Relationship Between Postnatal Depression of Mental Health Patients and the Psychological Health of Their Offspring

Postnatal depression is a major illness affecting maternal and family health. The rate of postnatal depression among mental health clients is postulated to be higher than in the community due to the added brain assault. Children of parents who are mental health clients are more likely to have psychological problems compared to children from other parents in the community. This study investigates the rate of postnatal depression among mental health clients and their offspring's psychological health. A total of 140 mental health clients were assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). They subsequently completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) regarding their children. The majority ethnicity was the Kadazan (40.7%). The mean age of mothers was 38.6 (7) years with most having a secondary education (53.6%) and a household income per month of < RM1000 per month (27.1%). The postnatal depression rate was 47.8%. Higher EPDS scores were associated with higher total SDQ scores in their offspring. Model 1 was unadjusted, giving an OR of 5.65 [95% CI (3.74, 7.55)], p < 0.001. After adjustment for confounders, Model 2 had an OR of 5.51 [95% CI (3.57, 7.46)], p < 0.001. More efforts need to be given to the early detection of maternal depression and its prompt treatment in mental health clients because of the relationship with the psychological health of the offspring.

Remote mental health clients prefer face-to-face consultations to telehealth during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: To guide the efficient and effective provision of mental health services to clients in Central West and Far North Queensland, we surveyed preferences for face-to-face or in-person contact. Methods: A clinician-designed survey of contact preferences was offered to 248 clients of mental health services in Far North and Central West Queensland in mid-2020. With the onset of COVID-19, the survey was modified to measure the impact of the pandemic. Results: Just over half of the services’ clients participated in the survey (50.4%), of whom more were female (63.2%). Of the participants, 46.3% in Far North and 8.6% in Central West Queensland identified as Indigenous. Strong resistance to telehealth before the pandemic across groups (76%) was moderated during COVID-19 (42.4%), an effect that appeared likely to continue past the pandemic for Central West clients (34.5%). Far North clients indicated their telehealth reluctance would return after the pandemic (77.6%). Conclusions: Our results suggest that remote Australians strongly prefer in-person mental health care to telehealth. Although the COVID-19 pandemic increased acceptance of telehealth across regions while social distancing continued, there was evidence that Indigenous Australians were more likely to prefer in-person contact after the pandemic.

Current Mental Health Clients’ Attitudes Regarding Religion and Spirituality in Treatment: A National Survey

Over the last several years, there has been a growing interest in clients’ views toward integrating their religion and spirituality (RS) into mental health treatment. However, most of these studies have been limited to small samples and specific populations, regions, and/or clinical issues. This article describes the first national survey of current mental health clients across the US regarding their attitudes towards integrating their RS in treatment using a revised version of the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale-Client Attitudes, version 2 (RSIPAS-CAv2) with a sample of 989 clients. Our findings indicate mental health clients have overwhelmingly positive attitudes regarding integrating their RS into mental health treatment. Additionally, we explored what background characteristics predict clients’ attitudes toward this area of practice and found the top predictor was their intrinsic religiosity, followed by whether they had previously discussed RS with their current provider, age, gender, organized and non-organized religious activities, belief in God/Higher Power, and frequency of seeing their mental health provider. The reliability and validity of the RSIPAS-CAv2 was also explored and this scale is recommended for future use. Implications and recommendations for practice, research, and future training efforts are discussed.