Plusieurs travaux suggèrent que les personnes atteintes d’une maladie mentale grave représentent un risque plus élevé de passage à l’acte violent que les personnes de la population en générale. Les raisons pour lesquelles ces personnes seraient plus enclines à commettre des gestes violents restent toutefois souvent contradictoires. En 1994, Link et Stueve suggéraient qu’une personne atteinte de symptômes de type menace/atteintes aux mécanismes de contrôle (TCO), était significativement plus à risque de commettre un geste violent. Les résultats de ces travaux furent par la suite reproduits dans le cadre d’autres études. L’objectif de ce rapport de stage est de mieux comprendre la relation entre les symptômes TCO et le passage à l’acte agressif en cours d’hospitalisation. Pour ce faire, les informations concernant la symptomatologie et les passages à l’acte violents de deux résidents de l’Institut Philippe-Pinel de Montréal (IPPM) sont présentées sous forme d’études de cas. L’analyse du contenu clinique des études de cas suggère qu’une approche nomothétique ne permet de comprendre qu’en partie l’association entre le passage à l’acte agressif et les symptômes TCO. Une telle approche ne permet pas d’intégrer d’autres facteurs cliniques tels les hallucinations ou les idées de violence, à l’étude du passage à l’acte agressif. Une approche phénoménologique où l’on s’intéresse à la compréhension qu’a la personne de son environnement et aux moyens qu’elle envisage afin d’y répondre semble offrir davantage de pistes afin de comprendre le passage à l’acte violent chez la personne atteinte d’une maladie mentale grave. / Studies suggest that people with severe mental illnesses represent a higher risk of acting out violently than the general population. However, evidences as to why these individuals would be more prone to violence remain contradictory. In 1994, Link and Stueve suggested that a person with Threat/Control-Override (TCO) symptoms is at a significantly higher risk to act violently. Those results were subsequently reproduced. The objective of this report is to get a better understanding of the relation between TCO symptoms and violent acting out during hospitalization. Therefore, data concerning symptomatology and violent acting outs by two Institut Philippe-Pinel de Montréal (IPPM) inpatients are presented in two case studies. The analysis of the clinical content in these case studies suggests that a nomothetic approach would only allow us to understand part of the correlation between aggressive behaviors and TCO symptoms. More over, this approach does not integrate other clinical factors such as hallucinations to the comprehension of aggressive acting outs. A phenomenological approach where the person’s understanding of his environment and what he considers as options in responding are investigated, provides additional clues that could lead to the understanding of why someone with a severe mental illness may be at risk of acting out violently.

The purpose of this study was to explore the meanings well siblings attribute to their experiences caring for a brother or sister with schizophrenia. This study retrospectively examined changes in the nature of the relationship between the well and ill siblings before, during, and after the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Ten well sibling caregivers of people with schizophrenia participated in the study. The findings suggest that the sibling relationship was strong in childhood yet weakened in adolescence which influenced the well sibling’s caregiving involvement. During the onset of the illness, well siblings spoke about the changes they noticed in their sibling’s personality, behaviour, and lifestyle choices and sought professional help. The diagnosis of schizophrenia and the illness resulted in marked changes in the relationship between well and ill siblings. Well siblings spoke about struggling with their ill sibling’s dependency and with having to balance their own lives with their caregiving responsibilities. / Graduate

