Academic literature on the topic 'Clinical health psychology : Social psychology'

- Clinical health psychology is a specialty widely recognized because of its evidence based practice, its contribution to an integrated health care system, and the costeffectiveness of its services. The specialty of clinical health psychology applies scientific bio-psycho-social knowledge to the promotion and maintenance of health, to the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of illness and disability, and to promotion of the health care system. The distinct focus of clinical health psychology is on physical health problems, as delineated by ICD-10. In this article the authors review its definition, provide a brief overview of practice in the specialty, address the training in clinical health psychology. The greater degree of focused science and practice in a specialty is the consequence of advances of the discipline and profession of psychology. In every case, the future holds a variety of important challenges and opportunity in research, practice, training and policy. Key words: clinical health psychology, bio-psycho-social model, clinical psychology, health psychology, education and training, specialization.

Clinicians are often required to make judgments regarding clients on the basis of relatively limited information. These judgments can have a substantial effect on the client's own self-perception and on the perceptions of others about the client. This study was designed to investigate the effect of demographic information on clinical judgments.A preliminary study was utilized to determine which demographic variables to vary in the demographic combination presented in the case study. A cluster analysis found that undergraduates reported differences in their perceptions of demographic combinations based on the age and socioeconomic status which was included. As only one part of the demographic combination was to be varied, age was selected.In the main study, graduate student clinicians were presented a case study. The gender, race and socioeconomic status of the client presented in the case study remained constant while the age of the client was varied. Half of the students received a case study where the demographic information represented a 74 year old and half received a case study where the demographic information represented a 35 year old. It was hypothesized that graduate student clinicians' ratings would vary based on the age of the client presented.In addition, it was hypothesized that placing demographic information at the beginning of the case study would result in different ratings than when demographic information was placed at the end of the case study. Half of those presented with the 74 year old client demographic information received that information early in the case study and half received that information near the end of the case study. The same manipulation was made for those presented with the demographic information representative of the 35 year old client.It was also hypothesized that those without demographic information would rate clients differently than those with demographic information. None of the hypotheses were supported; however, an effect for the time of rating was found. Later ratings were found to be more lenient than earlier ratings. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine licensed mental health professionals' attitudes towards rape survivors. Research indicates that the attitudes of police officers, mental health professionals, and the general public may influence the psychological adjustment of rape survivors and, consequently, whether or not that person seeks mental health treatment after the assault (Vincent, 2009). The negative impacts of rape on a person may not be specific only to the act of violence, but may also include secondary victimization from the survivors' negative experiences with authorities such as legal and mental health professionals (Campbell & Raja, 1999) who may hold negative beliefs about sexual assault and rape survivors (Nagel, Matsuo, McIntyre, & Morrison, 2005). Exposure to these negative beliefs held by others may be associated with negative secondary emotions in the survivor, such as guilt; guilt associated with actions taken or not taken in the context of rape has been observed to be positively correlated with posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, low self-esteem, social anxiety, and suicidal ideation (Kubany, Abueg, Owens, Brennan, Kaplan, & Watson, 1995). It is therefore important to examine the attitudes licensed mental health workers hold towards rape survivors, as these rape survivors may seek services from mental health professionals, and the clinicians' attitudes towards these clients' experiences may significantly impact survivors' recovery from a sexual assault. In addition to measuring the acceptance of rape myths in licensed mental health providers, this study aims to explore how demographic variables in mental health professionals, such as gender, type of graduate degree, or participant rape survivor status, are related to the attitudes participants report about sexual assault. It was hypothesized that male study participants would attribute greater responsibility to survivors than female study participants would, based on the results of the updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, and congruent with published research highlighting this gender difference (Grubb & Harrower, 2009). It was hypothesized that mental health providers who have had more years of training in their graduate degree program would report lower levels of rape myth acceptance compared with those who had a shorter degree program. It was also hypothesized that participants who themselves identified as a rape survivor or who had a close friend or family member who is a survivor would attribute less responsibility to rape survivors, as research supports the observation that those who identify as survivors or friends of survivors may reject negative biases towards sexual assault survivors.

