Using evidence in mental health policy agenda-setting in low- and middle-income countries: a conceptual meta-framework from a scoping umbrella review.

The purpose of this article is to close the gap in frameworks for the use of evidence in the mental health policy agenda-setting in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Agenda-setting is important because mental health remains a culturally sensitive and neglected issue in LMICs. Moreover, effective evidence-informed agenda-setting can help achieve, and sustain, the status of mental health as a policy priority in these low-resource contexts. A scoping 'review of reviews' of evidence-to-policy frameworks was conducted, which followed preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Nineteen reviews met the inclusion criteria. A meta-framework was developed from analysis and narrative synthesis of these 19 reviews, which integrates the key elements identified across studies. It comprises the concepts of evidence, actors, process, context and approach, which are linked via the cross-cutting dimensions of beliefs, values and interests; capacity; power and politics; and trust and relationships. Five accompanying questions act as a guide for applying the meta-framework with relevance to mental health agenda-setting in LMICs. This is a novel and integrative meta-framework for mental health policy agenda-setting in LMICs and, as such, an important contribution to this under-researched area. Two major recommendations are identified from the development of the framework to enhance its implementation. First, given the paucity of formal evidence on mental health in LMICs, informal evidence based on stakeholder experience could be better utilized in these contexts. Second, the use of evidence in mental health agenda-setting in LMICs would be enhanced by involving a broader range of stakeholders in generating, communicating and promoting relevant information.

Staff experiences of a novel in-reach rehabilitation and recovery service for people with profound and enduring mental health needs.

This organizational case study addresses the research question: What are the experiences of staff who work in a novel in-reach rehabilitation and recovery service for people with profound and enduring mental health needs? Fifteen purposefully sampled staff were recruited from across a novel mental health service that embeds the community sector within inpatient provision. The sample comprises twelve National Health Service and three community voluntary organization staff (four men and eleven women). Data were generated via photo-elicitation in which interviews focused on the photographs participants brought to help convey their experiences of the Service. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the transcripts. The analysis demonstrates that participants are oriented towards five 'meta-questions': What is recovery? Who is valued and how is it demonstrated? Why are you frustrated in doing the best job you can and what support do you need? How can change occur in staff practices and approaches in an environment embedded in history? and How do we make the Service work in the context of constraints? Eight paired themes were also identified regarding staff experience of the Service: hope and individuality; culture and power; communication and confidence; accountability and limitations. The conclusions of this organizational case study have wide relevance to clinical practice: staff (i) place importance on promoting and developing greater awareness of different approaches to care; (ii) aspire to develop better communication across multidisciplinary teams and (iii) desire greater awareness of the complexities of risk to improve staff confidence.

Pathways to recovery model of youth substance misuse in Assam, India.

INTRODUCTION: There are global calls for better understanding of substance use disorder (SUD) to inform prevention, risk reduction and treatment of this relapse-prone disorder. Our aim in this article is to understand the pathways to recovery of youth in Assam, India who have suffered SUD. METHODS: We recruited 15 participants (11 men and 4 women) via two rehabilitation facilities. All are addicts-in-recovery aged 19-24 years. Material was generated through photo-led interviews, analysed using an inductive variant of thematic analysis and the resulting model refined through expert and participant checks. RESULTS: We present a multiroute, multidirectional pathway to recovery model. It has three phases, Recreational Use, Addiction (Relaxed, Chaotic, Strategic) and Supported Recovery, each phase consisting of cycling between, or transitioning through, a series of stages. CONCLUSIONS: The model enhances psycho-socio-cultural insights into the experience of risk and recovery, and informs prevention and treatment for youth substance misuse in Assam. This is the first model of its kind and an important public health resource. We discuss the possible transferability of the model to a wider range of contexts. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: The model presented was generated through analysis of interviews with addicts-in-recovery. Four of these addicts-in-recovery, and two mental health and rehabilitation service providers, conducted participant and expert checks of the model leading to its improvement.

Using cocreated visually informed community mental health education in low- and middle-income countries: A case study of youth substance misuse in Assam, India.

