Mental Health Literacy, Stigma, and Behavioral Health Service Use: the Case of Latinx and Non-Latinx Whites.

OBJECTIVES: Two research questions guided this study. What is the difference, if any, between Latinx and non-Latinx Whites (NLWs) in mental health literacy about depression, depression-related stigma, and lifetime history of behavioral health service use? and Does mental health literacy and depression-related stigma mediate the relationship between ethnicity and lifetime history of behavioral health service use? METHOD/DESIGN: Data for this cross-sectional study was collected from a primary care clinic. Participants (N = 271) completed measures on mental health literacy and stigma. RESULTS: Results from a multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that Latinxs had lower levels of mental health literacy, higher levels of stigma, and lower lifetime prevalence rates of behavioral health service use. Results from a path analysis indicated that personal stigma partially mediated the relationship between ethnicity and lifetime history of behavioral health service use. CONCLUSION: Interventions targeting stigma may reduce disparities in behavioral health service utilization.

The Development of Video Messages to Reduce Binge Drinking: Focus Group Results.

AIMS: The current study examined college students' perceptions of loss framed and gain framed messages aimed at reducing binge drinking. METHODS: Using focus groups (n = 3) consisting of undergraduates (n = 131), an iterative process was undertaken to ensure the acceptability and construct validity of loss framed and gain framed video messages. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. RESULTS: Results across all focus groups demonstrated that each message condition possessed strong construct validity. Participants in focus Group 3 rated messages as moderately to highly acceptable and acceptability ratings across loss framed messages and gain framed messages were comparable. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate the importance of focus group testing in the development of brief alcohol interventions among college students. Messages used in the currents study will be included in a video intervention aimed at reducing binge drinking among college students.

Sexual Victimization and Benefit Expectations of Risky Behavior Among Female College Students.

Sexual victimization has been shown to positively relate to both engagement in risky behavior and subsequent sexual victimization. Research has focused on the degree to which women consider the risks or costs of engaging in risky behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to examine the degree to which women weigh the costs and benefits of engaging in risky behaviors. Using self-report data from 113 female undergraduates, two separate hierarchical regression analyses were performed to examine the contributions of number of sexual victimization experiences, emotion dysregulation, cost expectations of risky behavior, and benefit expectations of risky behavior to latency to exit a risk perception vignette involving a stranger and frequency of engagement in risky behavior. Regression analyses revealed that the full set of predictors accounted for 13% of the variance in latency to exit the risk perception vignette involving a stranger, with emotion dysregulation and benefit expectations making significant and independent contributions. Regression analyses revealed that the same set of predictors accounted for 34% of the variance in frequency of engagement in risky behavior, with number of sexual victimization experiences and benefit expectations making significant and independent contributions. The current findings suggest that sexual victimization risk may be influenced by perceived benefits of risky behavior. Implications of the current findings will be discussed in the context of sexual victimization risk reduction.

MPI profile classifications and associated clinical findings among litigating motor vehicle collision patients.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in precollision, pericollision, and postcollision clinical variables across litigating motor vehicle collision (MVC) patients who were classified as Dysfunctional (DYS), Interpersonally Distressed (ID), or Adaptive Copers (ACs) based on Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) profile classifications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of 240 MVC patients who sustained serious physical injuries and experienced MVC-related chronic pain completed the MPI and provided responses to a semistructured psycholegal interview designed to elicit injury-related and pain-related symptoms and treatments, determine the presence and impact of precollision experiences, and render psychiatric diagnoses and ratings of psychological disability. RESULTS: A significant multivariate effect of MPI profile group on postcollision variables was revealed, with the DYS and ID groups reporting more pain sites than the AC group and the DYS group receiving more recommendations for treatment than the AC group. Larger proportions of the DYS and ID groups were diagnosed as experiencing major depressive disorder than the AC group. A rating of total psychological disability was applied most often to members of the ID group, with partial psychological disability applied most often to members of the DYS group, and no psychological disability applied most often to members of the AC group. DISCUSSION: This study extends the MPI literature by establishing the usefulness of the measure in determining those reports of MVC-related pain and emotional distress that are most likely to be associated with postcollision psychological disability. The current study supports the usefulness of MPI profile classifications in identifying MVC patients who are likely to require and benefit from intensive psychological and other rehabilitative interventions.

Chronic pain and posttraumatic stress symptoms in litigating motor vehicle accident victims.

OBJECTIVE: There has been little research examining chronic pain and posttraumatic stress symptoms in persons injured in motor vehicle accidents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences in physical injury and impairment, psychological distress, and pain coping strategies in litigating chronic pain patients low and high in motor vehicle accident-related posttraumatic stress symptoms. DESIGN: A total of 160 consecutive chronic pain patients referred for psychological-legal assessment underwent semistructured interview and testing. The testing battery included the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2, the Multidimensional Pain Inventory, the Sickness Impact Profile, and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Using the sample-specific median split of 18 posttraumatic stress symptoms on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder scale, chronic pain patients were categorized as evidencing low or high levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms. RESULTS: The findings indicate that participants evidencing high posttraumatic stress symptoms had more physical impairment, psychological distress, and maladaptive pain coping strategies and were more likely to be treated with antidepressants, other medications, and psychological management than participants evidencing low posttraumatic stress symptoms. A discriminant function analysis was performed using the full combination of physical injury and impairment, psychological distress, and pain coping variables in the prediction of posttraumatic stress symptom-defined group membership. The resulting discriminant function accounted for 61% of the between-group variance and correctly classified 92% of participants who were low in posttraumatic stress symptoms and 88% of participants who were high in posttraumatic stress symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic pain and posttraumatic stress symptoms in litigating motor vehicle accident victims are associated with increased physical and psychological morbidity.

Predictors of neurocognitive performance in chronic pain patients.

In a sample of 70 chronic pain patients, hierarchical multiple regression analyses were utilized to assess the additive and interactive contributions of pain severity and psychological distress variables to neurocognitive performance across attention and concentration, memory, and reasoning ability domains. Although the full model predicting attention and concentration was found to be significant, there was no significant contribution of pain severity, psychological distress, or the Pain Severity x Psychological Distress interaction to the prediction of attention and concentration scores after controlling for the effect of years of formal education. After controlling for the effect of years of formal education, pain severity and psychological distress did make separate and significant contributions to the prediction of memory scores; however, the Pain Severity x Psychological Distress interaction did not significantly affect memory scores. After controlling for the effect of years of formal education, there was no significant contribution of pain severity, psychological distress, or the Pain Severity x Psychological Distress interaction to reasoning ability scores. Results suggest the importance of assessing memory function when managing psychologically distressed chronic pain patients.