Seeking Support: The Voice of Young Men Who Have Experienced Sexual Harm During Their Life Course.

The sexual abuse and assault of boys and men is not uncommon, and seeking support is useful in reducing negative outcomes. However, male survivors are less likely than women to seek support. Gendered norms and myths persist with several gender-specific barriers to seeking support existing for men.

Loneliness in older persons with schizophrenia.

Background: In tandem with the rise in numbers of older adults in the general population, more people with schizophrenia (PwS) are also living longer. This vulnerable population has several trajectories of ageing driven by a number of social determinants of health, including the experience of loneliness and they may be more at risk of experiencing loneliness.

Aim: This study aimed to examine demographic, psychosocial and clinical variables and their relative contribution to the loneliness of older PwS (OPwS) in a large New Zealand community sample.

Functional recovery in older adults with schizophrenia: A national interRAI study.

Background: The concept of recovery for people with schizophrenia (PwS) is still a matter of debate. Growing numbers of PwS living to older age calls for examination of their disease trajectories with a focus on recovery.

Aim: To compare two groups of PwS (good wellbeing; poor wellbeing) on several psychosocial variables associated with social wellbeing to identify interventions that support functional recovery.

Sexual Assault in Older-Age Adults: Criminal Justice Response in New Zealand.

There is growing recognition that older persons, both male and female, may experience sexual assault. One clearly identified gap in the body of scientific literature is examination of the criminal justice response for older adults who have been sexually assaulted. This retrospective age-group comparative data analysis examines publicly available population and police statistics for 2018 to describe rates (per 100,000) of reported sexual assault across adult age categories (young adult,  = 748; adult,  = 1,478; middle age,  = 290; older adult,  = 58) and compare (using Chi-square bivariate analysis) the criminal justice response to sexual assault for these adult age categories in New Zealand (NZ).

Mentoring: A Traditional Cook Island Approach to Support Men.

The present study examines a unique Cook Island approach to the rehabilitation and support of men, particularly those who have been convicted of criminal offending or who are experiencing other mental health or interpersonal difficulties. The culturally appropriate method of enabling change is offered via a community-based 24-hr mentoring system to support men. Run by men, the program is based on traditional Pacific ways of male mentoring in which one man helps another.

Spirituality: A Key Component of the Salvation Army's Bridge Programme Model of Treatment in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Spirituality is vital to The Salvation Army's Bridge model of treatment for alcohol and drug addiction. Spirituality is expressed through Recovery Church, prayer, spirituality lifters, the 12-step programme, and focuses on meaning and purpose. We recruited participants from several regional centers throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and evaluated spirituality using the WHOQol-SRPB and open-ended questions.

Seeking of help and support after experiencing sexual harm: considerations for cisgender women, cisgender men and gender-diverse people.

Aims: This study examines the help-seeking behaviours of cisgender women, cisgender men and gender-diverse university students who have experienced sexual harm.

Methods: We examine an existing data set from a cross-sectional survey of experiences of sexual harm among university students. Bivariate analyses were used to analyse the type of sexual harm experienced and subsequent help-seeking behaviours.

The use and impact of repeated questions in diagnostic child abuse assessment interviews.

There is limited research regarding the use of repeated questions and the subsequent response from children in real-world forensic contexts. We analysed 71 transcripts of diagnostic assessments in which 3- to 6-year-olds were assessed for suspected abuse experiences. On average, 6% of interviewer questions were repeated, and 47% of the repeated questions were abuse-related.

Impact, Ramifications and Taking Back Control: A Qualitative Study of Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.

There is increasing recognition of the occurrence and frequency of male childhood sexual abuse (MCSA). Quantitative and qualitative research has demonstrated a number of adverse outcomes associated with MCSA in terms of mental health, physical health and difficulties in behavioural, social or interrelationship functioning. The present study gives voice to male survivors of childhood sexual abuse by exploring themes around the impact of MCSA over the course of their life.

Does Gender Affect Judges' Perceptions of Sexual Assault Cases?

There is growing recognition that females engage in harmful sexual behaviour that is similar in severity and type to males. Existing research, however, suggests that there is a bias towards leniency in judicial systems for female sexual offenders (FSOs) in comparison to male sexual offenders (MSOs). Specifically, FSOs receive shorter sentences than do MSOs and are less likely to be sentenced to prison.

"It's Not a Great Boulder, It's Just a Piece of Baggage": Older Women's Reflections on Healing from Childhood Sexual Abuse.