INTRODUCTION: Our aim is to evaluate the visually informed community mental health education materials cocreated in our research on youth substance misuse in Assam, India, and to reflect on what we might learn for similar initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: Materials consist of: (i) images participants brought to the interview; (ii) 30 posters cocreated by participants to convey key messages from their interview; (iii) six short films on the implications of addiction, and (iv) an animation of our Pathways to Recovery model. We also created a community education package that incorporated these materials. We analyse feedback from three groups of events and a social media campaign, which drew variably across our materials and engaged a range of audiences. RESULTS: Outcomes indicate the cocreation process and focus on the visual was successful in promoting young people's voice, increasing awareness and has potential for stigma reduction. Our educational package was deemed useful in increasing awareness and has potential for prevention and treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our case study offers insights into community mental health education in low- and middle-income countries, confirming the importance of cocreation, the usefulness of visual materials and the potential of social media campaigns while acknowledging the importance of local context in health messaging, particularly for stigmatized topics. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Service users were involved in the cocreation of the materials evaluated in this study and contributed as presenters in one of the events reported. Members of the public took part in events in which the materials were shared and provided us with the feedback analysed in this article.

Mainstreaming global mental health: Is there potential to embed psychosocial well-being impact in all global challenges research?

We explore if there is potential to embed psychosocial well-being impact in global challenges research where the primary aims are not mental health related. We are interested in the use of material practices to deliver impact through routine project activities of working with concrete things together. The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) gateway to research was searched for information on Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) grants from 2015 to May 2020. Analysis shows that only 3 per cent of projects self-categorise as engaging with mental health. Thirty-six non-mental health GCRF grants were purposefully sampled for diversity, and each was coded independently by two researchers for relevant information. Findings suggest that 50-70 per cent of non-mental health GCRF projects already engage implicitly, but nonstrategically, with psychosocial well-being impact; opportunities for psychosocial well-being impact, from most to least frequent, are community mobilisation, community building, skills development, positive sense of self, positive emotions and sociocultural identity; the presence of material practice from most to least frequent is as follows: (i) interactions between or enactments upon people, (ii) written materials or images, and (iii) objects; when a material practice was present, it was usually considered usable as a focus to enhance psychosocial well-being. Our study provides evidence that there are low hanging fruit opportunities to impact psychosocial well-being across Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through routine project activities.

Are Female Paraphilias Hiding in Plain Sight? Risqué Male-Male Erotica for Women in Sinophone and Anglophone Regions.

Female-oriented male-male erotica is a genre of popular culture often know as Boys' Love (BL), yaoi, and danmei. It is one of the largest by-and-for women sexual subcultures and a global phenomenon. With the largest data sets in the field, we ask: Which risqué sexual content do Sinophone (Chinese-speaking) and Anglophone (English-speaking) participants particularly enjoy in BL and does this differ between cultures?, and Are there sub-demographics in Sinophone and in Anglophone culture who enjoy particular forms of risqué sexual content in BL and do these forms relate also to enjoyment of particular storylines and concern with legal issues? The material studied meets the DSM-5 definition of the paraphilic, and little is known about paraphilias in women or in the general population. Using Categorical Principal Component Analysis we explored one 15-response question from our Sinophone (N = 1922) and Anglophone (N = 1715) BL fandom surveys: Which risqué sexual content do you particularly enjoy in BL? We also tested for associations with seven demographic and other BL content-related questions. Notably, the component structure was nearly replicated between the two independent samples, in order of strength: BDSM Specialist, Mechanoid/Animal Sex Specialist, Underage Sex Specialist, and Minority Paraphilia Specialist. In both samples, it was the avid BL fans and/or those who liked explicitly sexual stories, a largely overlapping demographic, who most engage the risqué content, while, for the Sinophone, this included also more non-heterosexual and/or other-gendered people. We conclude that women's paraphilias have been largely overlooked because they might be expressed more commonly through fantasy than action, that their mass expression has awaited both the means and the market force, and that current conceptualization of, and assumptions about, paraphilias is overly modeled on that of men.

How can we mainstream mental health in research engaging the range of Sustainable Development Goals? A theory of change.

Mental health is a leading cause of ill-health worldwide, disproportionately affects low-and-middle-income countries and, increasingly, is considered relevant across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, we ask: How can we mainstream mental health in research engaging the range of SDGs? We use the UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) as a case study. In a previous scoping review, we purposefully sampled non-mental health focused GCRF grants for diversity from 2015 until May-end 2020 (N = 36). In the present study, the principal investigator of each grant in this sample was invited to interview (11 accepting). Snowballing, our networks, and returning to the funding archive secured a further 15 interviews sampled for diversity (Final sample: 13 UK researchers and 13 of their overseas collaborators). A thematic analysis of this data organised key information into a trajectory from the challenges of incorporating mental health impact, to how these challenges might be overcome and, finally, to support needs. This analysis was then organised into a Theory of Change designed to promote the mainstreaming of mental health in global challenges research. We outline the implications for global challenges researchers, mental health practitioners, and global challenge research funders. One important implication is that we provide evidence to encourage funders to engage with the desire of researchers to contribute more broadly to the wellbeing of the communities with whom they work.

