Ethnic differences in bullying victimization and psychological distress: A test of an ecological model.

This study examines ethnic differences in the prevalence of bullying victimization by peers as well as the associations between bullying victimization and psychological distress with relevant ecological factors including parental supervision, school support, and community safety. The study utilized the 2011-2012 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) Adolescents Data, which was collected in the United States using a multi-stage stratified sampling design with a Random Digit-Dial method. The final study sample contained a total of 2367 adolescents, comprised of 48.7% Whites, followed by 35.8% Latinos, 11.1% Asians, and 4.4% African Americans. About 49.3% were males with an overall mean age of 14.6 (sd = 1.7). Results showed that there were significant differences in rates of bullying victimization among the four surveyed ethnic subgroups of adolescents. Black adolescents reported the highest and Asian adolescents the lowest level of victimization. The results of the SEM test using the calibration sample revealed an adequate fit to the data (CFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.04, Δχ2/Δdf = 2.99). Separate model tests with the four subgroups of adolescents revealed good fits with the subsample data with the exception of the subsample of African Americans. Additionally, results show that factors associated with psychological distress vary widely among the White, Latino and Asian subgroups.

Perceived stigma and quality of life of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and receiving psychiatric rehabilitation services: a comparison between the clubhouse model and a rehabilitation skills training model in South Korea.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the perceived stigma toward, and quality of life of, individuals diagnosed with a mental illness in South Korea, and how these two variables related to the clubhouse model and the rehabilitation skills training model in psychiatric rehabilitation. METHOD: In August 2007, a self-report survey questionnaire regarding perceived stigma (Perceived Stigma Scale; PSS) and perceived quality of life (Korean Quality of Life; K-QOL) was administered to 521 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, who, at the time, had been participating in one of the two different models of psychiatric rehabilitation for over 3 months. RESULTS: The participants in the clubhouse model group reported significantly lower PSS scores and significantly higher K-QOL scores than did the recipients of the rehabilitation skills training model. Participants in the clubhouse model reported significantly higher interpersonal relationship scores in K-QOL than did the recipients of the rehabilitation skills training model. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The individuals who participated in the clubhouse model reported significantly lower scores of perceived stigma and higher scores of perceived quality of life than did those who participated in the rehabilitation skills training model. These findings suggest that active participation, self-determination, and increased roles in rehabilitation programs as experienced in these programs in South Korea will be effective in decreasing perceived stigma and promoting quality of life in individuals diagnosed with mental illness.