This study examined whether faculty members’ mental health literacy and perceptions of their role in communicating with college students influenced willingness to intervene and refer students impacted by mental health concerns to available services and support. Study participants (N=246) included faculty members from a four-year research university and a two-year community and technical college. Participants completed an online survey assessing their mental health literacy, perception of their role in communicating with students about mental health concerns, and willingness to intervene and refer students. Results indicated an overall willingness to assist students with mental health concerns, but also showed the continued existence of mental health-related stigma and a lack of training and direction for faculty. Results further revealed that faculty members’ view of their role directly impacts their confidence and willingness to intervene and refer students to help. Practical implications for institutions, as well as recommendations for future research, are discussed.

Includes bibliographical references. / To repeat the survey performed in 1993 in order to determine whether or not the last 15 years have resulted in a greater number of psychiatrists being more accessible to the majority of the South African people. In addition, attention will be paid to structure of each psychiatrist's practice to determine whether or not there has been any shift towards the proposed changes in the way of working as outlined by Flisher et al in 1997.

The National Institute of Health has estimated that over 1 million new cancer cases will occur yearly. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is commonly associated with near death experiences or traumatic events, such as cancer diagnosis and treatment. There is a lack of knowledge and awareness by healthcare professionals in identifying PTSD in cancer patients. In this population, PTSD symptoms often contribute to anxiety, and there is no standardized protocol being used to screen these individuals for the trauma they are facing or have faced. The purpose of this project was to develop a clinical practice guideline for screening cancer patients for PTSD in a clinic population serving cancer patients. The stress theory developed by Lazarus and Folkman guided this project. The project questions were to identify the most appropriate screening tool for PTSD in cancer patients and recommend a clinical practice guideline to the clinic healthcare providers. Five widely used PTSD screening tools were reviewed. Based on the project question the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale was identified as the most appropriate for this clinic setting and patient population. An expert panel consisting of 3 experienced psychiatric nurse practitioners reviewed the proposed guideline using the AGREE II tool. Using a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), the team members agreed with a score of 5 or higher in each domain with the proposed guideline. Utilization of this guideline will promote a positive social change towards mental health awareness and improve the quality of life for these patients and their families.

The purpose of the present descriptive study was to explore the influence of friendship status and running skill on school-age boys' social comparison production. Specifically, the frequency, function, and content of social comparison statements produced before, during, and after a running task were examined. Forty pairs of first and second grade boys were filmed as they: rated their own running ability; rated their classmates' running ability; rated classmates as friends and nonfriends using a sociometric nomination procedure; participated in an interview/timed running task with a partner; and answered a post-race questionnaire. Social comparison statements were identified and coded for content and function from video recordings. Boys primarily liked or loved running, perceived themselves to be "very good" or "excellent" and "very fast" or "fast" runners, and rated friends as being faster runners than nonfriends. Boys made primarily superiority/inferiority statements centered on their running performance and attributes of their performance. No grade differences were found in the frequency, function, and content of children's social comparison statements. While the frequency of social comparison statements did not vary by friendship status, multiple significant differences in social comparison frequency, content, and function were identified when running ability of the comparer, running ability of the comparee, and friendship status were considered together. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2005. / April 28, 2005. / Self-Evaluation Of Ability, Classroom Environment, Achievement Evaluation, Athletic Competence, Performance Evaluation, Social Comparison, Task Performance, Ability Evaluation / Includes bibliographical references. / Christine A. Readdick, Professor Directing Dissertation; Nicholas Mazza, Outside Committee Member; Ronald L. Mullis, Committee Member.