After completing both independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U statistical analyses, gender identity was the only demographic for which statistically significant mean differences were seen in total rape myth acceptance scores (p = .012). This finding is not surprising, as much of the current literature supports that men, in general, attribute more blame to rape survivors than women. Prior to the current study there was no published research using licensed mental health providers as participants in a study using the updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. Data gathered from the current study will therefore offer a valuable contribution to the literature on this topic. Further, it is hoped that this data can be used in the development of graduate programs, continuing education courses, and didactic seminars that debunk rape myths and promote competency around rape survivor issues.

This parent training program was designed to be utilized within the Early Head Start Program. The proposed program is an eight-module program design to be implemented in eight sessions, two hours each, for a one-month duration. The aim of the parent training program is to increase parent participation in their child’s therapy sessions. The participants are parents of children with developmental delays who are found to be eligible for the Early Head Start Program. Through attending the parent training program, several outcomes are likely to occur including, increased social and emotional developmental outcomes for the child, a stronger parent-child bond, an increased awareness for the parent regarding how to effectively promote learning for their child with special needs, a more authoritative parenting style to be adopted by the parents, and a decreased likelihood of abuse and neglect for the child. The proposed parent training program provides a parent training implementation outline, an initial parent survey, and several quizzes to determine the parent’s competency throughout the modules. Suggestions for future research, discussions of strengths and limitations, and program evaluations were offered for discussion.

Introduction: People with a learning disability are members of a stigmatised group and research has shown that stigmatisation can have a negative impact on psychological wellbeing. The process of social comparison has been shown to be important in the experience of stigmatisation and has been shown to have been used by people with a learning disability. This thesis aims to examine the perception of stigma in people with a learning disability and the relationship it has with their psychological wellbeing. The process of social comparison in this population will be explored and the possible moderating effect it may have on the relationship between stigma and psychological wellbeing will be investigated. Methods: The study involved a questionnaire-based interview with 43 adults with a mild to moderate learning disability who attended local adult resource centres. Participants completed four self-report measures of perception of stigma, self-esteem, symptoms of psychological distress and social comparison. The social comparison measure was completed twice: once in comparison with other service users and again in comparison with people in the community. Results: Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between perception of stigma and self-esteem and symptoms of psychological distress. Perception of stigma was shown to be significantly related to negative social comparisons, and negative social comparisons were significantly related to low self-esteem and high symptoms of psychological distress. No difference was found between social comparisons made with other service users and those made with people in the community. Social comparison was not found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between stigma and self-esteem. Discussion: The results provide further evidence that greater awareness of stigma is related to lower self-esteem, higher psychological distress and more negative social comparisons. Furthermore, those that compare themselves negatively to others report lower self-esteem and higher psychological distress. Although there was no difference in the way people with a learning disability compared themselves to their peers versus the general population, the way they see themselves compared to others in general has implications for their wellbeing. The significance of this and the relevance for future research is discussed.

Depression is a serious disability around the world that can cause harm to a person's physical and mental well-being. Little research has been done on the effects of social cohesion on depression. This study used a cross-sectional descriptive survey design to analyze a sample from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) to determine whether or not there was a relationship between how often a person feels depressed and social cohesion factors: (1) willingness of people in the neighborhood to help each other, (2) trust in people in the neighborhood and (3) doing volunteer work or community service in the past year.

Using, Chi-square analysis, it was determined that these three social cohesion variables showed a significant relationship with how often a person feels depressed. Having substantial social networks may act as protective barriers to stress, fear, and lack of control. These protections have positive impacts on depression and depressive symptoms.

Depression and anxiety during pregnancy can have a host of negative effects on mothers and their infants, such as premature delivery and increased risk for postpartum depression. Few studies have examined whether levels of the sex hormones progesterone and estradiol, which rise dramatically over the course of pregnancy, are associated with depression and anxiety. This study examined whether higher salivary progesterone and estradiol levels were associated with self-reported depression and anxiety scores among a sample of 128 low-income pregnant women, and whether these relationships were moderated by social support. The results showed that only social support levels had significant negative associations with both depression and anxiety levels. Sex hormones were not significantly associated with depression and anxiety, and social support was not a significant moderator in these relationships. Future studies should continue to address the dearth of research on assessing the roles of sex hormones in relation to mental health during pregnancy.

