The Effectiveness of a Community Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program Led by Laypeople in China: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

Community psychiatric rehabilitation has proven effective in supporting individuals and their families in recovering from mental illness. The delivery of evidence-based community rehabilitation services, however, requires health care workers to possess a set of specially trained knowledge and skills. Most developing countries, including China, do not have specially trained mental health personnel.

Changes Over Time in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Among Children Who Survived the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake and Predictive Variables.

This study examines changes over time in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among children who survived the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and the relevant predictive variables. A total of 203 children and adolescents were investigated 24 months after the earthquake, and 151 children and adolescents completed the 1-year follow-up study. Participants completed the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC).

A 6-Month Randomized Controlled Pilot Study on the Effects of the Clubhouse Model of Psychosocial Rehabilitation with Chinese Individuals with Schizophrenia.

To investigate the effectiveness of the Clubhouse Model of Psychosocial Rehabilitation on psychosocial functions and recovery of native Chinese individuals with schizophrenia in a community sample. A randomized controlled design was used. A total of 56 participants were recruited from a community sample for a study lasting 6 months, but five participants dropped out.

Family Decision Making and Self-Determination Among Consumers With Schizophrenia in China: Cross-Cultural Implications.

Objectives: Self-determination is viewed as an important ingredient of successful recovery in psychiatric rehabilitation. The concept of autonomy, a key component of self-determination, may be of less importance in Chinese cultures, whereby an individual's choices may be in conflict with the family's expectations. This study aimed to develop an instrument to measure opinions about self-determination among Chinese consumers and their family members.

[Negative symptoms predict the improvement of social functioning of patients with schizophrenia].

Objective: To identify predictive factors associated with the improvement of social functioning of schizophrenia patients in a community.

Methods: 101 schizophrenia patients undergoing community rehabilitation were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP), Self-Esteem Scale (SES), Family Function Questionnaire (APGAR), and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale II (WHODAS-II) twice 6 months apart. Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were performed to identify the influencing and predictive factors associated with the improvement of social functioning.

Effectiveness RCT of a CBT intervention for youths who lost parents in the Sichuan, China, earthquake.

Objective: Many children who lost parents in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, experienced symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. This randomized controlled study compared the treatment effectiveness of short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with a general supportive intervention and with a control group of nontreatment. METHODS; Thirty-two Chinese adolescents were randomly assigned to three treatment groups.

The effectiveness of artificial intelligent 3-D virtual reality vocational problem-solving training in enhancing employment opportunities for people with traumatic brain injury.

Background: People with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often experience cognitive deficits in attention, memory, executive functioning and problem-solving. The purpose of the present research study was to examine the effectiveness of an artificial intelligent virtual reality (VR)-based vocational problem-solving skill training programme designed to enhance employment opportunities for people with TBI.

Method: This was a prospective randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the effectiveness of the above programme with that of the conventional psycho-educational approach.

Sino-American employer perspective about behavioral-driven health conditions: predictive analyses.

Objective: A large-scale quantitative study was conducted by stratified representative samples from Chicago (prototype of the United States; N = 293), Beijing (prototype of urbanized China; N = 302), and Hong Kong (prototype of East-meets-West culture; N = 284) to explore factors that might lead to their stigmatizing attitudes towards hiring individuals with (mental illness, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and HIV/AIDS) and without (bone cancer) behavioral-driven health conditions.

Methods: Consented employers completed the Employer Survey pertaining to their attitudes towards specific health conditions, previous hiring experiences, resources, assets of applicants, and hiring concerns.

Results: The findings suggested that employers in Hong Kong and Beijing were more willing to hire individuals with alcohol abuse, whereas employers in Chicago were more willing to hire those with HIV/AIDS or bone cancer.

Chinese and American employers' perspectives regarding hiring people with behaviorally driven health conditions: the role of stigma.

Work opportunities for people with behaviorally driven health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and psychosis are directly impacted by employer perspectives. To investigate this issue, we report findings from a mixed method design involving qualitative interviews followed by a quantitative survey of employers from Chicago (U.S.

Assessing readiness to work from a stages of change perspective: implications for return to work.

The Lam Assessment on Stages of Employment Readiness (LASER) was developed to assess welfare recipients' employment readiness. The LASER consists of 14 items corresponding to Prochaska's stages of change model (Prochaska, DiClemente and Norcross, 1992). A sample of 149 welfare recipients from a work training program participated in the study.

Social support and quality of life among Latinos with mental illness.

We examine the degree of social support and quality of life (QOL) among 60 Latinos with mental illness from a Community Mental Health Center of a large metropolitan Midwestern city. Additionally, we assess the relationship of both the quality and quantity of social support, and control for demographic factors as they all relate to QOL. Latinos had an average network of 3 contacts.

Examining the cross-cultural validity of the english short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire using the matched moderated regression methodology.

Objectives: Pain is identified as the third largest health problem in the world, impacting sleep, physical functioning, and psychologic functioning. Pain has been viewed as a multidimensional experience influenced by biology, psychology, cultural conditioning, expectancies, and social contingencies. The aims of this study were to examine the psychometric properties and the differential item functioning (DIF) of the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) to test the cultural differences in verbally based pain expression.

Disability and work-related attitudes in employers from Beijing, Chicago, and Hong Kong.

