient pain. Repeated-measures analyses of covariance with the completers sample (N = 103 dyads) showed that at the postintervention assessment, patients in the couple-oriented intervention reported a greater decrease in their spouses' punishing responses (e.g., anger, irritation) than did patients in the patient-oriented intervention. In addition, a trend effect was observed in regard to the advantage of couple-oriented intervention for increasing spouses' attempts to distract patients from their pain. At the 6-month follow-up, patients in the couple-oriented intervention reported greater increased spouse support than those in the patient-oriented intervention. Findings illustrate the value of examining change in specific types of marital interactions targeted in a couples intervention, and the need to strengthen the impact of future couple-oriented interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

The Latino population in the United States is growing at an exponential rate. As a medically underserved population, Latinos experience many health disparities, including those related to mental health. Current research suggests that Latinos in the United States are at high risk for problems such as anxiety, depression, somatization disorders, and substance abuse, yet, often these health needs go unmet. This article suggests that an effective method of reaching and treating more Latinos is through medical family therapy. Because Latinos may be more likely to seek help from a physician for mental health complaints, and because marriage and family therapists may be most culturally congruent in their orientation to therapy, collaboration between health care providers and medical family therapists is logical. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Collaboration between behavioral health and medicine and integration of behavioral health as part of non psychiatric medicine has been a difficult task. Part of the difficulty has been a lack of fit between the financial models for coding and reimbursement that behavioral health and medicine is governed by. Because of this lack of fit, the tensions between the clinical, administrative, and financial worlds (Patterson, Peek, Heinrich, Bischoff, & Scherger, 2002) have often been contentious and have limited the progress of collaboration and integration. Recently, a set of billing codes known as the health and behavior codes were proposed by the American Psychological Association and approved by the American Medical Association. Although reimbursement of these codes has been mixed, there have been slowly increasing indicators of acceptance of the codes. This article describes the evolution of the codes, their implications, and limitations and ends with discussion of a strategy to move acceptance forward as a method of assisting the evolution of integrated behavioral health and medical care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

We know where people often go first when their coping is challenged: their family doctor. The frequency of extramarital affairs is high, and may be rising--indeed, I was amazed at the relatively low numbers quoted by Rhonda Faulkner in her excellent and enthusiastic review of Getting past the affair (see record 2008-09502-010). PTSD is another problem that sometimes has the look of an epidemic. Phil Phelps has written a very good review of a new handbook of PTSD in this issue (see record 2008-09502-011) and gives it high marks as a reference and resource. Not at all in the self-help domain, as the previous book is, nonetheless it is seen as a very valuable work to know and have access to. I am constantly amazed by the PTSD, or sometimes PTSD-like, symptoms and patterns that show up frequently in our clinic. Medical clinics and especially family doctors will continue to be heir to these kinds of personal trauma, whether we like it or not. The better we know what they are about, and how to work with them effectively, the less they will wind up getting inappropriate medical treatments and the more they will get the understanding and recognition that they deeply need. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Reviews the book Getting past the affair: A program to help you cope, heal, and move on--Together or apart (see record 2007-03354-000) by Douglas K. Snyder, Donald H. Baucom, and Kristina Coop Gordon. According to these authors, 20% of men and 10% of women engage in sexual infidelity at some point in their lives. Snyder, Baucom, and Gordon have compiled their wealth of clinical and research experience working with couples into this pragmatic guide to help couples navigate all of the complexities of dealing with an affair, from how they've gotten to this point in their relationship to what to do to heal, either together or separately. The three parts of the book outline very practical strategies and exercises for how to cope. Their formula is, "Deal with the shock and keep your family going; Talk to your partner without making things worse; Set new boundaries to help restore trust; Understand what went wrong and why; and Develop healthier relationships." This is a book to definitely recommend to anyone dealing with an affair. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Reviews the book Handbook of PTSD: Science and Practice (see record 2007-14029-000) by Matthew J. Friedman, Terence M. Keane and Patricia A. Resnick. The wide scope of the book provides a comprehensive review of what has been learned about PTSD in the past 25 years and where the research is headed. The stated goals of the authors were to (a) offer graduate students, interns, fellows, scientists, and practitioners a comprehensive handbook that would provide a sophisticated introduction to the trauma field; (b) provide a long overdue marking of the progress achieved since PTSD appeared as an official diagnosis in the DSM-III; and (c) highlight the work of some of the major contributors to the field of psychological trauma. The major drawback of the book is connected to its strength. As noted, it provides an excellent review of the literature pertaining to trauma and PTSD. However, because of the proliferation of studies in the area, the "half life" of any single study may be short. Part 1 devotes three chapters to the "Historical Overview" of trauma in psychiatry and the psychological history of PTSD over the past 25 years. Part 2 pertains to PTSD that includes topics such as psychological theories, epidemiology, risk pathways, neurobiology, genetics, and specific age populations. Part 3 focuses on assessment issues, early intervention, psychosocial and pharmacologic approaches to treatment, physical health issues and cultural factors. Finally, Part 4 includes topics such as PTSD and the Law, emerging treatments, treatment resistance and resilience, and public health considerations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