Background Studies on course and outcome of schizophrenia coming from low income countries are increasingly becoming important to challenge the existing dogma claiming good outcome in these countries. Besides clinical course and outcome, mortality is considered a very important outcome measure for schizophrenia. Culture and tradition play a significant role in the manifestations of severe mental illnesses (SMI). Khat is a culturally accepted plant endemic to Eastern Africa, which is chewed by people for its stimulating effect. It is believed that Khat influences the course and outcome of schizophrenia although systematic studies are scarce. Patients with SMI continue to chew khat despite advice from their doctors to desist. Reasons for this behavior were not fully investigated before. Objectives              -     To describe the 5-year clinical course and outcome and mortality of schizophrenia in Butajira. -       To explore traditional views on psychosis in the semi-nomadic Borana population. -       To describe the perceived causes and preferred treatment for SMI in the semi-nomadic Borana population -       To explore reasons for khat chewing behavior in people with SMI in Butajira. Methods The studies were done in two sites: Butajira and Borana. The Butajira study involved screening, using CIDI and Key Informants (KIs), of more than 68,000 adults aged 15-49. Of these, 321 people were diagnosed with schizophrenia and were followed-up for five years to look into their clinical course and outcome, including mortality. A qualitative study involving 37 men with SMI and 30 female caregivers was conducted in Butajira to study reasons why patients continue to chew khat despite their physicians’ advice against it. The Borana study of a remote semi-nomadic population in southern Ethiopia, used qualitative methods involving 56 KIs to identify descriptions of psychosis, perceived causes and preferred treatment in the community. Cases identified by the KIs also underwent SCAN interview for confirmatory diagnosis.   Results The five year follow-up of schizophrenia patients showed that 45% of participants were continuously symptomatic with 30.3% having had continuous psychotic episode. About 20% had experienced continuous remission. Being single (OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 1.08-10.82, P = 0.037), on antipsychotic treatment for at least 50% of follow up time (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.12-4.62, P = 0.023), and having a diagnosis of paranoid subtype of schizophrenia (OR = 3.68, 95% CI = 1.30-10.44, P = 0.014) were associated with longer period of remission. A total of 38 (12.4%) patients, thirty four men (11.1%) and four women (1.3%) died during the 5-year follow-up period. The mean age (SD) of the deceased for both sexes was 35 (7.35): 35.3 (7.4) for men and 32.3 (6.8) for women. The most common cause of death was infection, 18/38 (47.4%) followed by severe malnutrition, 5/38 (13.2%) and suicide 4/38 (10.5%). The overall SMR was 5.98 (95% CI = 4.09 to 7.87): 6.27 (95% C I = 4.16 to 8.38) for men and 4.30 (95% CI = 1.02 to 8.52) for women. Patients residing in rural areas had lower mortality with adjusted HR of 0.30 (95% CI = 0.12-0.69) but those with insidious onset had higher mortality with adjusted HR 2.37 (95% CI = 1.04-5.41). Treatment with antipsychotics for less than 50% of the follow-up time was also associated with higher mortality, adjusted HR 2.66 (1.054-6.72). In the Borana study, the incongruity between local and psychiatric concepts in the CIDI lay mainly in the fact that KIs described characteristics of marata (madness) in terms of overt behavioral symptoms instead of thought disturbances. Following the focus group discussions, participants identified 8 individuals with schizophrenia and 13 with a psychotic mood disorder, confirmed by SCAN interview. Supernatural causes such as possession by evil spirits, curse, bewitchment, ‘exposure to wind’ and subsequent attack by evil spirits in postnatal women; bio-psycho-social causes such as infections (malaria), loss, ‘thinking too much’, and alcohol and khat abuse were mentioned as causes of SMI. The preferred treatments for severe mental illness included mainly traditional approaches, such as consulting Borana wise men or traditional healers, prayer, holy water treatment and, finally, seeking modern health care. Regarding khat and SMI in Butajira, reasons given by patients as well as caregivers were more or less congruent: social pressure, a means for survival by improving function, combating medication side effects, to experience pleasure and curbing appetite.  Conclusion Schizophrenia runs a chronic and non-remitting course and was associated with very high premature mortality in Butajira. Continued treatment with antipsychotics has been a consistent predictor of favorable outcome and reduced mortality. Case identification in studies of psychotic disorders in traditional communities are likely to benefit from combining structured interviews with the key informant method. Planning mental health care in traditional communities needs to involve influential people and traditional healers to increase acceptability of modern mental health care. Patients with SMI chewed khat for some important reasons that clinicians need to consider in their management.

