ABSTRACT
Many White parents engage in minimal discussion of race and racism with their children, instead engaging in color-evasive practices that communicate that race is unimportant and that White people are racially neutral. Even White parents who express a commitment to anti-racist parenting frequently struggle to act on this commitment and feel underprepared to do so. The current mixed methods pilot study focused on the feasibility, acceptability, and participant experiences of an intervention ("CounterACT") that aimed to address this gap in White U.S.-based parents' skills and knowledge. Participants in the study were 27 White U.S.-based parents of 4- to 6-year-old White children who completed pre- and postintervention surveys as well as postintervention interviews. Findings suggest that the CounterACT model was feasible and acceptable. Parent self-report further suggests that CounterACT had beneficial effects on parenting, parents' beliefs regarding White privilege, and children's critical reflection. Parents reported positive experiences of CounterACT, particularly group components of the intervention. Key elements of participants' experience included learning to understand their own and their children's experience of Whiteness; learning to better tolerate and regulate emotional discomfort; connecting with others for motivation, accountability, and learning; and approaching racial socialization with greater intentionality. However, parents also experienced limits in their progress toward anti-racist parenting. Many indicated a desire for more concrete guidance and greater support enacting what they were learning in their own parenting. A particular concern was how to discuss White racial identities effectively. Our discussion highlights the implications of these findings for future work in this area. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Subject(s)
Parenting , White , Child , Humans , Child, Preschool , Parenting/psychology , Feasibility Studies , Pilot Projects , Parents/psychologyABSTRACT
Background: Individuals with psychiatric diagnoses who are unemployed or underemployed are likely to disproportionately experience financial hardship and, in turn, lower life satisfaction (LS). Understanding the mechanisms though which financial hardship affects LS is essential to inform effective economic empowerment interventions for this population. Aim: To examine if subjective financial hardship (SFH) mediates the relationship between objective financial hardship (OFH) and LS, and whether hope, and its agency and pathways components, further mediate the effect of SFH on LS among individuals with psychiatric diagnoses seeking employment. Methods: We conducted structured interviews with participants (N = 215) of two peer-run employment programs using indicators of OFH and SFH and standardized scales for hope (overall hope, hope agency, and hope pathways) and LS. Three structural equation models were employed to test measurement models for OFH and SFH, and mediational relationships. Covariates included gender, age, psychiatric diagnosis, race/ethnicity, education, income, employment status, SSI/SSDI receipt, and site. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for items measuring OFH and SFH supported two separate hypothesized factors. OFH had a strong and significant total effect on SFH [standardized beta (B) = 0.68] and LS (B = 0.49), and a weak-to-moderate effect on hope (B = -0.31). SFH alone mediated up to 94% of the effect of OFH on LS (indirect effect B = -0.46, p < 0.01). The effect of SFH on LS through hope was small (indirect effect B = -0.09, p < 0.05), primarily through hope agency (indirect effect B = -0.13, p < 0.01) and not hope pathways. Black and Hispanic ethno-racial identification seemed to buffer the effect of financial hardship on hope and LS. Individuals identifying as Black reported significantly higher overall hope (B = 0.41-0.47) and higher LS (B = 0.29-0.46), net of the effect of OFH and SFH. Conclusion: SFH is a strong mediator of the relationship between OFH and LS in our study of unemployed and underemployed individuals with psychiatric diagnoses. Hope, and particularly its agency component, further mediate a modest but significant proportion of the association between SFH and LS. Economic empowerment interventions for this population should address objective and subjective financial stressors, foster a sense of agency, and consider the diverse effects of financial hardship across ethno-racial groups.
ABSTRACT
The use of the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI), a 16-item, semistructured, patient cultural assessment, in a forensic mental health setting has not been examined. Using a mixed-methods approach, we performed a pilot test of the CFI in an inpatient service that treats both forensic and nonforensic adult patients. Clinicians' attitudes toward adoption of the CFI was assessed quantitatively with the Evidence-Based Practices Attitudes Scale, which is used to measure provider attitudes toward adopting new treatments, and qualitatively with a semistructured interview. Assessments occurred up to five times to analyze changes with increasing CFI use. In the quantitative measures we observed a general openness to implementing the CFI throughout the implementation period. Compared with clinicians on civil units, forensic clinicians indicated they were less likely to implement the CFI over time if it were required rather than voluntary. Interviews with clinicians revealed concerns about the skills, ability, and confidence needed to implement the CFI, external requirements, and the ease of integrating the CFI into their practice. Based on our findings, forensic units could encourage CFI use after the clinician has determined that the patient is clinically stable, rather than at admission. Units could also incorporate information obtained from the CFI into current documentation to reduce administrative burden.