In this article, the author talks about his experiences on the visits to the homes of people, one couple in particular, with Alzheimer's dementia. He explains how the phases of the disease and its impact on families were familiar territory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Students Against Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction (S.A.N.T.A.) is a community-based participatory research project involving an active collaboration between University health providers and Job Corps students, administrators, teachers, counselors, and staff. In this article, we describe the project, its evolution, and key strategies that have been employed over the course of the initiative and its ongoing efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

This article relates the patient-physician relationship to certain types of poetry. In particular, the article explains how Jo Marie Reilly uses the metaphor of a broken doll to describe the devastation of intimate partner violence and the parallel metaphor of "the doll defender/tender/mender" to characterize the physician who must try to repair her patient. As Dr. Reilly wrote in her submission email, "These ladies are still broken to me, but on their road to healing. On their life journey to wholeness, there is hope, renewal and dreams to live." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Presents a poem about a victim of domestic violence, and her road to healing and wholeness, using an analogy of a broken doll. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Presents a poem that reminds the reader that, just as the physician is present for the patient, through Balint groups, other physicians also can be present for a colleague in need, prepared to engage in a shared reflective process that reduces isolation, shares burden, and creates a sense of community. A Balint group is a method of group discussion for family physicians to help them better understand and manage their relationships with difficult patients by examining their feelings, projections, and countertransference toward these patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

This article is about the author who is tending to her mother who had a stroke and is in critical condition in Parma. Giliotti reminisces, spends quality time next to her mother, and acknowledges the surrounding environment of the medical room. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

A preponderance of anecdotal evidence suggests that men manifest depression differently than women and that this atypical symptom presentation is even more evident in men who adhere to restrictive masculine norms (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2000; Real, 1997). The aim of this study was to develop a self-report assessment instrument, the Masculine Depression Scale (MDS), which captures these atypical symptoms of depression. One hundred and two men who experienced a recent stressful life event were asked to complete measures of prototypic depression, masculine norm conformity, and our measure of masculine depression. Factor analyses yielded a two-factor solution: internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Externalizing symptoms were moderately correlated with measures of depression and masculine norm adherence, while internalizing symptoms were highly correlated with measures of depression but unrelated to masculine norm adherence. Men who adhered strongly to masculine norms were more likely to endorse externalizing symptoms on the MDS than prototypic symptoms of depression. The findings suggest that the MDS may be capturing aspects of depression associated with masculine gender socialization that are not captured by existing measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

Male role attitudes of 130 Mexican American college men were examined. Results indicated that Mexican American men held significantly more traditional attitudes toward male roles on all nine indicators of masculinity compared to a normative sample of U.S. men. Socioeconomic status (SES) and Mexican cultural orientation were significantly related to male role attitudes, with higher SES associated with greater endorsement of views that men should be physically tough and should not display traits characteristic of women. Greater endorsement of Mexican culture was associated with views that: (a) men deserve respect from their wife and children, (b) self-assurance in men is admirable, and (c) that it is essential for men to gain others' respect. Implications for practice and research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

This study examined young men's gender beliefs in relation to their academic motivation (self-efficacy and interests) and selection of traditional (e.g., economics, engineering), nontraditional (e.g., psychology, literature), or neutral (e.g., life sciences, history) fields. A sample of 342 undergraduate men (M=19.61 years old) completed survey measures of masculinity ideology, perceived gender typicality, and covert sexism, and also rated their self-efficacy and interests in traditional and nontraditional fields. A series of regression analyses suggested ways that men's gender beliefs may be related to academic motivation and major choice in traditional or nontraditional fields. In addition, interests and self-efficacy appeared to mediate some associations between gender beliefs and academic choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)