A comparison of traumatic experiences and human rights violations of persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities and persons with other disabilities.

This study compares the traumatic and human rights violation experiences of persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities and those of persons with other disabilities in the Philippines. Additionally, the role of gender in exposure to traumatic experience and human rights protection levels is explored. Of those registered as persons with disabilities in the city of Muntinlupa, 3000 subjects were randomly selected and 1,024 among them (Male = 510, Female = 512, Others = 2) agreed to participate in this study. This comparative study adopts a cross-sectional design. The survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire. The researchers mobilized health workers, officially recruited by the city, to visit the target participants' houses and to distribute the questionnaires to collect data. The questionnaire comprises items related to the participants' socio-demographic characteristics, exposure to traumatic experiences, and human rights-based well-being. Regarding the frequency of exposure to traumatic experiences, a little difference was found in physical domestic violence (abuse) between the two groups (Frequency = 20 (9.66), 44 (5.39%), χ2 = 5.154, p < 0.05). Regarding human rights-based well-being, no significant difference was found between persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities and persons with other disabilities. However, the human rights-based well-being of women with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities was significantly worse than that of women with other types of disabilities. Concrete and day-to-day human rights challenges in several areas in addition to inaccessibility to various services may have contributed to the human rights challenges encountered by women with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities. De-stigmatization of women with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities, the implementation of awareness-raising campaigns on various levels, and developing capacity of women with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities on how to protect their own rights may help improve the status quo.

Effect of Diversity Education on Young Adolescents in Japan: Toward the "Do No Harm" Principle.

This study evaluated the impact of a semi-structured diversity education program on young adolescents, which included five 45-min sessions facilitated by schoolteachers using an instructors' manual. The study compared changes in knowledge and attitude related to diversity, self-esteem, and mental health among participants before and after the program. The participants were 776 junior high school students. Self-esteem and mental health conditions were assessed with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and Kessler 6-Item Psychological Distress Scale (K6). The ratio of those who answered the knowledge and attitude questions correctly increased significantly for most questions, while the ratio decreased significantly for two questions. The RSES scores improved significantly after the program, but the difference was very small. Mental health, as measured by K6, became significantly worse after the program. A logistic regression analysis indicated that lower K6 scores before the program and worse academic grades had significantly higher odds ratios; being a girl, not having a disability, and having close friends were associated with worse K6 scores after the program. Further, this indicates the importance of developing processes based on evidence and the "nothing about us without us" principle.