How do spouses of cancer survivors engage with mental healthcare? An exploratory analysis of visit characteristics.

Objective: To better understand how cancer caregivers engage with mental healthcare, this exploratory study sought to assess the distribution and correlates of visit characteristics for mental health-related medical care among spouses of cancer survivors.

Methods: Using nationally representative data from the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, we assessed the proportion of caregivers who received a mental health-related prescription or psychotherapy visit across care settings (office based, outpatient hospital, emergency room, or inpatient visit), provider type (psychiatric, primary care, other specialty, or other), and visit purpose (regular checkup, diagnosis and treatment, follow-up, psychotherapy, other), and the health condition(s) associated with the visit. Logistic and multinomial regressions assessed the predisposing, enabling, need, and survivor characteristics associated with the visit characteristics.

Role of cancer survivor health and health service use in spouses' use of mental health-related care.

Background: Spouses of cancer survivors are at an increased risk of poor mental health outcomes but are known to underuse supportive services. The objective of the current study was to determine how the health and health care use of cancer survivors were associated with depression and anxiety-related health care use in their spouses.

Methods: The current observational study used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to identify married individuals with a cancer-related medical event or disability ("cancer survivors"), and linked health and health care use data across spousal dyads.

Caregiver Eligibility for Support Services: Correlates and Consequences for Resource Utilization.

Policymakers and community organizations have implemented numerous programs and services to support the more than 40 million family caregivers in the United States. However, the existence of such services is not sufficient to ensure equitable and optimal access and utilization. Using data from the Caregiving in the US study (2015; = 1,185), we estimated that nearly one in five family caregivers do not meet broad eligibility criteria for support services.

Study protocol: a hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of Moral Reconation Therapy in the US Veterans Health Administration.

Background: Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) is a cognitive-behavioral intervention aimed at reducing risk for criminal recidivism by restructuring antisocial attitudes and cognitions (i.e., "criminogenic thinking").

Perceptions of voluntary consent among jail diverted veterans with co-occurring disorders.

This study assessed perceptions of voluntary consent among 69 veterans who enrolled in a "jail diversion" program for co-occurring disorders. Perceptions were measured using modified items from the MacArthur Perceived Coercion and Negative Pressure Scales. A majority reported that they "chose to" (88.

Developing a research agenda for reducing the stigma of addictions, part II: Lessons from the mental health stigma literature.

Background And Objectives: Although advocates and providers identify stigma as a major factor in confounding the recovery of people with SUDs, research on addiction stigma is lacking, especially when compared to the substantive literature examining the stigma of mental illness.

Methods: A comprehensive review of the stigma literature that yielded empirically supported concepts and methods from the mental health arena was contrasted with the much smaller and mostly descriptive findings from the addiction field. In Part I of this two part paper (American Journal of Addictions, Vol 26, pages 59-66, this issue), constructs and methods from the mental health stigma literature were used to summarize research that seeks to understand the phenomena of addiction stigma.

Developing a research agenda for understanding the stigma of addictions Part I: Lessons from the Mental Health Stigma Literature.

Background And Objectives: Although advocates and providers identify stigma as a major factor in confounding the recovery of people with SUDs, research on addiction stigma is lacking, especially when compared to the substantive literature examining the stigma of mental illness.

Methods: A review of key studies from the stigma literature that yielded empirically supported concepts and methods from the mental health arena was contrasted with the much smaller and mostly descriptive findings from the addiction field.

Results: Integration of this information led to Part I of this two part paper, development of a research paradigm seeking to understand phenomena of addiction stigma (eg, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination) and its different types (public, self, and label avoidance).

Substance Use and Mental Health Stigma in Veterans With Co-Occurring Disorders.

Objective: This pilot study examined whether substance use or mental illness was more stigmatizing among individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse problems.

Methods: This study included 48 individuals with co-occurring substance use and mental health problems enrolled in a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services funded treatment program. Subjects received a baseline assessment that included addiction, mental health, and stigma measures.