Service user experiences of a novel in-reach rehabilitation and recovery service for people with profound and enduring mental health needs.

This article provides an organizational case study using exploratory qualitative and visual research methods. We address the research question: What are the experiences of service users who use a novel in-reach rehabilitation and recovery service for people with severe and enduring mental health needs? Fifteen purposefully sampled service users were recruited from across a Service that is novel in embedding community sectors within inpatient provision. The sample reflects approximately the demographic of the Service and comprises: 10 men, 5 women; 12 white British, 3 ethnic minority; aged 18-60 years; and across inpatient care and supported community living. Photo-elicitation was used to enrich data collection through lightly structured interviews focused on the images brought by participants. Interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analysis indicates that participants oriented towards four 'meta-questions': What does mental well-being mean to you? What difficulties have you encountered? What do you appreciate about the Service? What do you need for change to occur? We also identified six themes which told the story of a journey. The journey begins with challenge and moves towards making connections with others. Here, power dynamics are often experienced and addressed in the development of a greater sense of independence. This then provides opportunities for raised awareness around possibilities of recovery and a new-found hope. Our three main conclusions are all relevant to clinical practice: service users (a) place great importance on building relationships; (b) aspire to make informed choices throughout their recovery journey; and (c) desire greater transparency regarding treatment options.

From 'neurotic' to 'managing' mother: The 'medical career' experienced by mothers of a child diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

Objective Despite increased research into how caring for a child diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) affects mothers, more needs to be known about ways in which such experiences transform their lives. Insight into the experiences of such mothers was sought through analysis of interviews with eight mothers and one father caring for a child with JIA. Design The study is situated within a larger project involving families with a child with JIA. A social constructionist approach was adopted and grounded theory including a 'negative case,' guided gathering and analysing data. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted based on the research question: 'What is it like to be the mother of a child with juvenile idiopathic arthritis?' Results Findings suggest that mothers find difficulty living up to the 'ideal mother' expected within Western society when forced to provide competing demands of age-related, yet illness-relevant care. The unpredictable nature of JIA means mothers face a lack of understanding from professionals so become hyper-vigilant, 'battling' on behalf of their ill child. A self-perpetuating loop develops if this is misperceived as being overprotective, leaving mothers vulnerable to being judged 'neurotic'. However, with experience, often at an emotional cost, such mothers' confidence in managing the competing demands of caring for their ill child increases such they can navigate a positive journey from 'neurotic' to 'managing' mother. Conclusions Understanding this process could help health care professionals reduce stressful experiences faced by mothers when caring for a chronically ill child. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Mothers of chronically ill children are often diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Such mothers will have taken over managing their child's condition, and this can include negative experiences within the health care system. Qualitative methods enable deeper understanding of the experiences of mothers of chronically ill children. What does the study add? Potentially gendered position of mothers of children with chronic conditions. Taken for granted assumptions implicitly underpin interactions between mothers and some professionals. Greater partnership between mothers and professionals ultimately improves the care of the ill child.

Managing the (In)visibility of Chronic Illness at Work: Dialogism, Parody, and Reported Speech.

Interactionally, the workplace may be dilemmatic for a person with "invisible" chronic illness. Risks of stigmatization exist if they disclose their condition to colleagues. Meanwhile, not disclosing threatens well-being and entitlements. Using Bakhtin's dialogism as a theoretical framework, we explored these social aspects of illness: inductively analyzing narratives from 20 participants with multiple sclerosis (MS). Capitalizing on concepts from dialogical and conversation analysis, links between (in)visibility, knowledge, and belief were examined with respect to symptoms and co-worker judgment. Perceived medical legitimacy creates a core social dilemma. At the intersection of genre and action, participants systematically used parody to subvert the traditional workplace hierarchy. "Oh-prefaced" direct reported speech (OPDRS) was deployed to exaggerate workplace interactions, undermining managers/colleagues who misattributed (in)visible symptoms. Parodic OPDRS index emotive interactional dilemmas. As subversions of organizational power, OPDRS denote those very areas where employees feel disempowered. Sensitivity to OPDRS can provide diagnostic support and complement evaluation frameworks.

