Effectiveness of School-based Health Center Delivery of a Cognitive Skills Building Intervention in Young, Rural Adolescents: Potential Applications for Addiction and Mood.

PURPOSE: Uniquely positioned, school nurses address two of the most critical adolescent health issues - addiction and mood. Cognitive behavioral therapy, the mainstay in management of adolescent mood disorders, demonstrates promise in the treatment and prevention of addictive behaviors. Quality decision-making may protect adolescents from substance abuse. Executive function, a neurocognitive aspect of decision-making, involves impulse control, future thinking, and behavioral regulation. Further, the continuum of addition implicates executive function, which makes executive function a viable target for prevention and treatment of substance use. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of a nurse-led cognitive skills training intervention, Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment, on executive function and mood in a novel population and setting. DESIGN AND METHODS: The study sample included adolescents ranging in age from 12 to 15 years and enrolled in a rural school-based health center. Fifteen (n = 15) adolescents completed the seven-week cognitive skills building intervention led by a nurse practitioner. Researchers measured executive function, anxiety, and depression at: baseline, after the intervention series, and three-months later. RESULTS: One domain of executive function - behavioral regulation - improved, as did anxiety. Depression showed short-term improvement. Metacognition did not change over time. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary results indicate that cognitive skills building delivered by school nurses may enhance aspects of executive function linked with addiction and coping, such as behavioral regulation. Further, this intervention may also improve mood in this population. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Delivery of cognitive skills training by school nurses could be an accessible, effective piece in addressing addiction and mood in young, rural adolescents.

Family caregiver burden in mental illnesses: The case of affective disorders and schizophrenia - a qualitative exploratory study.

BACKGROUND: Caregivers of people with mental illnesses often experience a wide range of burdens. Although many studies have confirmed burdens among family caregivers of mentally ill relatives in general, specific knowledge regarding the concrete everyday hassle and existential sorrows from the caregivers subjective reasoning perspective is lacking. Furthermore, there is little evidence on the possible different effects of affective disorders and schizophrenia on the quality of burden; this is also true with regard to the role of cultural traditions and lay beliefs. AIMS: The aim of this study was to explore the specific burdens experienced by caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and affective disorders. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted by semi-structured interviews with 45 caregivers of patients with schizophrenia and affective disorders. Data were analysed by qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Eleven encumbering themes resulted from the interviews including incertitude, unawareness, emotional burden, stigma and blame, financial burden, physical burden, restriction in routine, disruption in routine, dissatisfaction with family, relatives, and acquaintances, troubles with patients' adherence to medication, and problems with health services and governmental support. CONCLUSIONS: Caring for a person with mental illness affects caregivers emotionally, financially, physically, and it elicits some restrictions in their routine (daily hassles). Finally, it causes conflicts in family relationships. Despite some differences regarding perceived burden among caregivers of schizophrenia and affective disorders, a common pattern of burden could be identified. Thus, authorities should provide adequate financial, educational, and psychosocial supports for caregivers of mental illnesses.

A randomized controlled clinical trial of a nurse-led structured psychosocial intervention program for people with first-onset mental illness in psychiatric outpatient clinics.

This study aimed to test the effectiveness of a nurse-led structured psychosocial intervention program in Chinese patients with first-onset mental illness. A single-blind, parallel group, randomized controlled trial design was used. The study involved 180 participants with mild to moderate-severe symptoms of psychotic or mood disorders who were newly referred to two psychiatric outpatient clinics in Hong Kong. Patients were randomly assigned to either an eight-session nurse-led psychosocial intervention program (plus usual care) or usual psychiatric outpatient care (both n=90). The primary outcome was psychiatric symptoms. Outcomes were measured at recruitment, one week and 12 months post-intervention. Patients in the psychosocial intervention group reported statistically significant improvements in symptoms compared to treatment as usual. There were also significant improvements in illness insight and perceived quality of life and reduction in length of re-hospitalizations over the 12-month follow-up. The findings provide evidence that the nurse-led psychosocial intervention program resulted in improved health outcomes in Chinese patients with first-onset mental illness.

[The use of expressive writing in the course of care for cancer patients to reduce emotional distress: analysis of the literature]. / L'uso della scrittura espressiva nei percorsi di cura dei pazienti oncologici per la riduzione del distress emozionale: analisi della letteratura.

