scholarly journals Could the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview Hold Therapeutic Potential? Suggestions for Further Exploration and Adaptation Within a Framework of Therapeutic Assessment

Author(s):  
Mattias Strand ◽  
Sofie Bäärnhielm

AbstractThe Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI), included in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is a person-centered instrument for systematically appraising the impact of cultural factors in psychiatric assessment. A number of key areas in the future development of the CFI have been identified in order to ensure further clinical uptake. In this paper, we suggest that applying a Therapeutic Assessment (TA) approach in using the CFI—i.e., framing the interview in a way that gives primacy to its self-transformative potential by explicitly focusing on those issues that are seen as the most urgent, relevant, and meaningful by the patient—could prove helpful in alleviating patients’ suffering beyond what is achieved by merely collecting relevant cultural information that may inform diagnosis and subsequent treatment interventions. The TA methodology has been designed as a collaborative approach to psychological assessment in which the assessment procedure itself is meant to induce therapeutic change. This is achieved by explicitly focusing on the particular questions and queries that patients have about themselves with respect to their mental health problems or psychosocial well-being; these questions are then allowed to guide the assessment process and the interpretation of the findings. We suggest a number of potential modifications to the related Outline for Cultural Formulation and to the CFI content that could strengthen a TA-inspired focus. With this paper, we do not claim to offer a definitive integration of the TA approach in using the CFI but hope to further the discussion of a therapeutic potential of the instrument.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 28-34
Author(s):  
Huseynova А.А. ◽  
Vashchinnikova K.D.

Turning to the new educational paradigm, the research paper considers the conditions for ensuring the effective-ness of authentic assessment of students ' achievements within the competence approach and the transition from traditional knowledge control to tests developed on the basis of the theory of pedagogical measurements. Special attention is paid to independent assessment as a tool for stimulating learning activities, as well as to the justifica-tion of the pattern design method used in the develop-ment of measurement tools. The experimental basis of the study is based on the results of an independent assess-ment of educational achievements of students of the sen-ior level of secondary vocational education in social studies in several educational organizations. As a result of the survey of participants in independent testing, the formation of a stable positive learning motivation is not-ed. The relationship with the assessment of the impact on educational motivation is confirmed by the respondents ' attitude to the authentic assessment procedure on the part of participants in the assessment process: school-children, teachers, and parents. As a result, it was re-vealed that all subjects of the educational process evalu-ate the impact of the proposed method of assessment on educational motivation from a positive side.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9597
Author(s):  
Gabriella Nagy-Pénzes ◽  
Ferenc Vincze ◽  
Éva Bíró

Mental disorders are common in adolescents, and for effective interventions we should be aware of their determinants. However, there are only a small number of studies investigating the combined effect of multiple factors. Therefore, our aim is to assess the impact of socioeconomic status, social support, and health behavior on adolescents’ mental well-being. A cross-sectional health survey of 1641 children was carried out in accordance with the study protocol of the Hungarian Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey. Multivariate multiple regression was used to analyze the main determinants of mental well-being. The boys’ mental well-being was favorable compared to girls; lower subjective family wealth was associated with lower life satisfaction and depressive mood. Life satisfaction was positively related to healthy eating, social support, and physical activity. Unhealthy eating, sedentary lifestyle, and lower social support were associated with higher depression scores. Higher social support reduces psychosomatic symptoms, while unhealthy eating and spending a lot of time in front of the computer increase them. Both social support and healthy lifestyle seem to be protective against mental health problems among adolescents, and thus interventions should focus on these factors regardless of the socioeconomic status of the participants, with special attention given to girls.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Marshall ◽  
Kate Lanyi ◽  
Rhiannon Green ◽  
Georgie Wilkins ◽  
Fiona Pearson ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND There is increasing need to explore the value of soft-intelligence, leveraged using the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) techniques, as a source of analysed evidence to support public health research activity and decision-making. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to further explore the value of soft-intelligence analysed using AI through a case study, which examined a large collection of UK tweets relating to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS A search strategy comprising a list of terms related to mental health, COVID-19, and lockdown restrictions was developed to prospectively collate relevant tweets via Twitter’s advanced search application programming interface over a 24-week period. We deployed a specialist NLP platform to explore tweet frequency and sentiment across the UK and identify key topics of discussion. A series of keyword filters were used to clean the initial data retrieved and also set up to track specific mental health problems. Qualitative document analysis was carried out to further explore and expand upon the results generated by the NLP platform. All collated tweets were anonymised RESULTS We identified and analysed 286,902 tweets posted from UK user accounts from 23 July 2020 to 6 January 2021. The average sentiment score was 50%, suggesting overall neutral sentiment across all tweets over the study period. Major fluctuations in volume and sentiment appeared to coincide with key changes to any local and/or national social-distancing measures. Tweets around mental health were polarising, discussed with both positive and negative sentiment. Key topics of consistent discussion over the study period included the impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health (both positively and negatively), fear and anxiety over lockdowns, and anger and mistrust toward the government. CONCLUSIONS Through the primary use of an AI-based NLP platform, we were able to rapidly mine and analyse emerging health-related insights from UK tweets into how the pandemic may be impacting people’s mental health and well-being. This type of real-time analysed evidence could act as a useful intelligence source that agencies, local leaders, and health care decision makers can potentially draw from, particularly during a health crisis.