Tortoise or hare? Supporting the chronotope preference of employees with fluctuating chronic illness symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to understand how to facilitate the job retention of employees with chronic illness. We focus on multiple sclerosis (MS) as a criterion chronic illness. DESIGN: An opportunity sample of 20 individuals of working age (13 female; 7 male) were recruited who had been in paid employment for over 28 months with a concurrent diagnosis of MS. Participants took part in one of three focus groups with a topic guide comprising keywords: work, coping, performance, support, future, expectations, sharing and symptoms. Data were analysed using dialogical analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: As a qualitative study, no outcome measure was used. However, the specific focus of interest was to search for differential patterns of 'timespace' - chronotope - that people with chronic illness utilise to manage their condition in the workplace. RESULTS: Participants oriented to two distinct chronotope types: unsustainable epic (characterised by condensed time) and temporary idyll (characterized by condensed space). Perceived managerial discretion was identified as possibly influencing participants' chronotope preference. CONCLUSION: Identifying chronotope preference has practical implications for health psychologists and related professionals who provide and advise on support to facilitate people with chronic illness to thrive in the workplace.

A meta-methodology to enhance pluralist qualitative research: One man's use of socio-sexual media and midlife adjustment to HIV.

AIM: Our aim is to offer and illustrate a novel meta-methodology to enhance the rigour of method selection and understanding of results in pluralist qualitative research (PQR). METHOD: To do so, we make innovative use of articulation of four discrete dimensions characterising different forms of thematic analysis. We provide secondary analyses of an interview from the Social Media, Men who have Sex with Men and Sexual Health project using critical discursive psychology, dialogical analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis and psychosocial narrative analysis. RESULTS: All four methods identified aspects of three central foci: Compartmentalisation, Detachment and Jouissance. CONCLUSION: We discuss how our proposed meta-methodology provides a rationale for the selection of methods in a PQR, offer evidence that it can anticipate the relative similarity in focus of the methods employed, and argue that our meta-methodology reveals the possibility of identifying an 'axial' or 'hub' method of a PQR which might be particularly fruitful in exploring commonalities and differences in results. Finally, we examine the synergies and challenges of combining pairs of the methods we used.

When Your Pregnancy Echoes Your Illness: Transition to Motherhood With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Our aim is to provide an understanding of the experience of women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who have made the transition to motherhood. A total of 22 mothers with IBD were recruited from around the United Kingdom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis. The central concept- Blurred Lines-offers a novel frame for understanding the transition to motherhood with IBD through identifying parallels between having IBD and becoming, and being, a mother. Parallels clustered into three main themes: Need for Readiness, Lifestyle Changes, and Monitoring Personal and Physical Development. Hence, women with IBD are in some ways well prepared for the challenges of motherhood even though, as a group, they tend to restrict their reproductive choices. We recommend health professionals initiate conversations about reproduction early and provide a multidisciplinary approach to pregnancy and IBD in which women have confidence that their ongoing treatment will be integrated successfully with their maternity care.

Individual differences in emotional processing and autobiographical memory: interoceptive awareness and alexithymia in the fading affect bias.

The capacity to perceive internal bodily states is linked to emotional awareness and effective emotional regulation. We explore individual differences in emotional awareness in relation to the fading affect bias (FAB), which refers to the greater dwindling of unpleasant compared to pleasant emotions in autobiographical memory. We consider interoceptive awareness and alexithymia in relation to the FAB, and private event rehearsal as a mediating process. With increasing interoceptive awareness, there was an enhanced FAB, but with increasing alexithymia, there was a decreased FAB. Further, the effects of interoceptive awareness were partially mediated by private rehearsal of pleasant events. We provide novel evidence that capacity for emotional awareness and thus effective processing is an important factor predictive of the FAB. Moreover, our results imply an important role for maintaining positive affect in the FAB. Our findings offer new insights into the effects of interoception and alexithymia on autobiographical memory, and support concepts of the FAB emerging as a result of adaptive emotional regulation processes.

Pregnancy and inflammatory bowel disease: Do we provide enough patient education? A British study of 1324 women.