AIM: The emotional distress represents one of the symptoms most frequently reported in the cancer patient in therapy, increasing the risk of developing a disease depressive. Through the analysis of the literature we want to assess whether the use of expressive writing on cancer patients in their care pathway compared to the use of writing neutral reduces emotional distress. METHOD: The bibliographic search was conducted using the databases CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane Library and PsycInfo. RESULTS: The results of research conducted on 7 randomized controlled trials, including 3 pilot studies have shown after expressive writing sessions (experimental group) versus neutral writing (control group) a significant reduction in distress in the experimental group early stages of cancer (p = 0,0183); in patients with a diagnosis of metastatic assigned to the group expressive writing there was a statistically significant relevance in the reduction of mood disorders (p = 0,03).Were determined statistically significant group differences also with respect to some measure on the quality of sleep (p = 0,04). The expressive writing did not produce significant reductions in psychological distress and improvements in physical health (p > 0,20) in patients diagnosed with metastatic disease of long duration and, in the palliative care there have been results of feasibility for poor adherence at follow-up. CONCLUSION: From the results it is evident that the strategies of expressive writing improves the management of the disease, reduce the physical and psychological symptoms related to the tumor while reducing the emotional distress in patients at an early stage of the disease.

Predictors of physical functioning in postoperative brain tumor patients.

A cross-sectional predictive design was used to study the relationships among recovery symptoms, mood state, and physical functioning and to identify predictors of physical functioning in patients who underwent surgery for brain tumor at the first follow-up visit (2 weeks) after hospital discharge. The sample included 88 patients who were 18 years or older, had full level of consciousness, and underwent first-time surgery for brain tumor without other adjuvant treatments from a tertiary hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and multiple regression were used for data analysis. The results revealed that most participants were women (75%) with an average age of 45.18 ± 11.49 years, having benign brain tumors (91%) and pathological results as meningioma (48.9%). The most common recovery symptoms were pain (mean = 3.2, SD = 2.6) and sleep disturbance (mean = 3.1, SD = 3.0). As for mood state, the problem of confusion was found the most (mean = 4.6, SD = 2.7). The physical functioning problem found the most was work aspect (mean = 66.3, SD = 13.3). Recovery symptoms had positive relationships with physical functioning and mood state (r = .406, .716; p < .01), respectively. At the same time, mood state had positive relationships with physical functioning (r = .288, p < .01). Recovery symptoms, total mood disturbance, fatigue, and vigor were statistically significant predictors of physical functioning and could explain variance of postoperative physical functioning in these patients at 2 weeks after discharge by 35%. Total mood disturbance was the strongest predictor of physical functioning followed by vigor, fatigue, and recovery symptom, respectively. Interventions to improve physical functioning in postoperative brain tumor patients during home recovery should account for not only recovery symptom management but also mood state.

Post-operative environmental enrichment improves spatial and motor deficits but may not ameliorate anxiety- or depression-like symptoms in rats following traumatic brain injury.

PURPOSE: Anxiety-like (ANX) and depression-like (DEP) symptoms are common consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Environmental enrichment (EE) attenuates many deficits, though its impact on ANX and DEP symptoms has yet to be described. METHODS: Adult male Long-Evans rats were subject to a medial frontal cortex (mFC) cortical impact injury or sham preparation, then placed into EE or standard housing (SE). ANX symptoms were analyzed using the open field test (OFT) and elevated plus maze (EPM). The forced swim task (FST) and sucrose consumption task (SCT) were used to quantify DEP symptoms. In order to measure changes in spatial learning and motor performance, the Barnes maze (BM) and rotor rod (RR) were utilized. RESULTS: Damage to the mFC resulted in functional losses in motor and cognitive behavior and an increase in ANX and DEP symptoms. Placement of injured rats into the EE improves motor functioning after TBI and resulted in an decreased latency to locate the escape box in the BM. Though the application of an EE attenuated deficits in BM and RR performance, the ANX and DEP behavioral symptoms persisted. CONCLUSIONS: Additional therapeutic approaches paired with EE may be necessary to address all functional changes post-TBI. Additionally, no single behavioral assessment appears to clearly identify symptoms of ANX or DEP in rats following TBI, however utilizing multiple tests can be potentially confounding.

Mental health care professionals' experiences with the discharge planning process and transitioning patients attending outpatient clinics into community care.

