Emily R Edwards, Sharon Alter, Ryan Holliday, Anthony Fortuna, Matthew Stimmel
{"title":"Psychosocial needs of incarcerated veterans with other than honorable discharge characterizations.","authors":"Emily R Edwards, Sharon Alter, Ryan Holliday, Anthony Fortuna, Matthew Stimmel","doi":"10.1037/ser0000956","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000956","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Veterans Health Administration recently expanded eligibility to allow behavioral health care for veterans with \"other than honorable\" (OTH) discharge characterizations, a group with unique demographic and psychosocial needs, including overrepresentation in criminal-legal contexts. To guide the integration of these veterans into Veterans Health Administration behavioral health care settings, this study offers initial insight into the needs of veterans with OTH involved in the criminal-legal system. Using data from the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, analyses compared incarcerated veterans with OTH (<i>n</i> = 179) to those with honorable or general discharge characterizations (<i>n</i> = 1,335) on demographic profile, criminal-legal history, and psychosocial factors. Veterans with OTH were more often younger, persons of color, incarcerated for drug-related offenses, diagnosed with psychotic and personality disorders, experiencing housing and occupational instability immediately preceding arrest, and with a history of substance use treatment. Results highlight the need for culturally sensitive approaches capable of addressing complex difficulties commonly faced by this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143670469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alysia M Robertson, Tegan Cruwys, Anika Quayle, Mark Stevens, Michael J Platow, Brett Scholz
{"title":"Goldilocks disclosures: A qualitative exploration of when therapist self-disclosure of lived experience is \"just right\".","authors":"Alysia M Robertson, Tegan Cruwys, Anika Quayle, Mark Stevens, Michael J Platow, Brett Scholz","doi":"10.1037/ser0000959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000959","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite increasing employment of peer workers, primarily hired for their lived experience of mental health issues, concerns remain regarding the appropriateness of clinical health professionals (e.g., psychologists, counselors) disclosing their own lived experience. This qualitative study examined how therapists' lived experience disclosures are perceived by clients and other therapists. Participants (160 clients and 158 therapists) shared their experiences with therapist disclosure and responded to one of four hypothetical scenarios. Reflexive thematic analysis identified key themes that highlighted the tension between disclosures demonstrating humanity versus professionalism, openness versus a client-centered approach, and empathy versus competence. Themes also highlighted the challenge of getting disclosures \"just right,\" ensuring therapists had established rapport, kept disclosures brief and relevant, and shared experiences from which they had recovered. The findings underscored the trade-offs between the potential benefits and harms of disclosure, highlighting some conditions under which disclosure is considered appropriate and best supports the client. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143670457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mackenzie Brackett-Wisener, Anderson Rowan, Lisandra Mendoza, Elena McSwain
{"title":"Women veterans in Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) settings: A scoping literature review.","authors":"Mackenzie Brackett-Wisener, Anderson Rowan, Lisandra Mendoza, Elena McSwain","doi":"10.1037/ser0000953","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000953","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Women veterans (WV) present to Veterans Health Administration with mental health and medical treatment needs that differ from men and civilian women. Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI), which provides short-term, evidence-based mental health care, is often the first point of mental health assessment and intervention for veterans. Little research exists on gender-specific care, procedures, and impact for WV in PC-MHI, and many mental health providers feel ill-trained to address WV-specific concerns. This project aimed to identify the unique mental health necessities of WV within PC-MHI as compared with men, to support Veterans Health Administration Directive 1330.01 regarding providing gender-specific care, cultural competence among mental health providers, and underresearched areas for further exploration to make a valuable contribution to the mission of PC-MHI regarding training, education, and implementation of gender-specific procedures. Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, nine sources published between 2005 and 2023 were included. Results were organized by gender comparisons, gender-specific care in PC-MHI, and mental health for WV. Preliminary sources indicate that WV present to PC-MHI with nuanced mental health concerns and utilize PC-MHI more than men. Subsequently, PC-MHI has promising potential to address gender-specific needs for WV. This review highlights the need for adaptation in mental health screening for WV in periods of increased mental health risk (e.g., postpartum) and across the lifespan. Findings emphasize the need for additional research on WV needs and gender-specific care in PC-MHI, as well as increased provider training, and establishment of evidence-based clinical guidelines and policies for WV in PC-MHI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143670731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of patient suicide loss on mental health clinicians in Veterans Affairs health care facilities.","authors":"Meredith S Sears, Anna J Harrison","doi":"10.1037/ser0000958","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000958","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinicians are at elevated risk of patient suicide loss due to the high rates of suicide in the veteran population. Clinician support structures and administrative procedures following patient suicides vary widely across facilities. The present study examined how mental health clinicians' experiences vary according to institutional responses to patient suicides. The authors disseminated an online survey to clinicians at 15 VA sites. Institutional responses such as supervisory support, postvention support services, and administrative postsuicide procedures were examined in relation to the clinicians' emotional and professional practice outcomes. The multidisciplinary sample included 87 licensed mental health providers who had experienced a VA patient suicide. Most were experienced clinicians (licensed for 6 or more years) who worked daily to weekly with patients who were suicidal. After their patient's suicide, over half of the participants reported self-doubt about their competency. Nearly three quarters of respondents reported changes in professional practice such as hypervigilance to suicide cues and an increased focus on documentation. Participants consistently described formal postvention supports and collegial outreach as constructive and helpful; however, experiences with supervisor outreach varied. Clinicians who experienced formal retrospective case reviews were more likely to report feeling blamed for the suicide, lengthier periods of emotional distress, reduced willingness to work with suicidal patients, and consideration of leaving their position. Strategic postsuicide procedures that include emotional and instrumental support for clinicians as well as thoughtful, nonblaming retrospective review policies may reduce negative clinician outcomes related to patient care and staff burnout and turnover. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143670477","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Denise M Sloan, Christopher DeJesus, Brian P Marx, Ron Acierno, Michael Messina, Johanna Thompson-Hollands
{"title":"Examining why therapists add sessions to the written exposure therapy protocol and whether it improves treatment outcome: A mixed-methods analysis.","authors":"Denise M Sloan, Christopher DeJesus, Brian P Marx, Ron Acierno, Michael Messina, Johanna Thompson-Hollands","doi":"10.1037/ser0000954","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000954","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Written exposure therapy (WET) is a brief psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although WET is designed to be delivered in five sessions, implementation data collected from trained mental health care providers suggest that therapists sometimes add more sessions without sufficient justification. We conducted a mixed-methods examination to understand why therapists added WET sessions and whether adding sessions improved treatment outcomes. Participants were drawn from a larger trial where therapists were permitted to deliver five to seven WET sessions. This study included 77 client participants who were randomly assigned to receive WET and nine therapist participants who delivered WET during the trial. Results showed that PTSD symptom severity trajectories at follow-up assessment were not significantly different between client participants who received five sessions and those who received more than five. Only 15.7% of participants who received supplemental WET sessions displayed a clinically meaningful reduction in PTSD symptom severity, while 11.8% displayed a clinically meaningful increase in PTSD symptom severity. Qualitative interviews with therapists indicated that their decision to add sessions was largely driven by the client avoiding writing about the traumatic event in early treatment sessions or due to a very complex or lengthy traumatic event that required additional sessions to provide repeated exposure to the trauma memory. Taken together, the findings suggest that adding WET sessions is unnecessary most of the time, but therapists have a strong preference for having flexibility in adding treatment sessions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143670376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christopher Mackowiak, Aaron E Eagan, Christina M Gerstel-Santucci, Kendra M Barnes, C E Brubaker, Kristi L Fredritz, Laura E Rasnake, Sara J Landes, Lisa K Kearney, Matthew A Miller
{"title":"Expanding veteran suicide prevention: The role of community engagement and partnership coordinators.","authors":"Christopher Mackowiak, Aaron E Eagan, Christina M Gerstel-Santucci, Kendra M Barnes, C E Brubaker, Kristi L Fredritz, Laura E Rasnake, Sara J Landes, Lisa K Kearney, Matthew A Miller","doi":"10.1037/ser0000944","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000944","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Veteran suicide is a public health crisis. Suicide rates for U.S. veterans have remained disproportionately higher than their nonveteran counterparts during the last 2 decades (White House, 2023; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Community-Based Interventions for Suicide Prevention, 2022). Additionally, the majority of veterans who die by suicide are not engaged in care from the Veterans Health Administration (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, 2023). Veterans Health Administration's Suicide Prevention 2.0 (SP 2.0) was developed to address this problem through a combination of clinical and community-based efforts that form a comprehensive public health approach for veteran SP (Carroll et al., 2020). In this article, the authors briefly outline the national, regional, and local program development of VA's Community-Based Interventions for SP within SP 2.0. Then, they describe local-level program development and implementation of the Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinators. Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinators are tasked with developing and facilitating coalitions with local agencies and organizations aimed at reducing suicide risk among service members, veterans, and their families. The authors review the implementation of this program from 2020 to 2024 and then suggest directions for future program evaluation and research on the impact of this approach in preventing veteran suicide. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143670377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara A Choate, Brian P Schaefer, Alyssa Kearney, Hannah Kay
{"title":"Exploring perceptions of burnout, compassion fatigue, and coping: An implementation science approach to responder stress.","authors":"Sara A Choate, Brian P Schaefer, Alyssa Kearney, Hannah Kay","doi":"10.1037/ser0000957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000957","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In recent years, the emergence of alternative response models (ARMs) in the United States has shifted greater responsibility to behavioral health (BH) professionals instead of police officers when responding to BH crises. Louisville (Kentucky) Metro launched the ARM Crisis Call Diversion Program in March 2022, which provides an alternative response to certain 911 calls involving a BH crisis. Overarching goals are to deflect BH-related calls from police and reduce unnecessary institutionalizations. Utilizing the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, semistructured interviews were conducted between December 2022 and June 2023 with 47 ARM responders (i.e., 35 first responders; 12 alternative responders). Interviews emphasized negative experiences related to program rollout, compassion fatigue, and burnout, which may impact responders' ability to fulfill their duties. Positive coping mechanisms of responders were also ascertained. First and alternative responders expressed similar sources of stressors when responding to individuals in crisis due to insufficient social support systems. All responder groups expressed a range of symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout, but alternative responders demonstrated more awareness of the signs and a greater range of positive coping methods to address symptoms. As BH ARMs evolve, decision making related to planning, implementation, and expansion must consider responder burnout and compassion fatigue. Understanding responder burnout and compassion fatigue increases responder buy-in and can be used to improve implementation and decrease turnover. Ignoring these needs may lead to persistent barriers to implementation and negatively impact the quality of BH care individuals in crisis receive. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143670456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kelly P Maieritsch, Kristen Lamp, Sadie E Larsen, Jonathan D Hessinger
