Exploring cumulative identity-based discrimination, distress, and traumatic exposure among Muslims living in the United States.

Objective: Muslims living in the United States (MLUS), a highly heterogeneous group, experience high rates of discrimination that may cumulatively contribute to traumatic stress. This study explored whether identity-based discrimination (i.e.

The impact of familial involvement on dropout in a culturally informed group therapy for people diagnosed with 'schizophrenia'.

Background: Individuals with schizophrenia diagnoses are high-risk for dropout from mental health treatments, yet few studies have examined whether familial involvement in therapy impacts dropout.

Methods: We examined whether familial involvement and other demographic variables predicted dropout among 101 patients enrolled in culturally informed group therapy for schizophrenia (CIGT-S), which incorporates collectivistic principles and spiritual coping into treatment. We reviewed records and conducted follow-up calls to identify reasons for dropout, and performed survival analyses to identify when dropout was likely.

A mixed-methods approach to psychological help-seeking in Muslims: Islamophobia, self-stigma, and therapeutic preferences.

Objective: Muslims living in the United States (MLUS) report high mental health stigma. They also underutilize professional psychological help, despite experiencing rising Islamophobia and comparatively poorer mental health. In line with double stigma, we examined whether MLUS who perceived greater Islamophobia also experienced greater self-stigma of seeking help, and whether this was related to negative help-seeking attitudes.

Neighborhood socioeconomic status and racial disparities in schizophrenia: An exploration of domains of functioning.

Black Americans are disproportionately diagnosed with schizophrenia and experience worse objective functional outcomes (e.g., hospitalizations) than their White counterparts.

The association between perceived racial discrimination and subclinical symptoms of psychosis.

Background: Schizophrenia is one of the most disabling disorders with the poorest outcomes. Cross-cultural research indicates an association between perceived racial discrimination and depression, anxiety, general psychological distress, and psychotic-spectrum disorders. Studies also find that coping moderates the relationship between discrimination and depression.

Risk and Resiliency Factors Related to Dementia Caregiver Mental Health.

Prevalence rates for dementia are expected to rise exponentially as the elderly population rises. With this comes a corresponding increase in the number of family members who will become dementia caregivers. Caregivers of people with dementia often experience a deterioration in mental health.

Affective and physiological reactivity to emotional comments in individuals at elevated risk for psychosis.

Background: Individuals with schizophrenia are at increased risk of relapse when they live in highly critical (i.e., high expressed emotion; EE) family environments.

The mediating effect of family cohesion in reducing patient symptoms and family distress in a culturally informed family therapy for schizophrenia: A parallel-process latent-growth model.

Objective: Although both patients with schizophrenia and their caregivers report elevated levels of depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS), affective symptoms in patients and family members seldom constitute a primary treatment focus. The present study tested whether a culturally informed family therapy for schizophrenia (CIT-S) outperformed standard family psychoeducation (PSY-ED) not only in decreasing patient schizophrenia symptoms, but also in decreasing individual DASS. Because CIT-S fostered family cohesion throughout treatment, we predicted that increases in family cohesion would mediate treatment effects.

Stigma, Expressed Emotion, and Quality of Life in Caregivers of Individuals with Dementia.

Expressed emotion (EE) is a measure of a caregiver's critical and emotionally overinvolved (EOI; e.g., intrusive, self-sacrificing) attitudes and behaviors toward a person with a mental illness.

Does religiosity predict attrition from a culturally-informed family treatment for schizophrenia that targets religious coping?

Objective: People dealing with serious mental illness frequently report turning to religion to help cope with the disorder. However, little is known about how religion impacts commitment to psychotherapy programs for people with schizophrenia and their caregivers.

Method: In a sample of 64 families enrolled in a culturally informed family treatment for schizophrenia that targets religiosity, we hypothesized that patients and caregivers who use high levels of adaptive religious coping and low levels of maladaptive religious coping, would be less likely to drop out of treatment than their counterparts.

Mental Health Disparities, Treatment Engagement, and Attrition Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities with Severe Mental Illness: A Review.

Mounting evidence indicates that there are mental health disparities in the United States that disadvantage racial/ethnic minorities in medical and mental health settings. Less is known, however, about how these findings apply to a particularly vulnerable population, individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). The aim of this paper is to (1) provide a critical review of the literature on racial/ethnic disparities in mental health care among individuals with SMI; (2) identify factors which may contribute to the observed disparities; and (3) generate recommendations on how best to address these disparities.

Acculturation styles and their associations with psychiatric symptoms and quality of life in ethnic minorities with schizophrenia.

This study examined whether Berry's model of acculturative stress would predict psychiatric symptom severity and quality of life (QoL) in ethnic minorities with schizophrenia. Tested extensively in non-psychiatric populations, Berry's framework generally suggests that integration, or engagement with both the host and minority culture, is most adaptive. Using the Abbreviated Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (AMAS), we tested the hypothesis that individuals with schizophrenia who employed an integrative acculturation strategy would have the highest QoL and lowest symptom severity, followed by the assimilation and enculturation groups, then the marginalized group.