Author(s):  
Versha Prasad

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has heavily burdened, and in many cases overwhelmed, healthcare systems including healthcare workers. The novel COVID-19 started from Wuhan in mainland China. Since then it has affected most of the nations and continents because of its rapid spread. Most commonly affected are the healthcare professionals who are working on the frontline. The COVID-19 epidemic has mushroomed globally, disrupting the existence of millions It is a generalized mental condition occurring without any trigger or stimulus. Various symptoms of depression are: anxious, sad and empty feelings, hopelessness, guilt and may be sense of helplessness, restless attitude, irritation, and lack of interest in various hobbies and activities and were once considered relax able and which are used to provide pleasure. Furthermore, healthcare workers reported mental health problems putatively associated with healthcare workers’ occupational activities during and up until years after epidemics, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress, burnout, depression and anxiety. As for lack of material, a high percentage of professionals are getting infected for not having adequate personal protection equipment (PPE) and not using it properly, having to re-use in many occasions equipment which is only recommended for one-time utilization. During work performed by healthcare workers, several pressure elements from different sources may impact on keeping optimal conditions for a healthy working environment, and because of the saturation of the sanitary facilities due to the high level of virus infection, the health of these professionals has been obviously affected. While the main focus is concentrated on laboratory testing, finding the disease cure and prevention of transmission, all individuals are undergoing a plethora of psychological problems while adjusting to current lifestyles and disease fear. In current study, an attempt has been made to find out the impact of this pandemic situation on psychological well-being of healthcare and non-healthcare workers. Our study has reported identical findings to those reported by numerous investigators working across the globe. The present paper has outlined the stressors which the frontline health care professionals have faced including fear of spreading disease to co-workers and members of the family, irregular sleep patterns, abrupt work cycles, and lack of adequate training skills in dealing with such a novel situation.


2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Ishii ◽  
Kyoko Baba

This article explores how teachers, students and other stakeholders collaboratively develop classroom-based assessment procedures for the evaluation of oral skills. By considering crucial issues in assessment such as validity, teacher-learner collaboration, and contextual factors, the authors provide a checklist that will help ESL/EFL teachers develop meaningful assessment procedures for their own classrooms. The checklist addresses 16 questions worth considering in five test-developing stages: (a) identification of course objectives; (b) identification of skills, strategies, tasks and content; (c) design of rating procedures; (d) interpretation of learner performance; and (e) reflection on the impact of the assessment procedure. In all the stages the authors emphasize the significance of involving students in the assessment process, which promotes students' responsibility for their own learning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 421-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viswa Chaitanya Chandu ◽  
Yamuna Marella ◽  
Gnana Sarita Panga ◽  
Srinivas Pachava ◽  
Viswanath Vadapalli

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, associated with the economic consequences of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as lockdown, has led to mental health consequences among people worldwide. Protecting the mental well-being of populations is an imperative component of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. This scoping review attempts to present an overview of the existing tools to measure COVID-19-related mental health problems. Methods: Literature search was conducted in the PubMed electronic database using developed key search terms. Reference lists of the identified eligible articles were reviewed to locate relevant articles missed from the electronic database search. Fifteen scales measuring COVID-19-associated mental health problems, validated among diverse populations across the world, were included in this review. Results: The majority of these scales were validated among middle-aged adults in Turkey. Only a few validated scales encompass the negative socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19. None of the available scales focused on the aspects of suicidal ideation or behavioral responses/coping strategies, neither were they inclusive of participants from diverse age, geographic, and COVID-19 exposure groups. Conclusion: This scoping review highlights the need for future research to develop and validate comprehensive psychometric tools to assess COVID-19-associated mental health problems. Also, in view of the vulnerable nature of healthcare professionals for developing mental health concerns in the course of providing services for COVID-19-affected individuals, future psychometric research needs to concentrate on the development of measures specific for these professionals.