BACKGROUND: Health care reform promotes delivery of mental health care in the community. Outpatient mental healthcare professionals (HCPs) are pressured to discharge patients. This study's purpose: to understand the experience and perceptions of mental HCPs with discharge planning and transitioning patients into community care. METHODS: Twelve HCPs participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. FINDINGS: Three main categories: engaging in the discharge planning process, making the transition smooth, and guiding values emerged. A conceptual framework was created to explain the phenomenon. CONCLUSION: HCPs valued strengthening partnerships and building relationships to ensure smooth transition. Sufficient resources and trust imperative for safe patient discharge.

Frequency of involuntary admissions and its associations with demographic and clinical characteristics in China.

Involuntary admissions (IA) continue to be a controversial topic in psychiatry. There have been very few studies investigating the pattern of IA and contributing factors in Chinese psychiatric patients. This study examined the prevalence of IA and its relationships with demographic and clinical characteristics in a large psychiatric institution in Hunan province, China. A consecutively collected sample of 161 psychiatric inpatients was collected. The patients' basic socio-demographic and clinical data including admission types were collected. The frequency of IA was 53.1% in the whole sample. In multiple logistic regression analysis, IA was independently associated with female sex, more recent aggression prior to admission and poorer social function and insight into illness. IA was common in clinical practice in China, and its demographic and clinical correlates are similar to the findings reported from western settings.

The influence of oxidative stress on symptom occurrence, severity, and distress during childhood leukemia treatment.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To explore the symptom trajectory during the first 16 months of childhood leukemia treatment and any associations with the oxidative stress pathway measured by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentration of oxidized phosphatidylcholine (PC), the predominant glycerophospholipid in the brain and cell membranes. DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal design. SETTING: Two cancer centers in the southwestern United States. SAMPLE: 36 children (aged 3-14 years) newly diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. METHODS: Symptoms were measured using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale at six specific time points during treatment. Biochemical changes in oxidative stress were measured by oxidized PC in the CSF. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Childhood cancer symptoms, oxidized PC. FINDINGS: Significant differences were found in the number of symptoms experienced during the three phases of treatment. Symptom trajectory changes and influence of the oxidative stress pathway on symptom experiences were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms experienced during treatment for childhood leukemia are associated with increased oxidative stress. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Children with leukemia experience symptoms throughout treatment. Physiologic measures indicate the influence of oxidative stress on symptoms.

Psychological and organizational impact of bullying over and above negative affectivity: a survey of two nursing contexts.

Limited research exists on the impact of bullying across psychological and/or organizationally orientated outcomes for nurses working within different nursing contexts. Research that has explored these outcomes has not considered the potential confounding effects of negative affectivity (NA). This study's aim was to examine the extent hospital and aged care nurses are impacted by bullying on these outcomes, while considering NA. A total of 267 hospital nurses/midwives and 168 aged care nurses from an Australian healthcare organization responded to a survey. The results revealed hospital nurses/midwives who experienced bullying reported higher levels of psychological distress, as well as lower commitment and job satisfaction levels. Aged care nurses who experienced bullying reported lower levels of well-being and commitment. NA was a significant covariate for most analyses. Thus, nurses across these contexts are affected by bullying in relation to psychological and organizational-orientated outcomes over and above the effects of NA, particularly for commitment.

[The illustrated depression scale, an innovative tool]. / L'echelle de depression illustrée, outil innovant au quotidien.

As an aid to daily practice in mental health, the Fribourg Mental Health Network in Switzerland has developed an innovative tool to measure the symptoms of depression, the Illustrated Depression Scale. It provides a simple and quick assessment of the symptoms of depression and their evolution during hospitalisation.This article gives an overview of the development of this scale, its psychometric qualities and its use in practice.

Developing a manual for strengthening mental health nurses' clinical supervision.

In this article, we report findings from a study aimed at developing the content and implementation of a manual for a research-based intervention on clinical supervision of mental health nursing staff. The intervention was designed to strengthen already existing supervision practices through educational preparation for supervision and systematic reflection on supervision. The intervention consists of three sessions and was implemented on two groups of mental health hospital staff. We present an outline of the manual and explain how the trial sessions made us adjust the preliminary manual. The effects of implementing the manual will subsequently be analysed in an independent randomised controlled trial.