Background
Children placed in foster care represent a vulnerable and distressed group that requires a high level of care. However, good training programs designed to address specific problems ...presented in specialized foster care are not easily accessible due to logistical, economic and structural barriers. The lack of easy access and a strong desire to provide high-quality services inspired counselors from a specialized foster care center on the frontline to initiate an innovative, developmentally relevant and locally grounded training program.
Aims
This study focuses on counselors’ experiences with the development of the training program and its impact on their work life.
Method
A qualitative research design within a participatory approach framework was used to understand the experiences of the counselors. All the counselors employed in the department and the leaders (
n
= 14) participated in the study. Data were gathered from participants, including the lead and second authors, using a semi-structured interview, and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results
The analyses yielded three main categories: (i) Psychological Factors, (ii) Social Dynamics, and (iii) Leadership Style and Support. Each of the first two categories consisted of three subcategories. At the psychological level, the employees’ experiences reflected the psychological states and traits required to fuel the tasks required by the project. The social dynamics of working in a team influenced the work process and, in turn, were impacted by it. Lastly, leadership style and support provided the foundation for innovation to germinate and grow.
Conclusion
Engaging in a locally created training program was associated with a strong sense of collaboration and team spirit. Counselors reported high intrinsic motivation and a strong sense of personal pride and drive for their jobs. They were proactive in seeking colleagues with particular expertise and collaborated on project tasks despite differences. The leadership style reflected the presence of transformational leadership behaviors, signaling an organizational culture conducive to innovation. The study provides an example of how aligning employees’ personal aspirations with workplace goals and professional development can create a workplace in which employees feel it is enjoyable to go to work.
Promoting positive psychologies that promote resilience such as a growth mindset could be beneficial for young, unemployed adults, as many lack the self-esteem and self-efficacy to cope with job ...search adversity. These young people may be reached at scale through the web-based delivery of self-administered positive psychology interventions. However, past studies report unsatisfying user experiences and a lack of user engagement. A gaming-based experience could be an approach to overcoming these challenges.
Our research objective was to explore how young, unemployed adults experience a positive psychology intervention designed as a game to extract learning and principles for future intervention research and development.
To respond to the research question, a team of researchers at the University of Stavanger worked with designers and developers to conceptualize and build a gaming-based intervention. Feedback from the users was collected through formative usability testing with 18 young adults in the target group. Retrospectively, recordings and notes were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis to extract learnings for the purposes of this paper.
A total of 3 themes were identified that pinpoint what we consider to be key priorities for future gaming interventions for unemployed young adults: adaptation to user preferences (eg, need for responding to user preferences), empathic player interaction (eg, need for responsiveness to user inputs and a diverse set of interaction modes), and sensemaking of experience and context (eg, need for explicit presentation of game objectives and need for management of user expectations related to genre).
Feedback from end users in usability-testing sessions was vital to understanding user preferences and needs, as well as to inform ongoing intervention design and development. Our study also shows that game design could make interventions more entertaining and engaging but may distort the intervention if the game narrative is not properly aligned with the intervention intent and objectives. By contrast, a lack of adaptation to user needs may cause a less motivating user experience. Thus, we propose a structured approach to promote alignment between user preferences and needs, intervention objectives, and gameplay.
In the Scandinavian countries, social insurance officers (SIOs) hold key positions with regard to coordinating the return‐to‐work (RTW) process of workers on long‐term sick‐leave. This article aimed ...to systematically explore the experience of encounters between the sick‐listed and SIOs and set out the current scientific knowledge base on factors related to the encounter that are perceived as having an impact on the sick‐listed's RTW. A scoping review was conducted that included peer‐reviewed articles published in the English language in the period January 2000 to February 2021. Of the 435 articles reviewed to determine eligibility, 38 were included. Most of the articles included were qualitative (68%) and focused on the sick‐listed's experience of encounters with RTW professionals. The main finding of this review is that the majority of the sick‐listed perceived the encounters with SIOs as positive. The perspective of SIOs was less subject to study, and the research focus was more often concerned with practical aspects of the encounter, such as stakeholder cooperation and the impact of policy on SIOs' working conditions. Furthermore, we found that SIOs experience challenges in stakeholder cooperation and in performing workability assessments, especially where objective medical information is scarce. The findings of this review suggest that future studies should pay more attention to the SIO perspective in encounters between sick‐listed and SIOs.
Childhood interpersonal trauma (CIT) and premorbid adjustment are both associated with poor outcome in psychosis. In this study we investigate the relative impact of CIT and premorbid adjustment on ...symptom remission in first episode psychosis (FEP) over two years.