AIM: To examine patient knowledge and factors influencing knowledge about pregnancy in British women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: This is a post hoc analysis of a study of female members of Crohn's and Colitis United Kingdom, aged 18-45 years who were sent an online questionnaire recording patient demographics, education, employment, marital status, and disease characteristics. Disease related pregnancy knowledge was recorded using Crohn's and colitis pregnancy knowledge score (CCPKnow). RESULTS: Of 1324 responders, 776 (59%) suffered from Crohn's disease, 496 (38%) from ulcerative colitis and 52 (4%) from IBD-uncategorised. CCPKnow scores were poor (0-7) in 50.8%, adequate (8-10) in 23.6%, good (11-13) in 17.7% and very good (≥ 14) in 7.8%. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that higher CCPKnow scores were independently associated with higher educational achievement (P < 0.001), younger age at diagnosis (P = 0.003) and having consulted a health care professional about pregnancy and IBD (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Knowledge was poor in 50%. Speaking with health-care professionals was a modifiable factor associated with better knowledge. This illustrates the importance of disease related pregnancy education.

A multi-centre study of interactional style in nurse specialist- and physician-led Rheumatology clinics in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Nurse-led care is well established in Rheumatology in the UK and provides follow-up care to people with inflammatory arthritis including treatment, monitoring, patient education and psychosocial support. AIM: The aim of this study is to compare and contrast interactional style with patients in physician-led and nurse-led Rheumatology clinics. DESIGN: A multi-centre mixed methods approach was adopted. SETTINGS: Nine UK Rheumatology out-patient clinics were observed and audio-recorded May 2009-April 2010. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen practitioners agreed to participate in clinic audio-recordings, researcher observations, and note-taking. Of 9 nurse specialists, 8 were female and 5 of 9 physicians were female. Eight practitioners in each group took part in audio-recorded post-clinic interviews. All patients on the clinic list for those practitioners were invited to participate and 107 were consented and observed. In the nurse specialist cohort 46% were female; 71% had a diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The physician cohort comprised 31% female; 40% with RA and 16% unconfirmed diagnosis. Nineteen (18%) of the patients observed were approached for an audio-recorded telephone interview and 15 participated (4 male, 11 female). METHODS: Forty-four nurse specialist and 63 physician consultations with patients were recorded. Roter's Interactional Analysis System (RIAS) was used to code this data. Thirty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted (16 practitioner, 15 patients) within 24h of observed consultations and were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: RIAS results illuminated differences between practitioners that can be classified as 'socio-emotional' versus 'task-focussed'. Specifically, nurse specialists and their patients engaged significantly more in the socio-emotional activity of 'building a relationship'. Across practitioners, the greatest proportion of 'patient initiations' were in 'giving medical information' and reflected what patients wanted the practitioner to know rather than giving insight into what patients wanted to know from practitioners. Interviews revealed that continuity of practitioner was highly valued by patients as offering the benefits of an established relationship and of emotional support beyond that of the clinical encounter. This fostered familiarity not only with their particular medical history, but also their individual personal circumstances, and this encouraged patient participation. In contrast, practitioners (mis)perceived waiting times to have a greater impact on patient satisfaction. However, practitioner interviews also revealed that clinic structure is often outside of the practitioner control and can undermine the possibility of maintaining patient-practitioner continuity. CONCLUSIONS: This research enhances understanding of nurse specialist consultation styles in Rheumatology, specifically the value of their socio-emotional communication skills to enhance patient participation.

What Factors Might Drive Voluntary Childlessness (VC) in Women with IBD? Does IBD-specific Pregnancy-related Knowledge Matter?

INTRODUCTION: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects many women of childbearing age, and rates of voluntary childlessness (VC) exceed those of the general population by far. The factors surrounding VC remain incompletely understood. METHODS: Female members of the patient organisation Crohn's and Colitis UK aged 18-45 years were invited to complete an online questionnaire collecting data on demographics, disease characteristics, Crohn's and Colitis pregnancy-specific disease-related knowledge (CCPKnow), and childlessness status. RESULTS: A total of 1324 women (mean age 33 years) completed the survey: 776 (59%) were diagnosed with Crohn's disease (CD), 496 (38%) with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 4% with inflammatory bowel disease-unclassified (IBD-U); 40% had children (14% pre-diagnosis (I); 26% post-diagnosis (II)), 36% planned to have children at some stage (III), 7% reported fertility problems (IV), and 17% were classified as voluntarily childless (VC). VC was associated with poorer CCPKnow scores [5.98 vs. 7.47 in (III); p < 0.001], older age [35 years old vs. 28 years old in (II); p < 0.001], unemployment (9.7% VC; p < 0.001), being single (34.5% VC; p < 0.001) not seeking medical advice (p < 0.001), and diagnosis of CD (19.3% vs. 13.9% UC; p = 0.015). Women with VC had more hospital admissions [mean 2.85 vs. 2.17 (III); p = 0.03] and surgical interventions [mean 1.27 vs. 0.65 (III); p < 0.001] CONCLUSION: The aetiology of VC in women with IBD is multifactorial. Women's choice regarding children appears related to disease burden. VC is also associated with poor knowledge (CCPKnow), and women may stay childless unnecessarily. Patient education programmes could help to reduce the rate of VC in women with IBD, through correcting misconceptions and alleviating patient concerns.

