The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between undergraduate students' mental health and their engagement in the educational experience. The researcher identified traditionally-aged college students (18-23) who were flourishing and distinguished them from students who were moderately mentally healthy and/or languishing according to Keyes' (2002) continuum of mental health model. Mental health was the dependent variable. Student involvement was defined as the extent to which students engage in empirically derived good educational practices as measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement's College Student Report (2005). The five benchmark measures of student engagement were independent variables: (a) level of academic challenge, (b) student/faculty interactions, (c) active/collaborative learning, (d) enriching educational experiences, and (e) supportive campus environment. Analyses also considered students' academic achievement (GPA), gender, and parents' highest level of education (SES) as variables.;Chi square analyses showed that mental health category was independent of gender and parents' highest level of education. ANOVA results also showed that student GPA also did not differ significantly by mental health category. However ANOVA results showed that mean scores for all five engagement variables did differ significantly by mental health category (p < .001) with flourishing students scoring highest and languishing students scoring lowest. A series of stepwise multiple regressions were conducted using mental health score as a continuous variable based on confirmatory factor analysis of Keyes' model. Results showed that "supportive campus environment" was the engagement variable most significantly predictive of mental health for both males and females.

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Research has focused extensively on the negative health effects of inadequate Mg intake, but the extent of the problem of deficiency deserves further exploration. The notion that U.S. adults consume an inadequate amount of magnesium, leading to increased risk for chronic diseases such as depression, is plausible. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), which are large, cross-sectional, population-based data sets that assess the health and nutritional status of U.S. adults and children, indicate over half the adult population does not consume adequate amounts of magnesium based on the estimated average requirement (EAR) established by the Institute of Medicine. Using 2007 to 2010 NHANES data we found 54% of adults do not meet the EAR, confirming results from earlier surveys. As a result of this finding, a review exploring the factors impacting magnesium consumption over time and the adequacy of current intake in U.S. adults was conducted. Changes in agricultural processes that reduce magnesium levels in crops combined with the increasing consumption of processed foods containing little to no magnesium have led to a decrease in mean daily intake by 200-300 mg per day over the past century. However, population-based studies show a steady and consistent recovery in magnesium intake in U.S. adults over the past several decades. A simple, rapid, accurate test for whole body Mg status is lacking and, although population-based studies have limitations, continued monitoring of Mg consumption is essential to determine whether this positive trend continues. In the meantime, since the health consequences of inadequate magnesium are well established, there are no reported cases of hypermagnesemia from food alone, and magnesium is found in healthy foods adults should consume more often, there are few reasons not to encourage increased magnesium intake. Cross-sectional and prospective trials in other countries report an association between magnesium intake and symptoms of depression. Depression is a chronic disease affecting a significant portion of the U.S. population. Magnesium plays a role in many of the pathways involved in the pathophysiology of depression and is found in several enzymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters. Depression and magnesium are both associated with systemic inflammation. Current treatment options for depression are limited by efficacy, cost, availability, side effects, and acceptability to patients. As a result of the need for additional treatment options, interest in the role of magnesium in modulating depressive symptoms has grown. We used the NHANES 2007-2010 data to examine this relationship in U.S. adults and found a significant association between very low magnesium intake and symptoms of depression (RR=1.16; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06, 1.30; P=0.03). Whether inadequate magnesium leads to increased risk for depression or depression results in poor dietary intake is not known. To test whether supplementation with over-the-counter magnesium chloride improves symptoms of depression, an open-label, blocked, randomized, cross-over trial was carried out in outpatient primary care clinics on 126 adults (mean age 52; 38% male) diagnosed with, and currently experiencing, mild-to-moderate symptoms. Consumption of magnesium chloride tablets for 6 weeks resulted in a clinically significant net improvement in depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) scores of -6.0 points (95% CI -7.9, -4.2; P<0.001) and net improvement in anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorders-7) scores of -4.5 points (95% CI -6.6, -2.4; P<0.001). Effects were observed regardless of age, gender, baseline magnesium levels, baseline severity of depression, or use of antidepressant treatments. It worked quickly, was well tolerated, and is much safer and less expensive than conventional treatments with medication. Magnesium supplements are effective for mild-to-moderate depression and are an additional treatment option for patients suffering from depression.

