Mental health-related stigma discrimination and prejudices among Greek healthcare professionals.

Introduction: Research shows that mental health-related stigma, stereotypes, and prejudices have a negative impact on the patients themselves as well as on their families and social entourage. Healthcare professionals, whose expertise and professional ethos are historically acknowledged by public opinion, are expected to play a major role in combating discrimination against psychiatric patients. In this study, we aimed to assess the attitudes of Greek healthcare professionals toward mental illness and people suffering from it. Materials and methods: It is a non-interventional, analytic study, in which 479 health workers from a tertiary hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, participated. Every single hospital service -except the personnel of the Psychiatric Clinic- was included in our study: from the cleaning service to the administrative staff and the auxiliary staff such as stretcher carriers, food and nutrition services' staff, and social workers, the nursing staff, and finally the attending physicians, taking into consideration that the psychiatric patient, from the moment he/she enters the hospital, consecutively gets in contact with every work grade of the healthcare establishment. Participants' attitudes concerning mental illness have been evaluated using the Opinions about Mental Illness Scale (OMI), the Social Distance Scale (SDS), and the Level of Contact Report (LCR-12). Results: Despite the high level of familiarity [as evaluated with LCR-12; mean score (µ): 8.82 ± 1.73], the employees displayed a rather poor willingness to interact with psychiatric patients (as measured with SDS; µ:11.68 ± 4.28), and endorsed significant prejudice toward individuals with mental disorders (assessed using OMI subscales; Social Discrimination µ: 22.99 ± 12.08, Social Restriction µ: 17.45 ± 9.07, Social Care µ: 21.04 ± 4.12, Social Integration µ: 16.38 ± 4.68, Etiology µ: 9.80 ± 4.95). Age and education stood out as the main determinants of participants' attitudes, with younger and highly educated participants to have shown a relatively refined profile. Conclusion: These results are not significantly improved compared to those of previous decades in Greek healthcare professionals and call for critical reflection and targeted stigma-reduction efforts.

Parental Stress and Children's Self-Regulation Problems in Families with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Background: Increased parental stress is strongly related to the severity of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomatology. Parents' coping strategies and social support issues add to the complexity of this relationship. Aim: The present study investigated the relationship between self-regulation skills and parenting stress in parents of nonverbal children with ASD. Methods and procedure: The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) was administered to 75 families, and self-regulation scores on a Motor Behavior Checklist for children (MBC) were recorded by students' class teachers (level of functioning-behavioral problems). In addition, interviews were conducted with a focus group of six parents (four mothers and two fathers) to explore the underline factors of parental stressin-depth. Results: Correlation analyses revealed that parenting stress was positively correlated with elevated scores on MBC children's self-regulation subscale. On the other hand, parenting stress was negatively correlated with the level of social functional support reported. Qualitative data were analyzed using transcripts, revealing additional stressors for families and parents, and resulting in recommendations to overcome these factors. Conclusions and implications: Aiming at developing strategies to improve self-regulation skills in nonverbal children with ASD may be particularly important in reducing parental stress for families having nonverbal children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Parents' stressors and suggestions during interviews are also discussed.

Similarities and Differences in the Learning Profiles of Adolescents with SLD and SLI in Mathematics-A Preliminary Analysis.

SLI and SLD constitute two independent neurodevelopmental disorders, which frequently cause challenges in the diagnosis process, especially due to their nature. This has caused disagreement among clinicians regarding their recognition as separate or overlapping disorders. The objective of the study was to enlighten the path of valid diagnosis and intervention during adolescence when the two disorders change their manifestation and overlap. Two hundred Greek adolescents (140 boys and 60 girls), 124 already diagnosed with SLD and 76 diagnosed with SLI, 12-16 years old, participated in the study. All participants were assessed in reading, oral and written language and mathematics (mathematical operations and mathematical reasoning) along with IQ testing. In order to determine statistically significant differences, the chi-square test, independent samples t-test, odds ratios and their 95 per cent confidence intervals were implemented. The results revealed that the SLI group presented significantly greater difficulties than SLD in their overall cognitive-mental profile and in most language and mathematical measurements (number concept, executive-procedural part of solving operations and mathematical reasoning). The similarity of the two groups was mainly detected in their deficient metacognitive, metalinguistic and metamnemonic strategies. The research concludes that SLD adolescents managed to overcome their difficulties to a significant degree, while adolescents with SLI still struggle with many learning areas.

Clinical Profiles and Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Adults with Specific Learning Disorder in Northern Greece.

The manifestation of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) during adulthood is one of the least examined research areas among the relevant literature. Therefore, the adult population with SLD is considered a "rare" and "unique" population of major scientific interest. The aim of the current study was to investigate, describe, and analyze the clinical, academic, and socio-demographic characteristics, and other everyday functioning life-skills of adults with SLD, in an attempt to shed more light on this limited field of research. The overall sample consisted of 318 adults, who were assessed for possible SLD. The diagnostic procedure included self-report records (clinical interview), psychometric/cognitive, and learning assessments. The main finding of the study was that SLD, even during adulthood, continues to affect the individuals' well-being and functionality in all of their life domains. There is an ongoing struggle of this population to obtain academic qualifications in order to gain vocational rehabilitation, as well as a difficulty to create a family, possibly resulting from their unstable occupational status, their financial insecurity, and the emotional/self-esteem issues they usually encounter, due to their ongoing learning problems. Moreover, the various interpersonal characteristics, the comorbidity issues, and the different developmental backgrounds observed in the clinical, academic, personal, social, and occupational profiles of the participants, highlight the enormous heterogeneity and the continuum that characterizes SLD during adulthood. We conclude that there is an imperative need for further research and the construction of more sufficient tools for the assessment and diagnosis of SLD during adulthood, which will take into account the developmental challenges and milestones in a series of domains, in order to assist this "vulnerable" population with their life struggles.