Comunicar ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (66) ◽  
pp. 119-128
Author(s):  
Félix Ortega-Mohedano ◽  
Fernando Pinto-Hernández

This study presents an explanatory Ordinary Linear Regression Model for predicting wellbeing in the use of smart screen devices among children and youngsters in Spain, using a database of microdata for a total of 23,860 national representative households and some 6,106 total cohabiting minors under 15 years of age. The World Health Organization actively recommends children and youngsters to spend less hours in front of smart screen devices and encourages substituting them with more active play and direct socialisation. The main purpose of our research is to study the impact of the use of these devices on mental and physical well-being, sleep pattern, and the potential explanatory effects. To address the analysis, we contrasted the modelisation model proposed with microdata provided in the 2017 version of the National Health Survey in Spain. We performed a series of ordinary least square regression models OLS, obtaining significant information on the effects and risks excessive use of smart screen devices may be inflicting on children and adolescents in Spain. As a main result, we contrasted with the data and the modelisation that those individuals who use these devices more intensively have higher risk of mental health problems, significantly reduced sleeping hours and have a higher chance of suffering physical health problems such as obesity Este artículo presenta un Modelo Lineal General de Regresión para predecir el bienestar en el uso de pantallas inteligentes entre niños y jóvenes en España utilizando una base de datos de microdatos para un total de 23.860 hogares representativos nacionales y unos 6.106 menores cohabitantes de menos de 15 años. La Organización Mundial de la Salud recomienda activamente que los niños y jóvenes pasen menos horas frente a las pantallas inteligentes y alienta sustituirlas por un juego más activo y físico acompañado de socialización directa. El objetivo principal de nuestra investigación es estudiar el efecto del uso de estos dispositivos en el bienestar mental y físico, el patrón de sueño y los posibles efectos explicativos que se derivarían. Para abordar el análisis, comparamos la modelización propuesta con los microdatos proporcionados por la versión 2017 de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud en España. Ejecutamos una serie de modelos de regresión de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios MCO, obteniendo información significativa sobre los efectos y con ella sobre los riesgos que el uso excesivo de estos dispositivos pudiese estar infligiendo en niños y adolescentes en España. Como resultado principal, hemos contrastado con los datos y la modelización que las personas que usan estos dispositivos con mayor intensidad tienen un mayor riesgo de padecer problemas de salud mental, han reducido significativamente sus horas de sueño y tienen una mayor probabilidad de sufrir problemas de salud física como obesidad


Author(s):  
Martin Misut ◽  
Maria Misutova

The key difference between testing a small and a larger group of students is typically the impossibility to use an e-assessment interface for a very large group of students in one room, especially in mathematics courses. Traditional testing causes overloading of the teacher when evaluating students´ results, and delay in releasing of the results. Moreover, the detailed results and test content are not directly stored in the database for further evaluation, which is a condition for optimization of learning environment. To overcome these problems, new teaching model along with method of assessment with enhanced software support was designed. Experimental data collected during three experimental academic years were compared to traditional assessment data to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed solutions. Results have proved that the overall productivity was significantly increased – more than eleven times without compromising quality. Internal dependencies among parameters of the automated assessment procedure were identified, analyzed and used to maximizing the impact of automation, as well.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Baker ◽  
Vivien Cooper ◽  
Winnie Tsang ◽  
Isabelle Garnett ◽  
Noelle Blackman

Purpose There is an established literature supporting the idea that families who have children and adults who have a learning disability and/or autism have a greater vulnerability to mental health problems or poor psychological health. There are shortcomings in this literature in that there is a little consideration of the impact the families interaction with services has on their well-being. It is argued that complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), with its focus on prolonged chronic exposure to trauma experiences and the recognition that this can occur in adulthood, may well be an appropriate framework to enable a better understanding of the experiences of families. Design/methodology/approach A total of 214 family members completed a co-produced online survey in relation to potential traumatic events, impacts and support. Findings The experiences of family carers of children and adults with a learning disability and/or who are autistic would appear to be multi-layered and complex, with many experiencing a wide range of traumatic events with the associated emotional and personal sequela. The reported responses are consistent with CPTSD with 10% of having received a diagnosis of PTSD. Their experience was that the system failed not only to provide support but also created additional trauma. Practical implications A trauma-informed approach needs to be adopted by agencies and professionals that serve families to ensure they understand their potential contribution to the trauma families experience. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has attempted to examine the experience of families using the framework of CPTSD.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Fitch ◽  
Robert Chaplin ◽  
Colin Trend ◽  
Sharon Collard

One in four people with mental health problems in Britain report debt or arrears, which is nearly three times the rate among individuals without similar conditions. Although health professionals commonly encounter debt among patients, some report that they lack basic knowledge to effectively intervene and that patient debt is often not acted on until a crisis emerges. Our aim in this article is to improve psychiatrists' knowledge and confidence in dealing with patient debt. We provide basic definitions of debt and problem debt; outline the impact that debt can have on patients' health, social and financial well-being; identify the stages and signs that a patient may be accruing problem debt; describe how psychiatrists should respond; and review the instruments available to assess patients' mental capacity to make financial decisions. We do not expect psychiatrists to become ‘debt experts’, but provide working knowledge for engaging more effectively with this problem.


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