This portfolio has three parts. Part One: A systematic literature review, in which the available research regarding the interaction of traditional healers and formal mental health professionals, from the perspective of both types of practitioners, is reviewed. Part Two: A qualitative exploration of how clinical psychologists, trained in the United Kingdom, construct their work in countries classified as low to middle income. Taking the form of a social constructionist thematic analysis, informed by Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Part Three: Appendices for both part one and two. The appendices also include a reflective statement and epistemological statement.

Objective: The primary goal of the current study was to characterize perceived social support (PSS) and isolation longitudinally among people with chronic pain (CP) who were and were not receiving group psychosocial interventions for CP. The second goal of the study was to describe how PSS and isolation variables are associated with quality-of-life (QOL) variables over time for those same participants.

Background: Previous research has demonstrated that positive social support can predict better outcomes for people with CP and negative social support can predict poorer outcomes. Furthermore, CP is associated with decreased social support and greater isolation. Despite the knowledge that PSS can be an important coping resource for people with CP, research on the longitudinal patterns of PSS and isolation and their relationships to QOL variables over time is lacking, especially among people with CP.

Method: Social health and QOL data from 290 participants from the Learning About My Pain study (Eyer & Thorn, 2015) were used to examine longitudinal PSS and isolation with piecewise linear growth models using multilevel modeling. Participants were randomly assigned to participate in group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), group pain psychoeducation (EDU), or medical treatment-as-usual (TAU) for 10 weeks followed by a 6-month post-treatment follow-up period. Participants were assessed pre-, mid-, and post-treatment, as well as at follow-up.

Results: PSS was relatively stable over the treatment and follow-up periods except for small decreases in emotional and informational support among TAU and social isolation among EDU during the follow-up period. Companionship was associated with decreasing pain interference, disability, and depression, and emotional support was associated with decreasing pain interference and depression, whereas instrumental support and isolation were associated with worsening QOL. The Buffering Hypothesis of PSS was not supported in the current sample.

Conclusions: A potential benefit of participating in psychosocial group treatments for CP appears to be the lack of deterioration of emotional and informational support for CBT and EDU and decreasing isolation for EDU participants. Social health was predictive of QOL. Future research and treatment of CP should account for PSS and isolation and the ways in which they interact with pain and QOL.

Negative social reactions that sexual assault survivors receive upon disclosure have been correlated with psychological distress such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and problem drinking. However, the impact of ethnicity in the relationship between unsupportive reactions to assault disclosure and the psychological sequelae remains unclear. Using hierarchical linear regressions and a sample of 665 African-American, Latina, and Caucasian female adult sexual assault survivors, the present study examined the role of ethnicity in that relationship. The results suggest that ethnicity moderates the influence of negative disclosure reactions on psychological symptoms, however, the moderation impact was not similar across races and psychological outcomes. With regard to posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, contrary to expectations, African-Americans were less impacted by negative reactions as compared to Caucasians. However, as predicted, more African-Americans and Latinas reported problem drinking upon receiving unsupportive responses than Caucasians.

This study examined secondary data that originated from Kaiser Permanente's Multidimensional Chronic Pain Treatment Program and focuses on ”primary social support” and its significance in predicting chronic pain outcomes. Primary social support refers to the support derived from the one person whom the participant feels is his/her main supporter (i.e., a spouse, friend, neighbor, etc.). This study divides primary social support into four subcategories: general social support (PreSS), emotional support (PreEM), instrumental support (PreIN), and negative reactions (PreNeg). The hypotheses in this study predict that each social support subcategory can predict post-treatment pain severity (PostPain). Four hundred twenty five participants from four Kaiser Permanente hospitals participated in a Multidimensional Chronic Pain Treatment Program. Of the 425 participants, the scores of 196 participants with moderate to severe pain and impairment were eligible for data analysis. The treatment program consisted of a 10-week, 2.5 to 3-hour structured group intervention, with the goal of improving functioning, activity levels, coping skills, and overall emotional well-being (Bertagnolli, 2001). The participants completed the West Haven Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (WHY-MPI) at both the start and end of treatment. Through hierarchical linear regression analyses, negative reactions were found to significantly predict an increase of post-treatment pain scores. Meanwhile, general social support, emotional support and instrumental support were not significant in predicting post-treatment pain scores. These findings may guide future research of social support within a Multidimensional Chronic Pain Treatment Program.