Introduction: Over the last few decades, prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been a major public health problem both globally and in low- to-middle-income countries (LMICs) such as South Africa. Pregnant women and new mothers are particularly vulnerable; and PAE may be associated with adverse child neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, few studies have explored the association of PAE, including risk factors, and subsequent neurodevelopmental trajectories over multiple timepoints in the early years. Given the high burden of PAE and associated risk factors, and the relative paucity of empirical data, further work in South African populations is warranted. This thesis aimed to investigate the association between PAE and early neurodevelopmental outcomes in the Drakenstein Child Health Study (DCHS), a South African birth cohort. The specific objectives included: 1. a systematic review on the available longitudinal studies exploring the impact of PAE on language, speech and communication development (Chapter 3 Manuscript 1); 2. an exploration of the association between PAE and motor, language and cognitive outcomes in infancy (Chapter 4- Manuscript 2); 3. an investigation of the association between PAE, including interactions of tobacco smoking exposure, and the neurodevelopmental trajectories (motor, language and cognitive outcomes) of children across the first 4 years of life (Chapter 5 Manuscript 3); 4. a comparison of the conversational turn-taking between mothers and their alcohol exposed children compared to those between mothers and their unexposed children (Chapter 6 Manuscript 4). Methods: This thesis included four publications, three of which present data from the DCHS. Pregnant women were enrolled from two public primary healthcare clinics, Mbekweni (a predominantly black African population) and TC Newman (a mixed-ancestry population), and more than 1000 mother-child dyads were followed longitudinally from birth through the first 5 years of life. For this study, both antenatal and postnatal maternal measures were used to assess moderate-to-severe levels of PAE. These measures included the (i) Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) antenatally, (ii) a retrospective alcohol questionnaire in the postnatal period at 3-6 weeks and/or 24 months testing age. At 6, 24 and 42 months, early neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed using the Bayley-III Scales of Infant Development (BSID-III), the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC-II) or the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV). Conversational turn-taking in mother-child dyads was also assessed at 42 months testing age. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were used to analyse the data. Results: The findings of this thesisshowed that PAE was significantly associated with both fine motor (B=-3.30, 95%CI 0.06-0.46, p=0.001) and gross motor scores (B=-0.30, 95%CI 0.06-0.44 p=0.001) at 6 months (Chapter 4 Manuscript 2). Chapter 5 (Manuscript 3) showed that when accounting for the interaction between prenatal alcohol and tobacco smoking exposure, impaired fine motor functioning occurred up till 24 months (B=-12.59, 95%CI -21.98- -3.19, p=0.01), but these effects attenuated by 42 months. Significant interactions occurred between prenatal alcohol, including tobacco smoking exposure, and impaired receptive vocabulary (B=-2.49, 95%CI -5.24 -0.27, p=0.02) and cognitive functioning at 24 months (B=- 3.25, 95%CI -5.98- -0.52, p=0.02) (Chapter 5 Manuscript 3). Finally, when exploring conversational turn-taking in alcohol exposed mother-child dyads and unexposed dyads, PAE was significantly associated with conversational turn-taking i.e. child overlapping utterances (OR=3.25, CI 0.98-10.76, p=0.050) (Chapter 6 Manuscript 4). Conclusion: The associations of PAE with early neurodevelopmental outcomes shown here expand on the previous literature. Our findings reported that PAE may influence early neurodevelopmental outcomes, however, future studies should include additional longitudinal studies to replicate the findings, and ongoing follow-up of our own cohort may continue clarify the potential association of PAE and additional risk factors on later neurodevelopmental outcomes at school age and beyond. Effective alcohol programmes targeting pregnant women and interventions to address child developmental impairments in this vulnerable cohort are required.

There is a large body of research showing that sleep disorders are becoming more prevalent, especially in developing children in the United States. The negative effects of sleep disorders are well researched in adults. One such negative effect is the connection between sleep disorders and mental health disorders. Though this connection is well researched in adults, less is known about the connection between sleep disorders and mental health in developing children. The primary purpose of this paper is to review existing literature on the negative effects of sleep disorders, the causes of sleep disorders in children, and how sleep disorders may affect the mental well-being of developing teenagers in their time of vulnerability.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / Second generation HIV surveillance surveys that collect biological and behavioural data from populations of interest is urgently needed to demonstrate accountability to domestic and international HIV funders, monitor trends in HIV and risk behaviours over time, and provide evidence of the effectiveness of HIV prevention efforts.

Background: Few forensic mental health facilities in South Africa use formal risk assessment instruments to monitor risk and recovery of forensic state patients. The study set out to examine the usefulness of the therapeutic alliance as a proxy measure of violent recidivism in a forensic state facility. The study proposed that the nature and strength of the therapeutic alliance is associated with risk of violence in a forensic population and that attachment security is a relevant factor in this relationship. Additional related factors were studied including demographic and contextual data and their influence on the alliance and risk. Design and method: A quantitative research method was used to sample both inpatients and outpatients (n=131) using a naturalistic, cross-sectional research design. Statistical analyses focussed on regression modelling and addressed mainly the statistical associations between ratings of the different variables. Various psychometric tests were administered and scored and entered into a database. It was hypothesised that a strong (positive) therapeutic relationship measured with the Dual- role Relationship Inventory-Revised (DRI-R) questionnaire is associated with low risk for violence using the Historical, Clinical, Risk Management (HCR-20) scale. Findings: Essentially there was a direct association between the therapeutic alliance and violent recidivism, that is, men with a strong therapeutic alliance have lower risk for violent behaviour. Key practitioner type was considered to be highly influential in establishing positive alliances and as a mediator of potential violent recidivism. An insecure attachment style was dominant in the study sample and insecure states of mind partially influenced current therapeutic alliances with an associated increased vulnerability for violence. Positive psychotic symptoms remained a high-risk factor for violence and criminal histories and antisocial behaviour may continue to present a risk for recidivism in the absence of psychosis. Conclusion: Violent recidivism can be adequately monitored by the DRI-R. Affiliation and control are not mutually exclusive in forensic mental health care. Addressing attachment deficits prevalent in this population may be useful in informing both risk and recovery. Symptom reduction remains an important aim in treatment and risk management. Ratings of the alliance by practitioners and how it concurs with risk is an area for further research. Key words: Therapeutic alliance, dual-role relationship, risk assessment, violence, attachment, state patients, recovery

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-343). / The aim of this study was to examine the issue of intimate partner violence from the perspective of young adults. My interest was to access participants’ stories of partner violence and to tap into their usual ways of thinking and talking about this issue. I wanted to attend to how young women and men actively imparted meaning to themselves and others, and how they constructed and performed their identities through the situated interaction of the research interview. Importantly, I used interactional, performative and narrative-discursive analytical perspectives in order to attend to three aspects of young adults’ talk: the content, the language and structure, and the telling as performance and interaction.