Background: Psychiatric inpatient staff members work with arguably the most challenging service users. However, reference to these challenges often does not go beyond ‘challenging behaviour’, offering no insight into the actual presentation, thus preventing formulation of the perceived challenges, or subsequent interventions. Moreover, studies have shown that staff responses to challenging presentations can impact on both the staff member and the service user. In particular, staff causal attributions have been shown to impact on their therapeutic response (Apel & Bar-Tal, 1996), as well as being associated with staff emotions (Colson et al., 1987). In turn, the emotional response has been found to be associated with coping, both of which have also been found to effect staff behavioural response, as well as staff members’ psychological well-being (Wykes & Whittington, 1998). However, there have been limited studies assessing these relationships with psychiatric inpatient staff. This may be due to the lack of assessment tools developed for this staff group to measure these particular domains. A specifically designed tool would enable consistent assessment to take place to build on our theoretical knowledge of psychiatric inpatient staff members’ perceived challenges, and their responses to them, as well as highlight specific areas within these domains where further staff training and support is required. Aims: The first aim of the study was to explore psychiatric staff’s views on the challenges they faced when working with service users in inpatient settings, their emotional responses, attributions, and coping strategies about those challenges and then to develop a measure which would accurately capture these (the SEACCS). The second aim was to assess the reliability of the new scale as well as explore relationships within the SEACCS. Finally, the third aim was to assess content and face validity, as well as conduct preliminary psychometric investigations of the construct validity of the newly developed measure. Method: The study was conducted using various methods across three phases. In order to generate items for the SEACCS, a systematic review of the relevant literature and semi-structured interviews took place during the first phase. Secondly, the results of Phase I were combined in order to develop and construct the SEACCS. The third phase involved a postal survey of the SEACCS (including re-test), followed by psychometric investigations to scrutinise the items, explore the reliability, and construct validity of the SEACCS.Results: Twenty three studies were included in the systematic review. The results highlighted inconsistent measurement and findings of the domains concerned. Seven multi-disciplinary staff interviews took place. Thematic analysis was used to conduct four separate analyses focusing on each of the research questions. Several themes and sub-themes were found. Themes such as: ‘Engagement’, ‘Attributions of controllability’, and ‘Behavioural responses’. Findings from the review, thematic analyses, and consultation groups (content and face validity) were combined in order to develop the 64 item SEACCS. A total of 76 multi-disciplinary psychiatric inpatient staff members completed the SEACCS, 15 of which completed re-tests. No items were removed following item scrutiny assessments. Preliminary psychometric investigations indicated good reliability, significant relationships across domains within the SEACCS, and partial construct validity with the GHQ-28.Conclusion: The results of the current study provide the first step in the development and construction of a clinically relevant tool that can be used to assess these domains. The methodological limitations and clinical implications are considered, and future directions for research in this area are suggested.

Syftet med aktuell studie är att belysa arbetsgivares erfarenheter av arbetsrehabiliteringsmetoden SE/ IPS för personer med psykisk funktionsnedsättning på den svenska konkurrensutsatta arbetsmarknaden. Lämplighetsurval praktiserades och utforskande kvalitativ ansats valdes utifrån studiens syfte, intervjuer genomfördes som datainsamlingsmetod och kvalitativ innehållsanalys tillämpades. Analysen av intervjutexterna utmynnade i ett övergripande tema och fyra kategorier. Det övergripande temat ”arbetsgivarnas engagemang för att inkludera kontra produktionskrav och resurser” visar på en spänning mellan arbetsgivarnas starka drivkraft att inkludera personen i samhället utifrån personens vilja till arbete och svårigheten att finna meningsfulla arbetsuppgifter vars krav svarar mot personens arbetsförmåga. De fyra kategorierna är: ”Skapar egna förutsättningar för arbete trots utmaningar”, ”oklara yttre förutsättningar äventyrar arbetsrehabilitering”, ”ständigt drivande och samordnande vägledare” och ”arbetslivet som en del av vardagen”. Slutsats: Arbetsgivarna har tydliga ambitioner att utgöra en utgöra en stödjande omgivningsfaktor enligt PEO-modellen. Resultatet presenterar arbetsgivarnas behov för att kunna leva upp till sina ambitioner. Det kvalificerade stöd i form av information och vägledning som arbetsgivarna efterfrågar motsvaras av PEO-matchning, en teoretisk modell tillämpad inom arbetsterapi. / The purpose of current study is to highlight employers' experiences of the SE/IPS vocational rehabilitation method for people with mental disabilities in the Swedish competitive labor market. Purposeful sampling was practiced and an exploratory qualitative approach was chosen based on the purpose of the study, interviews were conducted as a data collection method and qualitative content analysis was applied. The analysis of the interviews resulted in an overall theme and four categories. The overall theme "employers 'commitment to include versus production requirements and resources", shows a tension between employers' strong ambition to include the person in society based on the person's willingness to work, and the difficulty in finding meaningful tasks whose demands correspond to the person's work ability. The four categories are: “Creates their own conditions for work despite challenges”, “unclear external conditions jeopardize vocational rehabilitation”, “constantly driving and coordinating coach” and “vocational life as part of everyday life”.                Conclusion: Employers have clear ambitions to constitute a supportive environmental factor according to the PEO-model. The result presents employers' needs to meet their ambitions. The qualified support in terms of information and guidance requested by employers correspond to PEO-matching, a theoretical model applied in occupational therapy.

