Caregivers of young adult children with substance use disorders (SUDs) experience caregiving burden because of the strains and tensions associated with the role. Exposure to stigmatizing attitudes ...through social experiences can lead to the internalization of these negative beliefs about the self and others. In the case of caregivers providing support to loved ones with SUDs, further inquiry is warranted to better understand the synergistic impacts of the stresses and strains associated with providing care and the stigma associated with that care. Further research is needed to investigate how internalized stigma for caregivers of substance using loved ones is assessed and measured so that it can be tested. The present study presents an adaptation of the Internalized Stigma of Substance Abuse Scale (ISSA) for use with caregivers and describes the resulting psychometric properties of the revised measure. Results support an adapted measure specifically for caregivers, called the Internalized Stigma of Substance Abuse Scale for Caregivers (ISSA-C), and suggest that the scale is unidimensional and shows preliminary indications of construct validity and internal consistency.
Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine MHL and RHL in a sample of college students in the United States, and to explore linkages among literacies and related constructs. Participants: ...Participants were 169 (N = 169) participants who were adult college students at a state university in the southern United States. Participants were recruited through an online recruitment management system that allows college students to participate in research studies for participation credit. Method: We analyzed online survey data using descriptive analysis. In effort to develop a measurement tool to measure relational mental health literacy, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis on the Relational Health Literacy Scale (RHLS) that was developed for the present study. Results: Results suggest that college students would be willing to seek mental health resources from some professional sources. Participants were able to more easily identify symptoms of anxiety and depression, and struggled to accurately identify symptoms of mania, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Respondents also demonstrated some awareness of relationship health issues. Conclusions: Implications for further research, practice and policy making are presented and discussed.
When a loved one experiences a substance use disorder (SUD) often, a family member may assume a non-normative and intense caregiving role. Caregivers often experience strain as a result of the care ...they provide to their loved one experiencing an SUD. While SUDs are conceptualized as a family disease, little is known about caregiver perception of treatment productiveness, or usefulness of the treatment. To begin to address caregiver perception of treatment, we surveyed a national sample of 141 caregivers of a loved one with an SUD to investigate the aspects of family treatment that they felt were most productive in their loved one's recovery using moderation analyses.
Marriage and family therapists (MFTs) must be culturally competent and sensitive to serve the growing Latinx population in the United States (US). To understand the sexual orientation disclosure ...experiences of Latinx LGBQ individuals, we interviewed 10 individuals. Using Moustakas' (1994) phenomenology, we identified six themes: disclosure impacts family closeness, family members experience disbelief, control over the disclosure influences young adults' perception of their coming-out experience, the coming-out experience is influenced by religion, the coming-out experience is influenced by traditional gender roles, and disclosure of sexual identity is a continuous process. We discuss clinical implications and areas for future research.
Alcohol use and disordered eating behaviors (DEB) are prevalent among college students. Despite the pervasive influence of a peer culture that promotes and supports drinking and consistent dieting, ...parents continue to be a primary source of influence for young adults. Young adult college student attachment to their parents may have an important influence on college student alcohol use behaviors and DEBs. The present study examined the effect of parental attachment relationships, DEBs, and alcohol use behaviors for college students. Findings indicate that parent attachment had a significant and negative effect on alcohol use behavior and DEBs. Clinical implications for the treatment of college student substance use and disordered eating are presented and discussed.
Therapy discontinuation, a term used to describe clients ending treatment prematurely, is a common problem faced by mental healthcare professionals. This study considers how negative experiences in ...therapy impact the client’s experience in therapy and how this contributes to premature discontinuation. Video posts that used the hashtag bad therapist (#badtherapist) were collected from the social media platform TikTok and analyzed using inductive qualitative content analysis procedures. Five themes emerged from our analysis including: invalidation, biases, boundary violations, including religious beliefs without client agreement, and denial of trauma. Oftentimes, clients who prematurely discontinue services or openly discuss negative therapy experiences in therapy are labeled as “resistant”; however, the data suggest that more careful consideration of therapist behavior and self-of-the-therapist issues is needed. Clinical implications and limitations to the study are discussed.
Historically, model integration was reserved for experienced therapists (Lebow, J Marital Fam Ther 13:1–14,
1987
. doi:
10.1111/j.1752-0606.1987.tb00678.x
). Currently, many marriage and family ...therapy (MFT) training programs encourage trainees to develop an integrative therapy approach. This relatively new phenomenon of encouraging integration during training is not often discussed. One challenge of developing an integrative approach to therapy practice is that trainees may not receive formal training in how to thoughtfully integrate models (Lebow, J Marital Fam Ther 13:1–14,
1987
. doi:
10.1111/j.1752-0606.1987.tb00678.x
). Training therapists would benefit from an explicit road map to integration, the common factors approach is one such roadmap. The common factors approach may be a useful integrational construct (Weeks and Chad, Guid Couns 19:57–64,
2004
. doi:
10.1177/1066480708323205
) for guiding trainees in their initial understanding of model integration. The present conceptual paper presents a rationale for the usefulness of common factors in informing integration and supports a more prominent role of common factors in MFT training.
One of the most persistent and troubling health disparities is the underutilization of mental health services by individuals with marginalized aspects of their identity. We provide a critical review ...of the literature of barriers to psychotherapy initiation and the connection to social determinants of health. We propose a change from a deficit-based view of the problem to a strength-based view that include the following strategies: family therapy treatments designed to reduce barriers, telehealth as an option to address treatment barriers, changes to the recruitment of therapists-in-training, and person of the therapist development.
Mixed methods research designs are becoming a popular methodology used to investigate the unique circumstances, stressors, and needs of military families. Mixed methods military family research lacks ...intentionality in the design of the study, and adherence to formal design types by Creswell and Plano Clark (2011) and Green, Caracelli, and Graham (1989). This content analysis of mixed methods research of military families is an initial inquiry into the current state of this research. We analyzed the methodology of 12 (n = 12) mixed methods studies for adherence to typologies created by Creswell and Plano Clark (2011) and Greene and colleagues (1989). No articles mentioned that their research was conducted using a specific methodological design. We recommend intentionality in designing mixed methods research and in preparing mixed methods manuscripts. Intentionality is an indication of high caliber mixed methods research, ensuring the advancement of the field and legitimizing it as a third methodology.
As the bilingual Spanish-speaking population in the United States (U.S.) steadily rises (U.S. Census Bureau in Language spoken at home,
...https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?q=United%20States&g=0100000US
, 2020), the need for systemic therapists who are competent in working with Spanish-speaking clients also increases. While it is unrealistic to require all mental health practitioners to be bilingual English and Spanish speakers, systemic therapists can improve their understanding of the impact that clients’ native language can have on the therapeutic process. In this paper, we synthesize concepts from narrative therapy and linguistic relativity to provide non-Spanish-speaking clinicians with a unique perspective of case conceptualizations and therapeutic interventions for clients who natively speak Spanish. A clinical vignette is presented to illustrate the practical application of linguistic relativity informed systemic therapy. Potential theoretical and clinical implications of this treatment suggestion are explored.
