A randomized controlled trial for self-advocacy intervention in college students with disabilities.

Purpose/objective: People with disabilities often achieve lower educational attainments and face worse employment outcomes compared to the general population, a disparity partially due to the insufficient development of self-advocacy skills in academic and professional environments where targeted interventions are limited. This study designed and evaluated a 6-week self-advocacy program (SAP) enhanced with solution-focused brief therapy techniques for college students with disabilities (SWDs).

Research Method/design: A program evaluation on process and outcomes was conducted using a pilot randomized controlled trial with college SWD ( = 28).

Recovery and trauma among urban African Americans with serious mental illness.

Objective: Traumatic experiences are prevalent among people with serious mental illness and can significantly worsen outcomes. This study aimed to identify an urban cluster of trauma types, compare continuous distress ratings versus categorical experience of trauma for predicting outcomes such as depression and quality of life, and investigate the mediating role of recovery orientation in the impact of trauma exposure on outcomes.

Method: Data came from an intervention study on African Americans with serious mental illness living in a large urban area; 212 participants completed baseline self-report measures of past trauma experiences, related distress levels, recovery, depression, and quality of life.

A systematic review of community-based participatory research studies involving individuals with mental illness.

Objective: This systematic review examined community-based participatory research (CBPR) studies in which people with mental illness (PWMI) directly contributed to research projects. The purpose was to describe study characteristics, team structure and logistics, and level of involvement of in the research process.

Method: We searched the PsycINFO database from January 2000 to July 2020, identifying 1,395 records and analyzing the 31 that met inclusion criteria.

Weight Self-Efficacy and Recovery Among African-Americans With Serious Mental Illness and High Body Weight.

Many African-Americans with serious mental illness fail to engage in evidence-based programs that positively affect weight management. We examined how having a weight-related physical illness correlated with self-efficacy, recovery, and quality of life by contrasting illnesses with symptoms that are obviously perceived ( e.g.

How do Americans perceive the stigma of leprosy?

The stigma of leprosy will have reduced effects if people cannot reliably perceive it. Two factors impact these perceptions: familiarity and entitativity. One hundred and forty-five participants tested this assertion using an online platform to complete measures of stigma about leprosy as well as measures of familiarity and entitativity.

Perceptions of difference and disdain on the self-stigma of mental illness.

Background: People with mental illness are viewed as different and disdained by the general population leading to public stigma. When public stigma becomes internalized, it results in self-stigma. Content-less measures of stigma have shown to benefit studying public stigma, but research on self-stigma is limited.

Strengths and challenges of peer coaches for supported education in colleges and universities.

Objective: Peer coaches are an important element in supported education programs. Peers are students with lived experience in recovery. As coaches, they provide on-campus support to assist students with psychiatric disabilities.

How does familiarity impact the stigma of mental illness?

This paper reviews studies on familiarity of mental illness to determine the relationships that familiarity has with public stigma. We propose a U-shaped relationship between familiarity and stigma that includes the expected inverse distribution (greater familiarity leads to less public stigma) and a provocative, positive relationship (familiarity in some groups leads to worse public stigma). Note that despite many studies in this arena, the U-shaped curve is not definitively supported by existing research.

Perspectives on diet and physical activity among urban African Americans with serious mental illness.

African Americans are burdened by high rates of obesity that contribute to chronic disease and early mortality. To tailor a weight loss intervention to meet the needs of African Americans with serious mental illness, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) team comprised primarily of African Americans with serious mental illness guided qualitative research to understand factors that affect weight and interventions that may diminish obesity. Data from five focus groups (n = 55) were analyzed to better understand this group's needs.

Difference as an indicator of the self-stigma of mental illness.

Background: People with mental illness are viewed as different from the general population resulting in public stigma. When public stigma becomes internalized, it leads to self-stigma. The most distal stage of self-stigma is harm which can lead to negative self-concepts that inhibit recovery.

Self-stigma and the mediating impact of the "why try" effect on depression.

The "why try" effect, a consequence of self-stigma, is a sense of behavioral futility that may worsen depression. This study examines the regressive model of self-stigma, the factor structure of a why try measure, and the pathway through which self-stigma leads to depression. Data from 291 people self-identifying with mental illness were collected through an online survey.

Stigma and the public health agenda for the opioid crisis in America.

The current opioid crisis in the U.S. is unprecedented and calling for a nationwide reorganization of the public health prevention program.

Comparing Chinese and European American mental health decision making.

Background: Shared decision making (SDM) tends to reflect more Western values of individualism and empowerment, values that may be foreign to East Asian healthcare preferences for collectivism and family involvement: family centered decision making (FCDM).

Aims: To show that Chinese will be more likely to believe FCDM would be more pleasing for them if they were the patient. Conversely, European Americans will respond more favorably to SDM.

Changing public stigma with continuum beliefs.

Background: Given the egregious effect of public stigma on the lives of people with mental illness, researchers have sought to unpack and identify effective components of anti-stigma programs.

Aim: We expect to show that continuum messages have more positive effect on stigma and affirming attitudes (beliefs that people with mental illness recover and should be personally empowered) than categorical perspectives. The effect of continuum beliefs will interact with contact strategies.

The Stigma of Personality Disorders.

This article reviews the recent literature on the stigma of personality disorders, including an overview of general mental illness stigma and an examination of the personality-specific stigma. Overall, public knowledge of personality disorders is low, and people with personality disorders may be perceived as purposefully misbehaving rather than experiencing an illness. Health provider stigma seems particularly pernicious for those with borderline personality disorder.