Sudden losses and negative appraisal in people with severe mental illness.

Research on the impact of sudden or unexpected losses in people with severe mental illness is scarce. The purpose of our study was to examine the relationship between subjective distress from sudden losses in people with severe mental illness and posttraumatic stress symptoms while controlling for gender, psychiatric symptoms, and negative appraisals. As part of routine care, treatment personnel collected data from 371 community mental health clients diagnosed with a severe mental illness.

Lifetime trauma, subjective distress, substance use, and PTSD symptoms in people with severe mental illness: comparisons among four diagnostic groups.

The current study examines correlations among trauma, high risk behaviors, subjective distress from both trauma and high risk behaviors, and substance use in community mental health clients diagnosed with a severe mental illness, and tests the following key hypothesis: clients with major mood disorders (major depression, bipolar I) will show higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms than clients with either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder when trauma, high risk behaviors, subjective distress, substance use and gender are controlled. Linear regression demonstrated that only major depression and bipolar disorder varied significantly with PTSD symptoms when controlling for other key factors.

Differences in trauma and posttraumatic stress symptoms in clients with schizophrenia spectrum and major mood disorders.

The current study of 371 community mental health clients with severe mental illness examined differences in frequency of common lifetime trauma and other stressful events in clients with schizophrenia spectrum and major mood disorders in order to gauge the unique variance in posttraumatic stress symptoms explained by trauma/stressful events when controlling for other psychiatric measures. The overwhelming majority (88.1%) of these clients reported at least one stressful/traumatic event in their lifetime with a median of seven such events.

The role of cognitive appraisal in adaptation to traumatic stress in adults with serious mental illness: a critical review.

A compelling body of literature suggests that negative appraisal may be associated with adverse reactions to traumatic stress. However, very few studies have examined how appraisal influences posttraumatic adaptation in people with serious mental illness (SMI) despite evidence of disproportionately high prevalence rates of trauma exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in this population. The purpose of this article is to provide a critical analysis of the theoretical and empirical literature on cognitive appraisal and psychological adaptation to traumatic stress with a specific focus on individuals diagnosed with SMI.

Drinking motives as mediators between PTSD symptom severity and alcohol consumption in persons with severe mental illnesses.

Research has consistently shown that drinking to alleviate negative emotional states predicts alcohol use and relapse among clients with co-occurring disorders including depressive and posttraumatic stress disorders. However, studies examining the mediating role of drinking motives in persons with severe mental illness (SMI) are few. The current survey of 116 community mental health clients (51.

Subjective distress associated with sudden loss in clients with severe mental illness.

Data from interviews with 276 community mental health clients diagnosed with a severe mental illness were used to examine the association between clients' subjective distress from sudden loss of a close friend or loved one and PTSD symptoms. Over three-quarters of these clients reported sudden losses in their lives, and regression analysis showed that distress related to sudden losses accounted for significant and unique variance in PTSD symptoms when all other sources of traumatic distress were controlled. Practitioners should routinely assess interpersonal losses among clients with SMI and offer brief interventions specifically aimed at helping clients cope with such losses.

High-risk behaviors and drinking-to-cope as mediators of lifetime abuse and PTSD symptoms in clients with severe mental illness.

Face-to-face interviews with 276 community mental health clients (56.2% women; 42.8% men) diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (44.

Subjective distress from stressful events and high-risk behaviors as predictors of PTSD symptom severity in clients with severe mental illness.

Survey data collected from 257 community mental health center clients tested direct and indirect relationships among subjective distress associated with stressful/traumatic events and high-risk behaviors, substance abuse, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed substantial direct effects of subjective distress associated with lifetime physical and sexual abuse on PTSD symptom severity. Subjective distress related to high-risk behaviors (e.

Further validation of the Psycho-Social Well-Being Scale (PSWS) with community clients.

To monitor and evaluate the use of evidence-based approaches with mentally ill persons who abuse alcohol and other drugs, administrators, practitioners and evaluators will need to incorporate brief, reliable, and valid instruments into daily practice. The current two-part study provides further validation of the Psycho-Social Wellbeing Scale (PSWS), a multidisciplinary "debriefing tool" designed to capture and summarize data on clients' wellbeing from multiple sources in team-based community care. In the current investigation the PSWS was correlated with a number of valid instruments including the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, the Role Functioning Scale, the Social Functioning-12, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Alcohol Use and Drug Use Scales along with other important indices.

Co-occurring psychosocial distress and substance abuse in community clients: initial validity and reliability of self-report measures.

The current study examines the self-reports of 227 community support clients using a paper and pencil questionnaire that included the South Shore Problem Inventory-revised (a brief multidimensional psychosocial distress scale), a one-item index of self-rated substance abuse (SRSA), a quantity-frequency index for alcohol consumption (QFI), and a one-item index measuring the frequency of marijuana use. Results support the factor structure and internal consistency of the SSPI-r, and show significant correlations among the substance use indices. Implications for including brief mental health and substance abuse measures are discussed within the context of routine assessment and practice evaluation.

Validating the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test with college first-offenders.

Although the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) has been shown to have good validity and reliability with clinical samples, little data has been examined with respect to youthful problem drinkers, particularly college students. Data collected with 312 students cited their first time for breaking university drinking rules was examined to evaluate the factorial validity and internal consistency of the 10-item scale, and also to test the validity of the AUDIT against two scales designed with a previous cohort specifically to measure hazardous (The Drinking Context Scale) and harmful drinking (the College Alcohol Problem Scale) in college students. Overall, results suggest that the AUDIT is a valid and reliable screening device for college students, and could play an important role in assessing youthful problem drinkers for early intervention programming.