"We thought we were stronger than we were": adopters' narratives about the adoption journey and disruption.

Introduction: Although the majority of adoptive families remain stable, some of them break up prematurely. Methods: Adopting a qualitative approach, this study gave voice to seven adoption applicants who began the adoption journey with one or more children but did not complete the legal process. Our goal was to understand their experiences throughout the adoption process and disruption. Results: The results show how adoption applicants went, in a short period, from the excitement of finding a child or sibling group to disillusionment and trauma. The main risk factors that hinder adoption stability include unrealistic expectations, intuitive choice of the child in the absence of accurate information, challenges posed by the child's particular characteristics, and lack of professional support. Discussion: Our study highlights the need for adopters to be assisted throughout the entire process by specialists, to be better prepared to deal with the complex needs of children in the protection system, and to facilitate their access to a complex of specialized services to meet the different needs of every family.

Negative life events and internalizing problems among Romanian youth.

During adolescence individuals face multiple stressful events, but it is not clear how these impact adolescents' adjustment and what factors buffer their negative effects. The present exploratory study investigates the relationship between frequency, proximity, and intensity of negative life events and occurrence of internalizing symptoms in a sample of Romanian adolescents. 2690 youth aged 15-16 from capital city of Romania filled in a series of measures from Youth in Europe Study. Hierarchical regression was employed to test for the explanatory value of individual (gender and family status), relational (parents and peer support), and negative life events on depressive and anxiety symptoms. Frequency and proximity of negative life events explained 35.8% in the displaying of depressive symptoms. After controlling for individual and relational variables, occurrence, proximity, and intensity of negative life events significantly contributed to explaining heightened anxiety symptoms (R2 = .246). Adolescents reporting more frequent, earlier in time and more intensive negative events also reported more depressive and anxiety symptoms, thus, supporting the relationship between occurrence of adversities and negative mental health outcomes.

Association between Facebook Use, Depression and Family Satisfaction: A Cross-Sectional Study of Romanian Youth.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, Facebook has increasingly become an essential part of the lives of people, particularly youths, thus many research efforts have been focused on investigating the potential connection between social networking and mental health issues. This study aimed to examine the relationship between Facebook use, emotional state of depression, and family satisfaction. METHODS: This study used the online survey created in Google Docs on the Facebook 'wall', as research method. The survey was available during Jun-Jul 2015 in Romania. In our cross-sectional study on a sample of 708 young Facebook users (aged 13-35), we divided the sample into 3 groups: ordinary, middle, and intense Facebook users. Materials and instruments: the survey comprised a series of basic demographic as well as some measures of Facebook addiction, depression, and family satisfaction. We used two methods connected with extensive Facebook usage, the first one measuring only the intensity of use, and the second one measuring not only the intensity but also the consequences of this use. RESULTS: Facebook engagement is negatively related to family satisfaction. Moreover, Facebook engagement is positively related to depression symptoms. The Pearson correlations showed that higher Facebook intensity is positively associated with Facebook addiction. CONCLUSION: The study confirm previously published findings of other authors in the fields of social networking psychology. The study examined the relationship between Facebook use, depression, and life satisfaction and the hypotheses were supported.

The prevalence and burden of mental and substance use disorders in Romania: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.

AIMS: National mental health policies must be grounded in accurate assessments of diseases. In the current article we used the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 to examine burden due to mental and substance use disorders in Romania. METHODS: For each mental and substance use disorder included in the GBD 2016 we reported the yearly estimates for YLL (as a measure for non-fatal burden), YLD (fatal burden) and DALY (summing years lived with disability and years of life lost to give a measure of total burden). RESULTS: Mental and substance use disorders were the third leading cause of non-fatal burden in Romania in 2016, explaining 13.53% of total years lived with disability, the ninth leading cause for fatal burden explaining 0.84% of total years of life lost, and were the fifth leading cause of total burden, accounting for 5.52% of total disability-adjusted life years. Among MSDs, depression, anxiety and alcohol use disorders have the highest rate. Starting 1997 there has been a slow decrease of age-standardized disability-adjusted life year rates, with no significant change in the last 5 years. CONCLUSION: Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 found that mental and substance use disorders were the fifth leading contributors to disease burden in Romania, with anxiety and depressive being the most prevalent. Despite national programs and strategies in the area of mental health initiated especially after 1990, the mental health system does not fully meet the needs of the patients. Effective population-level strategic measures are still required in order to reduce the burden of disease.

Evidence-Based Practice among Romanian Social Workers: Attitudes, Utilization, and Barriers.

In this article the authors report on a small survey of Romanian social workers regarding their attitudes toward evidence-based practice (EBP) and thoughts on the factors affecting its implementation in their clinical work. Eighty social workers were asked to complete a pen-and-paper questionnaire on their attitudes toward EBP, the use of research, and perceived barriers on implementation. Social workers have generally positive attitudes toward EBP. Insufficient time surfaced as the greatest barrier to successful implementation. Previous training during academic programs on the EBP foundations was associated with more positive attitudes and beliefs and also with stronger commitment toward implementation. Given the constant pressure that the limited resources pose on the social services, practitioners from the social work field must assure that their clients will have access to the best available programs and interventions. However, as the transfer of research into practice appears more complex than EBP suggests, the authors sought to understand how professionals construct their attitudes, level of commitment, and barriers.

Intentions to Engage in Evidence-Based Practice among Undergraduate Social Work Students: Preliminary Findings from Romania.

Knowledge and familiarity of evidence-based practice (EBP) is a key competence to social workers entering the workforce. The literature review revealed no studies on Romanian graduates that have measured the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors students have about EBP in the final semester of their bachelor's of social work (BSW) degree program. A sample of 89 students drawn from one public school in Romania completed the instrument. The questionnaire included measures of familiarity, attitudes, feasibility, and intentions for future use as well as demographic information. Overall, students are familiar with EBP steps and principles and have quite positive attitudes. However, only familiarity significantly predicts their intentions to engage in the EBP process upon graduation. Attitude does not contribute to the regression equation, meaning that these are not yet consolidated. These results indicate a need for attention to teaching EBP in BSW programs. To provide optimal care, practitioners must be able to locate, interpret, and apply current best evidence to a given social problem.

Current issues and future directions in evidence-based child protection practices: a view from Romania.

The constantly changing nature of social care practice necessitates continuous development of educational programs to prepare current practitioners. Basing social work practice on methodologically sound research evidence is an appealing prospect for the child protection services. However, Romania, once considered an Eastern European model for child welfare policy and practice, is somehow lagging behind. In this article the author gives a short overview of where the Romanian Child Protection System currently stands in terms of evidence-based practice.