Background: Prior research has demonstrated a strong and independent association between loneliness and pain, but few studies to date have explored this relationship in racially and ethnically diverse groups of midlife and older adults. We drew on the diathesis stress model of chronic pain and cumulative inequality theory to examine the relationship of loneliness and the presence and intensity of pain in a nationally representative sample of Black, Latino, and White adults aged 50 or older in the United States.
Methods: Data were from Wave 3 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project ( = 2,706).
In the US, there is a growing number of older Latinx communities. Qualitative approaches such as narrative inquiry may be fruitful endeavors to elucidate their lived experiences. However, older Latinx communities, including sexual minorities, are disproportionately exposed to social, health, and historical challenges that may result in exposure to potentially traumatic events (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChildhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) and maltreatment have long-term negative impacts on survivors, including older adults. Yet, limited qualitative examinations of how these experiences impact the lives of older adults exists and even fewer among older Latino gay men. We drew data from life-history narratives the first author conducted with five Spanish speaking older Latino gay men in New York City.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn India, social determinants of health, including poverty, domestic violence, and inadequate social support disproportionately affect women, leaving them more vulnerable to depression than men. We conducted a metaethnography to synthesize qualitative data from 13 studies (1987-2017) that explored women's experiences and perceptions of depression in India. We used a feminist standpoint to critically examine how gender shapes these experiences and perceptions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Research suggests siblings of individuals with schizophrenia are at a heightened risk for depressive symptomatology. Research has not yet examined whether the strains of growing up with a brother or sister with schizophrenia contribute to this risk. This study examined whether early life course burdens associated with an emerging mental illness, and current objective and subjective caregiver burden predicted depressive symptoms in siblings of individuals with schizophrenia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Understanding the experience of individuals across stages of schizophrenia is important for development of services to promote recovery. As yet, little is known about the experience of individuals who exhibit prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia.
Methods: Audiotaped interviews were conducted with 27 participants of diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds who were at clinically high risk of psychosis (15 males and 12 females; mean age 21).
Objective: Psychosis-like experiences may be clinically significant given their demonstrated associations with concurrent psychological distress and the later development of diagnosable psychotic disorders. Prior studies of treatment for psychosis-like experiences have yielded conflicting results. The aims of this study were to investigate help seeking and need for care among individuals with psychosis-like experiences in a large general population sample.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Critical Time Intervention (CTI) is a time-limited care coordination intervention designed to reduce homelessness and other adverse outcomes for persons living with serious mental illness during the transition period between institutions and community living. This study assesses whether CTI improves the quality of family relationships between family members and individuals living with serious mental illness, and examines whether changes in quality of family relationship mediated the association between the intervention and psychiatric rehospitalization outcomes.
Method: This study utilizes data from a randomized controlled trial that assessed the effect of CTI in preventing homelessness.
Previous studies have shown variation in the prevalence and incidence of psychosis across immigrant groups, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Stress related to acculturation may increase risk for psychosis among immigrant groups. In this study we examine the association between acculturative stress and psychotic-like experiences in a sample of Latino- and Asian-American immigrants to the United States in the National Latino and Asian American Study (n=2434).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Psychiatr Res
February 2013
People with first-degree relatives with schizophrenia are at an elevated risk of developing the disorder themselves. High rates of psychotic symptoms in non-psychotic disorders, high rates of comorbidity in psychotic disorders, and diversity of outcomes following psychosis-risk states together suggest that this vulnerability may be for psychiatric conditions in general, not limited to schizophrenia. In this study, data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) were used to examine the association between having a first-degree relative with schizophrenia and the lifetime development of a range of non-psychotic axis I psychiatric disorders using adjusted odds ratios.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious research suggests that trauma may contribute to psychosis onset. In this study, we examine the effect of parental loss of a child on the onset of psychotic experience using data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, hypothesizing that child loss will precede the onset of psychosis and will be associated with a later age of onset. We likewise tested this association for six other psychiatric conditions to demonstrate specificity for psychosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSiblings of persons with mental illness who assume primary caregiving roles experience substantial and tangible economic impacts associated with this responsibility. This study investigated mailed survey responses collected from 156 adult siblings of persons with mental illness from New York State to examine instrumental costs associated with providing support to siblings with illness. Genders of both siblings, severity of the relatives' mental illness, and number of surviving parents in the family distinguished those occupying primary caregiving responsibility from those not in primary roles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined knowledge of New York's Assisted Outpatient Treatment law, enacted November 1999, among adult siblings of persons with mental illness. Mailed survey responses collected between April, 2000 and September, 2001 from 100 siblings residing in New York State were reviewed. Only 48% acknowledged familiarity with the law.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Psychiatr Pract
November 2002
This study examines the complex and varied effects associated with having a brother or sister with a severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) on the lives of adult siblings without chronic disability. Through five focus group interviews, 19 participants were asked to describe the impact that having a brother or sister with mental illness had on their lives. Codes and categories derived from the text of the transcribed interviews were grouped into broad themes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Orthopsychiatry
October 2004
Through focus group interviews, participants were asked to describe the impact over time of having a sibling with severe mental illness. Transcript content was then organized into categories and overarching themes using grounded-theory analysis. Respondents' personal and interpersonal experiences are presented, along with suggestions for professional outreach and further research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychiatr Serv
September 2002
Objective: Korean Americans' access to mental health services may be limited because of differences in their views of mental illness compared with Westerners, unfamiliarity with treatment methods, and cultural associations of social stigma with mental problems. This study used data from an urban outpatient clinic to assess the effects of a ten-week psychoeducational intervention for Korean Americans with chronic mental illness.
Methods: Forty-eight Korean-American adults with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were randomly assigned to either an experimental group that provided a culturally sensitive psychoeducational group program in addition to individual supportive therapy or a control group that offered only individual supportive therapy.