{"title":"The impact of patient barriers and organizational factors on treatment dropout in posttraumatic stress disorder specialty care.","authors":"Kelly P Maieritsch, Kristen Lamp, Sadie E Larsen, Jonathan D Hessinger","doi":"10.1037/ser0000940","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000940","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many veterans who begin evidence-based therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) discontinue care prior to treatment completion. Examination of individual-level factors as predictors of dropout has been inconclusive, and it may be important to examine organizational factors as predictors. The present study investigates the role of both individual variables (i.e., gender identity, age, racial background, ethnicity, perceived barriers to treatment) and organizational variables (i.e., time from evaluation to individual treatment, number of preparatory sessions, and inclusion of family in an informational session) in predicting treatment discontinuation. Participants consisted of 557 veterans who presented to a Veterans Affairs PTSD specialty clinic and began trauma-focused treatment (86.89% male, 50.99% White, 47.94% Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom). Most veterans reported at least one barrier to treatment (85.10%). A total of 53.32% of veterans completed a course of evidence-based trauma-focused therapy, while 46.68% discontinued. In a series of logistic regression models, older age significantly predicted treatment completion (<i>OR</i> = 1.017, <i>p</i> = .007), and longer time from evaluation to treatment initiation significantly predicted treatment discontinuation (<i>OR</i> = 0.992, <i>p</i> = .045). Findings highlight older age as a reliable predictor of treatment completion among veterans. Findings add to the existing literature by demonstrating that improving organizational-level variables (i.e., reducing wait time from evaluation to treatment initiation) may be particularly helpful in facilitating treatment completion across demographic groups, even in the presence of barriers to treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143543180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gabriela A Nagy, Eliut Rivera-Segarra, Leopoldo J Cabassa
{"title":"Equity-grounded implementation science: Comparative case analysis of three studies.","authors":"Gabriela A Nagy, Eliut Rivera-Segarra, Leopoldo J Cabassa","doi":"10.1037/ser0000931","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000931","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite research and treatment advances in health care, the implementation of research evidence into practice remains a challenge, especially for historically marginalized populations. There have been numerous calls to action to integrate health equity into implementation science frameworks, models, and theories. Yet, progress toward better integration of these approaches has been hampered by the theoretical and aspirational nature of calls to action up to the present time, which poses a challenge as it remains unclear how to specifically move from rhetoric to action. We present three case examples from our work to illustrate how to synergize health equity research and implementation science into our approach to \"equity-grounded implementation science\" focused on processes and practices located at the intersection of these fields. These three distinct studies focused on reducing mental health inequities in historically marginalized communities, namely, Latino and Black individuals in mainland United States and Puerto Rico. For each study, we describe the study aim, methodology, setting in which activities were carried out, the health equity elements, and the implementation science aspects. We articulate how each study bridged implementation science and health equity research by (a) situating the study activities in community settings; (b) codesigning interventions to ensure their cultural, linguistic, and contextual relevance; and (c) weaving mixed methods and community-engaged approaches to draw community insights. Finally, we illustrate how to address key implementation outcomes in these health equity studies, representing a significant step toward turning rhetoric into actionable solutions for reducing mental health inequities in marginalized communities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143524265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social media content and suicidality: Implications for practice.","authors":"Patteera Vongtangton, Deborah Goebert","doi":"10.1037/ser0000948","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000948","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Artificial intelligence is a useful tool for examining suicidality on social media, where people share their thoughts. However, existing research has primarily focused on text analysis to predict risk in single posts and raised privacy concerns. This study aimed to use text, images, and user features on Instagram to predict the risk of each user in Hawaii with user permission. One hundred forty-two participants completed online questionnaires about their current suicidal ideation. With their consent, their Instagram data were collected to train Artificial intelligence model to predict suicidal ideation of each user. Thirty-three (23.2%) participants reported having current suicidal ideation. The best model predicts suicidal ideation with 52% sensitivity, 92% specificity, 65% positive predictive value, and 82% accuracy. The significant predictors were negative description, lower hue and more red in an image, fewer nature and sky images, more art, fashion, a close-up of a body part, and spoof content in an image. These findings highlight the potential of suicide prediction on social media, which help mental health providers plan patient online interventions and appointments. Additionally, the influence of Hawaii's unique social-cultural context on significant predictors, helping gatekeepers to recognize signs of suicide on the social media of people in Hawaii. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":20749,"journal":{"name":"Psychological Services","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143524267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}