The feasibility of a culturally informed group therapy for patients with schizophrenia and their family members.

Research suggests that group-based psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia provide benefits to patients and family members alike. However, few existing treatments consider cultural factors that may enhance their efficacy with diverse populations. The current study examined the feasibility of a culturally informed group therapy for schizophrenia (CIGT-S), which incorporates collectivistic principles and spiritual coping into the treatment protocol.

Risk and Protective Factors, Perceptions of Family Environment, Ethnicity, and Schizophrenia Symptoms.

The family environment can play either a detrimental or a protective role in symptom severity for people with schizophrenia. The current study examined both patient and caregiver perspectives of the family environment in an ethnically diverse sample of 221 patients with schizophrenia. We hypothesized that environments characterized by high levels of perceived caregiver criticism, low perceived caregiver warmth, and low family cohesion (from both the patient and caregiver perspective) would predict greater symptom severity.

Integrity of Literature on Expressed Emotion and Relapse in Patients with Schizophrenia Verified by a p-Curve Analysis.

There is growing concern that much published research may have questionable validity due to phenomena such as publication bias and p-hacking. Within the psychiatric literature, the construct of expressed emotion (EE) is widely assumed to be a reliable predictor of relapse across a range of mental illnesses. EE is an index of the family climate, measuring how critical, hostile, and overinvolved a family member is toward a mentally ill patient.

The effect of a culturally informed therapy on self-conscious emotions and burden in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia: A randomized clinical trial.

Objective: Caring for a family member with schizophrenia often results in high degrees of self-conscious emotions (shame and guilt/self-blame), burden, and other serious mental health consequences. Research suggests that ethnic and cultural factors strongly influence the manner in which family members respond to mental illness. Research further indicates that certain cultural practices and values (spirituality, collectivism) may assist family members in coping with the self-conscious emotions and burden associated with caregiving.

Caregiver Expressed Emotion and Psychiatric Symptoms in African-Americans with Schizophrenia: An Attempt to Understand the Paradoxical Relationship.

Expressed emotion (EE) is a family environmental construct that assesses how much criticism, hostility, and/or emotional over-involvement a family member expresses about a patient (Hooley, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 2007, 3, 329). Having high levels of EE within the family environment has generally been associated with poorer patient outcomes for schizophrenia and a range of other disorders. Paradoxically, for African-American patients, high-EE may be associated with a better symptom course (Rosenfarb, Bellack, & Aziz, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2006, 115, 112).

Effects of sub-clinical psychosis and cognitive insight on psychological well-being: a structural equation model.

Psychological well-being has been widely researched along the psychosis spectrum, and increased psychotic symptoms are generally associated with worse well-being. Additionally, the construct of insight has been extensively studied in schizophrenia. While having greater insight has many benefits for those with schizophrenia, a paradox exists in which greater insight is also associated with poorer psychological well-being.

A randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of a family-focused, culturally informed therapy for schizophrenia.

Research strongly suggests that family interventions can benefit patients with schizophrenia, yet current interventions often fail to consider the cultural context and spiritual practices that may make them more effective and relevant to ethnic minority populations. We have developed a family focused, culturally informed treatment for schizophrenia (CIT-S) patients and their caregivers to address this gap. Sixty-nine families were randomized to either 15 sessions of CIT-S or to a 3-session psychoeducation (PSY-ED) control condition.

Latent profile analysis of healthy schizotypy within the extended psychosis phenotype.

Converging evidence suggests that psychosis exists on a continuum, and that even mentally "healthy" individuals may experience subclinical psychotic experiences. However, little research has examined the subjective and psychological well-being of individuals in the putatively healthy end of the continuum. This study explored the latent profile structure of schizotypy in a non-clinical sample and compared subjective and psychological well-being across schizotypy profiles.

Burden, interdependence, ethnicity, and mental health in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia.

Caring for a patient with schizophrenia often results in high levels of perceived burden and poorer overall mental health. Using a sample of 176 caregivers of patients with schizophrenia, the present study examined how two components of burden (objective and subjective) interacted with interdependence and ethnicity to influence relatives' overall mental health. In line with study hypotheses, and with the stress-appraisal-coping model developed by Lazurus and Folkman (1984), we found that subjective burden mediated the relationship between objective burden and mental health.

Religion's effect on mental health in schizophrenia: examining the roles of meaning-making and seeking social support.

While a growing body of research suggests that religion offers mental health benefits for individuals with schizophrenia, few studies have examined the mechanisms underlying this effect. The present study investigated two potential mediators (seeking social support and meaning-making coping) that may elucidate the nature of this relationship. The sample included 112 individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.