In this study, we explored older women's reflections on processes of healing related to childhood sexual abuse (CSA). We aimed to answer questions about how childhood trauma was integrated into the life story and to identify factors or coping strategies that aided, or hindered, healing. Participants within this study included 12 women who were aged 60 or older and had reported CSA as adults at the beginning of the research project, 25 years prior.

App-based mindfulness meditation for psychological distress and adjustment to college in incoming university students: a pragmatic, randomised, waitlist-controlled trial.

In a pragmatic, randomised, waitlist-controlled trial we tracked 250 first-year university students who were randomly assigned to 3 months of a mindfulness meditation app (Headspace) to use at their discretion in either semester 1 (intervention,  = 124) or semester 2 (waitlist,  = 126). Students reported their distress, college adjustment, resilience, self-efficacy, and mindfulness, at 3 timepoints: the beginning of semester 1, the beginning of semester 2, and the end of the academic year. With participants' permission, the university provided academic achievement data and Headspace provided app use data.

The peril of self-reported adherence in digital interventions: A brief example.

Adherence is an important predictor of intervention outcomes, but not all measures of adherence are created equally. Here, we analyzed whether there was a discrepancy between self-report adherence and objective adherence in a digital mindfulness meditation randomised, controlled trial. A sample of 174 young adult undergraduate university students trialled either an app-based or email-based mindfulness meditation program (or an app-based attention control).

Childhood sexual abuse, poly-victimization and internalizing disorders across adulthood and older age: Findings from a 25-year longitudinal study.

Background: We aimed to investigate associations between childhood sexual abuse and maltreatment and internalizing disorders (anxiety, depression, PTSD) across adulthood.

Methods: Following a postal survey of 2220 women, a subsample was selected to participate in an interview. The subsample included 276 women reporting childhood sexual abuse and 221 women with no reported history of childhood sexual abuse.

Listening to the Therapeutic Needs of Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.

Childhood sexual abuse of males is not uncommon with estimated prevalence rates across countries and different studies indicating that 8% of boys experience sexual abuse before age 18. A number of adverse outcomes are recognized in terms of mental health, behavioral, and relational difficulties. However, research also indicates that there is potential for healing.

Interviews with children about their mental health problems: The congruence and validity of information that children report.

To obtain a child's perspective during a mental health assessment, he or she is usually interviewed. Although researchers and clinicians generally agree that it is beneficial to hear a child's account of his or her presenting issues, there is debate about whether children provide reliable or valid clinical information during these interviews. Here, we examined whether children provide clinically and diagnostically relevant information in a clinical setting.

Influence of law changes affecting synthetic cannabinoid availability and frequency of hospital presentations: 4-year national survey.

Aims: We previously reported that passage of the 2013 Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA), which limited retail availability of synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), was followed by reduced numbers of presentations to one psychiatric emergency service. This analysis examined national trends in hospital presentations associated with use of SCs, and how these changed after passage of laws in 2011, 2013 and 2014, that altered SC availability.

Methods: Analysis of 2011-2015 Ministry of Health dataset of patients presenting to hospital associated with use of SCs.

Drawing helps children to talk about their presenting problems during a mental health assessment.

When children require mental health services, clinicians need to conduct assessments that are developmentally sensitive and that include the child's point of view. Drawing is a popular tool that is commonly used in clinical settings. Research on drawing in experimental settings has confirmed that the opportunity to draw while talking increases the amount of verbal information that children report during an interview.

Compulsory community treatment and patients' perception of recovery in schizophrenia.

Objective: This study examined whether patients' perception of recovery differed for those receiving treatment under a compulsory treatment order (CTO) compared to those who were not.

Method: A total of 86 participants with schizophrenia/schizo-affective disorder were interviewed about their views on recovery, and their clinical files were examined to ascertain if they were under a CTO at time of interview.

Results: No association between being under a CTO and recovery beliefs was found.

Exploratory assessments of child abuse: children's responses to interviewer's questions across multiple interview sessions.

Objective: The present study extends field research on interviews with young children suspected of having been abused by examining multiple assessment interviews designed to be inquisitory and exploratory, rather than formal evidential or forensic interviews.

Methods: Sixty-six interviews with 24 children between the ages of 3 and 6 years who were undergoing an assessment for suspected child abuse were examined. Each child was interviewed 2, 3, or 4 times.