A total of 232 participants with FEP were recruited through the early detection program of the The early detection and Intervention in Psychosis (TIPS)-2 study and followed up after two years. Symptom remission was according to consensus criteria. CIT was assessed with the semi-structured interview Freyd Goldberg Brief Betrayal Trauma Survey, and premorbid adjustment with the Premorbid Adjustment Scale. Generalized estimating equations and multivariate models were used to analyze the associations between remission, symptom levels over time, CIT and premorbid adjustment; and a path analysis of mediation effects of CIT through premorbid adjustment on remission.
In this sample with 57% males and a mean age of 26.6 years (SD 10.2), a third of participants had experienced CIT. The participants with CIT had poorer premorbid adjustment compared to those without. Statistical analyses found independent effects of CIT and an interaction effect of CIT with premorbid adjustment on remission after two years, suggesting that CIT moderates the effect of premorbid adjustment. However contrary to expectations, premorbid adjustment did not mediate the effect of CIT.
Our findings indicate a complex interplay between effects of interpersonal trauma and premorbid social adjustment on remission in psychosis. CIT appeared to moderate the effect of premorbid adjustment such that individuals with CIT and who had poor social functioning in childhood are at greater risk of non-remission. Findings indicate that better premorbid social relations could provide a buffer for the effects of trauma on symptom course.
Individuals with psychosis are heavy consumers of social media. It is unknown to what degree measures of social functioning include measures of online social activity.
To examine the inclusion of ...social media activity in measures of social functioning in psychosis and ultrahigh risk (UHR) for psychosis.
Two independent authors conducted a search using the following electronic databases: Epistemonikos, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO. The included articles were required to meet all of the following criteria: (1) an empirical study published in the English language in a peer-reviewed journal; (2) the study included a measure of objective or subjective offline (ie, non-Web-mediated contact) and/or online social functioning (ie, Web-mediated contact); (3) the social functioning measure had to be used in samples meeting criteria (ie, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or International Classification of Diseases) for a psychotic disorder or UHR for psychosis; and (4) the study was published between January 2004 and February 2019. Facebook was launched as the first large-scale social media platform in 2004 and, therefore, it is highly improbable that studies conducted prior to 2004 would have included measures of social media activity.
The electronic search resulted in 11,844 distinct articles. Full-text evaluation was conducted on 719 articles, of which 597 articles met inclusion criteria. A total of 58 social functioning measures were identified. With some exceptions, reports on reliability and validity were scarce, and only one measure integrated social media social activity.
The ecological validity of social functioning measures is challenged by the lack of assessment of social media activity, as it fails to reflect an important aspect of the current social reality of persons with psychosis. Measures should be revised to include social media activity and thus avoid the clinical consequences of inadequate assessment of social functioning.
International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) CRD42017058514; http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?ID=CRD42017058514.
Despite the evidence of the importance of including service users' views on psychotherapy after psychosis, there is a paucity of research investigating impact on full recovery.
To explore what fully ...recovered service users found to be the working ingredients of psychotherapy in the recovery process after psychosis.
The study was designed as a phenomenological investigation with thematic analysis as the practical tool for analysis. Twenty fully recovered service users were interviewed.
Themes: (1) Help with the basics, (2) Having a companion when moving through chaotic turf, (3) Creating a common language, (4) Putting psychosis in brackets and cultivate all that is healthy, and (5) Building a bridge from the psychotic state to the outside world.
Therapeutic approaches sensitive to stage specific functional challenges seemed crucial for counteracting social isolation and achieving full recovery. Findings indicate that psychotherapy focusing on early readjustment to everyday activities, to what are perceived as meaningful and recovery-oriented, seems to be what is preferred and called for by service users.
Predictors of long-term symptomatic remission are crucial to the successful tailoring of treatment in first episode psychosis. There is lack of studies distinguishing the predictive effects of ...different social factors. This prevents a valid evaluating of their independent effects.
To test specific social baseline predictors of long-term remission. We hypothesized that first, satisfaction with social relations predicts remission; second, that frequency of social interaction predicts remission; and third, that the effect of friend relationship satisfaction and frequency will be greater than that of family relations satisfaction and frequency.
A sample of first episode psychosis (
= 186) completed baseline measures of social functioning, as well as clinical assessments. We compared groups of remitted and non-remitted individuals using generalized estimating equations analyses.
Frequency of social interaction with friends was a significant positive predictor of remission over a two-year period. Neither global perceived social satisfaction nor frequency of family interaction showed significant effects.
The study findings are of particular clinical importance since frequency of friendship interaction is a possibly malleable factor. Frequency of interaction could be affected through behavioral modification and therapy already from an early stage in the course, and thus increase remission rates.
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