Best friends and better coping: Facilitating psychological resilience through boys' and girls' closest friendships.

This is a novel investigation of whether, and how, a single close supportive friendship may facilitate psychological resilience in socio-economically vulnerable British adolescents. A total of 409 adolescents (160 boys, 245 girls, four unknown), aged between 11 and 19 years, completed self-report measures of close friendship quality, psychological resilience, social support, and other resources. Findings revealed a significant positive association between perceived friendship quality and resilience. This relationship was facilitated through inter-related mechanisms of developing a constructive coping style (comprised of support-seeking and active coping), effort, a supportive friendship network, and reduced disengaged and externalising coping. While protective processes were encouragingly significantly present across genders, boys were more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of disengaged and externalizing coping than girls. We suggest that individual close friendships are an important potential protective mechanism accessible to most adolescents. We discuss implications of the resulting Adolescent Friendship and Resilience Model for resilience theories and integration into practice.

Chronotope disruption as a sensitizing concept for understanding chronic illness narratives.

OBJECTIVES: This article aims to elaborate chronotope disruption--a changed relation to time and space--as a sensitizing concept for understanding chronic illness narratives. METHODS: Sixteen men and 16 women with Type 2 diabetes were purposefully sampled. Each was interviewed about his or her experience of diabetes self-management using the biographical-narrative interview method. Transcripts were inspected for key moments defined as emotionally laden stories relevant to the purpose of the research. We present dialogically inflected discursive analysis of exemplar extracts. RESULTS: The analysis demonstrates how the concept of chronotope disruption helps identify, and understand, important aspects of patients' chronic illness narratives. First, we investigate how medical advice can conflict with embodied experience and how progressive bodily deterioration can provoke a reevaluation of past illness (self-mis)management. Second, the increasing temporal and spatial intrusion of chronic illness into participants' lives is examined. Finally, we focus on the masquerade of health as an attempt to manage, hide, or deny that one is physically challenged. CONCLUSIONS: Chronotope disruption offers a useful sensitizing concept for approaching chronic illness narratives and around which to organize analytical insights and to develop practice. Chronotope analysis fills an important gap in the science through compensating current health sciences' focus on rationality, cognition, and prospective time (prediction) with a patient-oriented focus on emotionality, embodiment, and retrospective time (nostalgia). Chronotope disruption could be used to develop practice by gaining empathic understanding of patients' life-worlds and provides a tool to examine how new technologies change the way in which the chronically ill have "being" in the world.

The fading affect bias: Effects of social disclosure to an interactive versus non-responsive listener.

The intensity of negative emotions associated with event memories fades to a greater extent over time than positive emotions (fading affect bias or FAB). In this study, we examine how the presence and behaviour of a listener during social disclosure influences the FAB and the linguistic characteristics of event narratives. Participants recalled pleasant and unpleasant events and rated each event for its emotional intensity. Recalled events were then allocated to one of three experimental conditions: no disclosure, private verbal disclosure without a listener or social disclosure to another participant whose behaviour was experimentally manipulated. Participants again rated the emotional intensity of the events immediately after these manipulations and after a one-week delay. Verbal disclosure alone was not sufficient to enhance the FAB. However, social disclosure increased positive emotional intensity, regardless of the behaviour of the listener. Whilst talking to an interactive listener led unpleasant event memories to decrease in emotional intensity, talking to a non-responsive listener increased their negative emotional intensity. Further, listener behaviour influenced the extent of emotional expression in written event narratives. This study provides original evidence that listener behaviour during social disclosure is an important factor in the effects of social disclosure in the FAB.