Correctional officers occupy an important societal role in maintaining safety and assisting in the rehabilitation of inmates; however, both their performance and mental health are highly susceptible to fatigue because of working in a high stress environment. This study investigated the relationship between correctional officers' demographic factors (level of education, marital status, gender, and race/ethnicity) and their psychological resilience. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC-10) was used to measure correctional officers' resilience when responding and or coping with stress. This study utilized the stress-vulnerability model as a framework to investigate protective factors against and risk factors for psychopathological symptoms. Participants included 52 individuals who were over the age of 18, employed as correctional officers, and who worked for either the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Two tests measured the outcome variable of correctional officers' psychological resilience. The first factorial 2-way analysis of variance revealed no significant differences in correctional officers' levels of psychological resilience by gender and or race/ethnicity. The second factorial 2-way analysis of variance revealed no significant differences in correctional officers' levels of psychological resilience by marital status and or educational level. The information gained from this study implies that the development of programs that improve correctional officers' resilience and prevent the onset of psychopathology should be focused on factors other than races/ethnicities, genders, marital statuses, and levels of education.

Students with psychiatric disabilities are the largest subgroup of students with disabilities enrolled in postsecondary education. However, their high enrollment rate does not equate to a high retention rate. Approximately 86 percent of students with psychiatric disabilities withdraw prior to degree completion. As a result, calls for improved disability services in postsecondary education have been plentiful. In an effort to take a step toward answering these calls, the current study began the exploratory process of identifying knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are important for disability service professionals to possess in order to provide beneficial services to students with psychiatric disabilities in postsecondary education. The current study began with the developing of a survey instrument using (a) a three-round Delphi survey with expert panels consisting of disability service professionals and students with psychiatric disabilities and (b) a pilot group of disability service professionals. The final instrument with 54 knowledge, skills, and attitudes was rated by a sample of 402 disability service professionals who were members of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). A principal components analysis was used to analyze the data. Five factors emerged: (a) Ethical and Legal Considerations, (b) Accommodations and Supports, (c) Disability Aspects, (d) Community Resources, and (e) Campus Considerations. A post-hoc analysis with a MANOVA and descriptive statistics was also conducted. Each factor was explored within the context of the literature. Further, differences between professional and student perceptions were highlighted. Lastly, implications, assumptions, limitations, and recommendations for future research were discussed.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how men, 18 years or older, who had been admitted to inpatient psychiatric hospitalization differed as to their level of aggression, locus of control, and the degree of androgyny at admission and at discharge. The sample consisted of 61 males. The males were evaluated with a demographic questionnaire, the Adjective Check List, the Internal Control Index, and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory within 24 hours of admission and again at discharge. The research indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in these sensitive male qualities. The data indicated a possibility that androgyny could be a catalyst in reducing the level of aggression and developing a more internal locus of control. The research also indicated a positive correlation between age and a more internal locus of control, but the correlation only accounted for 22% of the variance. There was no correlation found between the subjects' relationships to the father figure and the three male qualities.

Classification systems in psychiatry are a work in progress. Therefore, continued efforts to improve their validity are necessary. Epidemiology provides a scientific method to assess the extent of psychiatric morbidity in community populations. However, data from epidemiological surveys have also contributed, either directly or indirectly, to many changes in the classification systems. Recent reviews of the current state of psychiatric classification indicate four unresolved issues: 1) the presence of two differing classification systems, 2) the role of the clinical significance criterion in differentiating psychopathology from normality, 3) the relationship of the exclusion criteria to the co-occurrence of psychiatric disorder pairs, and 4) the relative validity of categorical versus dimensional conceptualizations of psychiatric disorders. The current thesis examines these four unresolved issues, using data from a large-scale epidemiological survey of psychiatric disorders. With regard to GAD, differences in diagnostic criteria between DSM-IV and ICD-10 resulted in different types of cases identified, despite similarities in prevalence. The DSM-IV diagnostic criterion for clinical significance impacted, albeit to different degrees, on the prevalence, health service use and impairment of five disorders. The exclusion criteria in both DSM-IV and ICD-10 were significantly related to the patterns of co-occurrence found in the data. Using the example of depression, symptoms were more consistent with a dimensional rather than a categorical structure. A specific research agenda is proposed, the aim of which is to provide possible avenues of research that may benefit revisions to classification systems and the conduct of epidemiological surveys. This research agenda contains a number of suggestions. Future revisions will benefit from an explicit understanding of the differences between the classification systems. Better definitions of the concepts of clinical significance and psychiatric disorder are required. The co-occurrence of disorder pairs in epidemiological data informs understanding of the exclusion criteria, but the validity of these criteria relies on different data. Dimensional models of classification may yield more information than categorical models, and methods for incorporating them in large-scale surveys are proposed. It is concluded that epidemiological data should continue to play a significant part in the refinement of psychiatric classification.