Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the career development of individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

Objective: The purpose of this preliminary exploratory study was to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the career development of diverse individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

Methods: Four hundred sixty-nine individuals with psychiatric disabilities and 147 individuals without psychiatric disabilities completed survey questions regarding their employment and educational experiences during the pandemic. We utilized chi-square analyses to explore the differences between those with and without psychiatric disabilities and between racial groups.

Development of a comprehensive inventory of community participation for individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

Objective: The social lives of individuals with psychiatric conditions are often characterized by isolation and a lack of meaningful engagement in communities of their choice. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a comprehensive and multidimensional measure of community participation for use in research, evaluation, and service provision.

Method: We conducted this study in phases beginning with conceptual activities and culminating in the psychometric testing of the reliability and validity of the Inventory of Community Participation for individuals with Mental Health conditions (ICP-MH).

Socially Valued Roles, Self-Determination, and Community Participation among Individuals Living with Serious Mental Illnesses.

Decades after deinstitutionalization, individuals living with serious mental illnesses remain isolated, socially disengaged, and devalued members of communities. Burgeoning research and services need conceptual clarity to improve such social conditions. This qualitative inquiry used grounded theory and participatory approaches to conduct an in-depth exploration of community participation for individuals living with serious mental illnesses based on key stakeholder perspectives (n = 45).

Concordance of assessments of clients' mental and behavioral health with in vivo assessment of work performance.

Background: Assessing functioning and disability among individuals with mental and behavioral health disorders has historically relied on deriving accurate psychiatric diagnoses and assessing symptoms. However, growing empirical evidence suggests that this approach is inadequate to determine real world performance, particularly with respect to work.

Objective: We examined a performance-based approach to the assessment of work functioning and its relationship to mental and behavioral health status.

Exploring the work lives of adults with serious mental illness from a vocational psychology perspective.

Current vocational services for adults with serious mental illness remain largely atheoretical and disconnected from mainstream vocational psychology research and practice. This study explored the perspectives on work of adults with serious mental illness, compared perspectives of young and older adults, and assessed these perspectives for the applicability of a well-established theory of vocational psychology. A national sample of 76 individuals with mental illness engaged in the workforce completed a semistructured questionnaire.

Barriers to and facilitators of the acceptance process for individuals with serious mental illness.

The process of acceptance of mental illness is a central component of recovery and has been linked to functioning, illness management, and quality of life. A number of barriers and facilitators have been theorized as impacting this process. This study was conducted with 30 participants with serious mental illness (a major psychiatric disorder with impairment in multiple areas of functioning) to elicit the barriers to and facilitators of the acceptance of mental illness.

Acceptance of mental illness: core components of a multifaceted construct.

The recovery movement has identified acceptance of mental illness as critical to quality of life and illness management. However, there is a general lack of research on the acceptance of mental illness. The present qualitative study was conducted with 30 participants with mental illness to clarify the construct of acceptance.