In this thesis the intricacies of service user and staff perceptions of psychological interventions for mental health difficulties were explored. Expanding upon this theme, mothers and staff on a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) were asked about their views regarding the acceptability and feasibility of the implementation of a parenting intervention, Baby Triple P Positive Parenting Programme (Baby TP). This investigation is presented as four papers: a literature review, two empirical papers (a & b) and, a critical review and personal reflection of the research process.The literature review, a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies, explores service user and staff perceptions of psychological interventions for mental health difficulties. Twenty-eight studies were synthesised to develop comprehensive understanding of subtle, specific and overlapping elements involved in the implementation of psychological intervention. Guided by Noblit and Hare’s (1988) approach, 11 over-arching themes and 25 sub-ordinate themes emerged from the synthesis. Findings provide a detailed description of the concepts pertinent to both service users and staff. Implications are identified for service managers and clinicians in obtaining optimum efficiency and outcomes of psychological intervention. The empirical study is a Q-methodological investigation into service user and staff perceptions of the acceptability and feasibility of a parenting intervention, Baby TP, on a MBU. This study is split into two population-specific papers. Overall five main factors were identified (service users: three; staff: two), which provides new insights into the acceptable and feasible elements of a parenting intervention within this specialist setting. The findings highlight a positive consensus as to the acceptability and feasibility of Baby TP in a MBU setting alongside a number of identified needs pertinent to service users, staff and the setting. Clinical implications and recommendations are provided to address identified areas of need for both populations within this setting. The third paper is a critical review of the thesis illustrated through personal reflections of the research process.

Sammanfattning Bakgrund: Tidigare forskning visar att personer med allvarlig psykisk ohälsa är mindre fysiskt aktiva än resterande befolkning. De är som grupp i riskzonen för drabbas av fysiska hälsoproblem samt att dö i förtid av somatiska sjukdomar. Vårdpersonal har observerat samband mellan fysisk aktivitet och mindre besvär av symtom och lägre läkemedelsbehov. Utbudet av forskning som svarar på hur fysisk aktivitet kan upplevas främja återhämtning hos personer med allvarlig psykisk ohälsa är däremot begränsat.  Syfte: Syftet med studien är att med utgångspunkt i tidigare forskning beskriva hur personer med allvarlig psykisk ohälsa erfar att fysisk aktivitet främjar återhämtning. Metod: Metasyntes, en induktiv och kvalitativ analysmetod. Resultat: Utifrån analysen presenteras fyra teman Att få en starkare tro på sig själv och framtiden, Att uppleva mening och gemenskap, Att få struktur i livet och Att kontrollera och minska psykiska symtom som i sin tur tillsammans ledde fram till nyckelmetaforen en positiv spiral. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskan, eller vårdaren, kan genom att stödja patienten till fysisk aktivitet främja såväl allians som en start som ger fart åt patientens återhämtningsprocess. Nyckelord: allvarlig psykisk ohälsa, fysisk aktivitet, gemenskap, mening, patienters upplevelse, positiv spiral, återhämtning / abstract Background: Previous research shows that people with severe mental illness are less physically active than the remaining population. As a group, they are in risk of physical problems and premature death. Health professionals have observed a connection between physical activity and less discomfort caused by symptoms as well as a lower need of medical treatment. The amount of available research regarding experiences of physical activity and what it means for recovery amongst people with severe mental illness is limited. Aim: The aim of the study based on previous research is to describe how people with serious mental illness experience that physical activity promotes recovery. Method: Metasynthesis, an inductive and qualitative method of analysis. Results: the analysis provided four themes To have a stronger belief in oneself and the future, To experience meaning and community, To get structure in life and To control and reduce mental symtoms wich in turn together led to the key metaphor as a positive spiral. Conclusion: The nurse, or the caregiver, can, through supporting the patient to physical activity, promote both an alliance and a start that gives momentum to the patient's recovery process. Keywords: severe mental illness, physical activity, community, meaning, patient experience, positive spiral, recovery

La psychopathie et le trouble de personnalité antisociale sont deux syndromes reliés qui ont été identifiés comme prédicteurs importants de comportements violents et de criminalité. Cependant, la recherche indique que les facteurs de la psychopathie centrés sur la personnalité ne sont pas des prédicteurs fiables de récidive violente chez les personnes atteintes de maladies mentales. Toutefois, peu d’études se sont centrées sur l’identification des facteurs associés au patron des antécédents criminels. Les 96 hommes de l’étude ont été déclarés non criminellement responsables en raison de troubles mentaux. Ils ont été évalués quant au trouble de la personnalité antisociale ainsi qu’à la psychopathie. Les dossiers criminels de la Gendarmerie Royale du Canada ont également été consultés afin de reconstituer l’histoire criminelle. Les résultats suggèrent que ni les traits de personnalité antisociaux, ni les facteurs de la psychopathie ne démontrent une validité prédictive incrémentielle les uns sur les autres quant au nombre ou à la sévérité des délits. La présence d’un grand nombre de traits antisociaux est associée à un plus grand nombre et à une plus importante sévérité d’actes criminels non-violents. Les résultats sont discutés en termes de l’utilité d’une classification du trouble de personnalité antisociale, et de la pertinence du construit de la psychopathie pour les personnes atteintes de maladies mentales graves. / Psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder are two related yet clinically distinct syndromes both coined as important predictors of violence and criminality. Among the mentally ill, there is increasing evidence that only the behavioral aspects of psychopathy are related to criminality. Studies have shown that the personality-oriented facets of psychopathy add little to the prediction of future violence among the mentally ill. However, few studies have sought to examine whether a lifetime of crime shows the same pattern. A total of 96 men who had been declared not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder participated in this study. Trained interviewers assessed antisocial personality and psychopathy among participants. Official RCMP criminal records were consulted in order to ascertain criminal history. Results suggest that neither antisocial personality disorder traits nor psychopathy facets evidenced incremental validity one over the other regarding a lifetime pattern of offending. A higher number of antisocial traits were related to a greater number and higher severity of non-violent offenses. Results are discussed with regards to the usefulness of the antisocial personality disorder classification, and the applicability of conceptual models of psychopathy to individuals with a severe mental illness.

The primary objective of this research was to explore the impact of possible social factors on non-institutionalized adults 18 years of age or older residing in the United States who exhibited severe mental illness (SMI). A holistic sociological model was developed to explain SMI by incorporating elements of social learning theory, social disorganization theory, and gender socialization theory with social demographic factors. Based on the holistic sociological model, the following factors were investigated: demographic aspects of age, education, income and gender; gender socialization; influence of neighborhood area; social network influence based on communication and interaction among peers and family members; and socially deviant behaviors such as frequently smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and using drugs specifically marijuana. The impact of these factors on SMI was examined. A sample of 206 respondents drawn from National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2003 was assessed. These respondents had answered all the questions related to SMI; social deviant behaviors; neighborhood environment; and communications among peers, family members and friends; and the other studied factors. Ordinary linear regression with interaction terms was employed as a statistical tool to assess the impact of social determinants on SMI. Being female, living a disorganized neighborhood, and frequent and high levels of smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol had a significant influence on SMI. This reevaluation and reexamination of the role of gender socialization path, socially deviant behaviors like smoking and drinking, and community construction on SMI provided additional insights. This research is one of the first to develop a more holistic sociological model on SMI and explored the previously untested interactive relationships. The limitations of this study suggest the need to test a potential recursive research model and explore additional bi-directional associations.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / People with severe mental illness (SMI) often suffer from comorbid physical conditions that result in chronic morbidity and early mortality. Physical health decision-making is one area that has been largely unexplored with the SMI population. This study aimed to identify what factors contribute to the physical healthcare decision-making autonomy preferences of persons with SMI, and to identify the impact of these autonomy preferences on medication adherence. Ninety-five adults with SMI were recruited from an integrated care clinic located in a community mental health center. Fifty-six completed a three-month follow-up. Multiple linear regression for hypothesis 1 (n=95) and hierarchical regression for hypothesis 2 (n=56) were used to analyze data on personal characteristics, physical health decision-making autonomy preferences and medication adherence. For the open-ended questions, thematic analysis was used to uncover facilitators and barriers to medication adherence. With this sample, being male predicted greater desired autonomy, and having less social support predicted less desired autonomy. When background characteristics were held constant, autonomy preferences and perceived autonomy support from the physician only contributed an additional 1% of the variance in medication adherence. Lastly, participants reported behavioral factors and having family/personal support to take medications as facilitators to medication adherence for physical health care, while citing financial and other resource limitations as barriers.