Employers are primary and necessary agents in the return of people with disabilities to the work force. In this study, employment attitudes about two key constructs for vocational rehabilitation are examined: hiring the person with a disability and accommodating the person with disabilities at work. One hundred employers from Beijing, Hong Kong, and Chicago were surveyed regarding their attitudes.

Stigma in the workplace: employer attitudes about people with HIV in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Chicago.

Studies of HIV stigma in China are becoming more prevalent, but these studies have seldom involved direct cross-cultural comparisons. Moreover, although researchers consider employers to be a key power group whose practices can significantly impact the adjustment and recovery of people with HIV, the attitudes of employers in China towards people with HIV have rarely been studied. The present study sought to investigate employers' attitudes and hiring practices towards people with HIV across three culturally and linguistically distinct cities: Chicago, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

A long-term cross-sectional study on gastric bypass surgery: impact of self-reported past sexual abuse.

Background: This study examined differences in gastric bypass surgical outcomes by comparing two groups of female patients: those with a history of sexual abuse (SA) and those without a history of sexual abuse (NSA).

Methods: Participants who agreed to participate in the study were assessed at either 6-18 months or 19-40 months postsurgery. Outcome measures included body mass index (BMI), level of depression as measured through the Beck Depression Inventory, level of self-esteem as measured through the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and BISS as measured through the Body Image State Scale.

Competence of people with intellectual disabilities on using human-computer interface.

We investigated the task processes which hinder people with intellectual disabilities (ID) when using the human-computer interface. This involved testing performance on specific computer tasks and conducting detailed analyses of the task demands imposed on the participants. The interface used by Internet Explorer (IE) was standardized into 16 tasks (161 subtasks).

Measuring self-stigma of mental illness in China and its implications for recovery.

This study translated and validated the Chinese Version of the Self-stigma of Mental Illness Scale (CSSMIS), which may be used to measure self-stigma of mental health consumers in China. We also examined its correlation with self-esteem, self-efficacy and psychosocial treatment compliance. A cross-sectional observational study was implemented.

Rehabilitation of injured workers with chronic pain: a stage of change phenomenon.

Objective: This study was designed to explore the stages of change involved in return to work (RTW) for a group of workers who had been suffering from chronic pain.

Method: The participants were 67 (mean age = 42.67) injured workers who participated in a six-week RTW program.

A cross-cultural study of employers' concerns about hiring people with psychotic disorder: implications for recovery.

Introduction: Employment discrimination is considered as a major impediment to community integration for people with serious mental illness, yet little is known about how the problem manifests differently across western and non-western societies. We developed a lay model based on Chinese beliefs and values in terms of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and folk religions which may be used to explain cross-cultural variation in mental illness stigma, particularly in the arena of employment discrimination. In this study, we tested this lay approach by comparing employers' concerns about hiring people with psychotic disorder for entry-level jobs in US and China.

Development of a job evaluation system to predict job placements for persons with mild mental retardation: a pilot study.

An attempt to investigate the types of jobs held by people with mild mental retardation in Hong Kong has been made by this pilot study, to evaluate the job-related skills required and to build the foundation for the development of a computerized job evaluation system. A local market survey was conducted, and 14 supported employment staff, five employers and 38 people with mild mental retardation were interviewed. Eleven job analyses were also conducted.

Validation of Lam assessment of employment readiness (C-LASER) for Chinese injured workers.

Introduction: The Stage-of-Change Model offers a theoretical framework for understanding people's intention to change. The Lam Assessment of Stages of Employment Readiness (LASER) was developed to measure one's psychological readiness to return to work after an extended period of unemployment due to disability.

Method: The present study aimed to validate the Chinese version of LASER using a sample of Chinese industrial injured workers.

The Word Accentuation Test - Chicago.

A reading test for Spanish speakers in the United States was developed called the Word Accentuation Test-Chicago. The construction and validation of this 40 item test was modeled after reading tests developed in Spain and Argentina, and is based on irregular accentuation of words. The Word Accentuation Test-Chicago was validated on 45 community participants using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III in Spanish.

Use of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) with persons with traumatic brain injury: analysis of factorial structure.

Primary Objective: To determine the factorial structure of the BDI-II in a TBI sample and possible predictor variables of depression following TBI.

Research Design: Principle components analysis with orthogonal rotation and linear regression analyses.

Methods And Procedures: Fifty-one individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) participated in this study.

Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale deficits among traumatic brain injury patients, part II: Comparison to other measures of executive functioning.

The clinical utility of the Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale (BDS) was compared to that of verbal fluency, the Trail Making Test, and the Stroop Color-Word Test, as well as measures of processing speed/cognitive efficiency and manual dexterity. The ability of these measures to classify 49 TBI patients into frontal versus nonfrontal and mild to moderate versus severe groups was examined. The results showed that the Fluid Intelligence Factor of the BDS improved classifications above and beyond traditional executive measures, but was particularly successful at classifying patients who sustained mild injuries.

Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale deficits among traumatic brain injury patients, part I: Validation with nongeriatric patients.

The Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale is a measure of executive abilities initially designed to predict functional independence in geriatric populations. The current study examined the utility of two Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale (BDS) scoring systems in a nongeriatric sample. The BDS was administered to 49 TBI patients undergoing inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation.