Professionals ready to integrate care (PRI-Care): A mental health training collaborative.

INTRODUCTION: Increasing demand for integrated care necessitates interprofessional training of mental and behavioral professionals. This study examines the effect of an interprofessional training program for social work and counseling trainees (PRI-Care) in 3 areas: interprofessional valuing and socialization, team skills, and professional development, including the interrelationship between these 3 areas. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey-based pre-post design was utilized across 4 cohorts of students participating in the training program from 2018 through 2021. RESULTS: Among 111 students, interprofessional valuing and socialization, team skills, and professional development increased in pre- to post surveys. Older trainees had higher self-perceptions of interprofessional valuing and socialization. Further, higher levels of interprofessional valuing after training predicted higher self-perceived professional development. DISCUSSION: Students entering work in mental and behavioral health benefited from the specialized interprofessional training. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Interprofessional Suicide Prevention Education.

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns regarding possible spikes in suicidal behavior in light of heightened risk factors such as social isolation and financial strain; thus, comprehensive suicide prevention training for emerging health service providers is increasingly vital. This article summarizes an interprofessional education (IPE) suicide prevention course delivered in-person in Spring 2020. Pilot data demonstrate that despite the impact of COVID-19 on higher education, this course had long-term impacts on trainee suicide prevention efficacy, IPE attitudes, and use of course content in practice. Discussion serves to address enhancements for interprofessional and suicide prevention education during and after the pandemic. Emphasis is placed on adaptable training strategies, considerations in the delivery format, guidelines for intensive virtual meetings with trainee teams, and future directions in IPE suicide prevention training research.

The Brief COPE: Factor Structure and Associations With Self- and Other-Directed Aggression Among Emerging Adults.

The Brief COPE has seen frequent use across populations despite lack of confirmatory factor-analytic examination. We further examine Brief COPE validity with respect to self- and other-directed aggression because emerging adulthood represents a distinct developmental time period in which stress, poor coping, and aggression intersect. Drawing on archival data (n = 576) from a larger investigation of college student health, this cross-sectional survey study tested (1) four competing Brief COPE factor structures, (2) Brief COPE factor associations with aggression, and (3) stress by coping interactions predicting aggression outcomes. Prominent findings included (1) poor-to-marginal confirmatory factor-analytic support for a four-factor structure; (2) positive bivariate associations of avoidant coping with elevated stress, depression, suicide, self-injury, and aggression; (3) positive bivariate associations between adaptive coping strategies with stress and aggression; and (4) an interaction where avoidant coping has a stronger association with other-directed aggression for those low in stress. The interaction findings were significant for males only and applied specifically to hostility. Findings are contextualized within future Brief COPE research as well as emerging adulthood theory.

Integrating Interprofessional Education into Suicide Prevention Training: Results from A Pilot Evaluation.

Suicide prevention training for health professions students is lacking, often occurring in disciplinary silos. The present study reports outcomes from an interprofessional education (IPE)-based suicide prevention course for health professions students across a variety of disciplines (e.g., social work, counseling, public health). Using a quasi-experimental design, students either took part in a fully online or blended version of the course. Primary outcomes included: (1) significant moderate-to-large positive gains in suicide prevention knowledge, perceived clinical care skills, and perceived ability to help self-harming patients; (2) moderate positive shifts in sensitivity to risk factors of those who died by suicide; (3) non-significant impacts on IPE-related outcomes; (4) overall high course satisfaction; and (5) students in the blended course preferred several interactive methods more than students in the online course version (large effects). Recommendations are provided for course revision and future implementation in educational and community-based settings.

Community Mental Health Provider Responses to a Competency-Based Training in Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention.

The present study evaluates of a competency-based suicide prevention training. A sample of community mental healthcare providers took part in a suicide risk assessment and prevention training, completing pre-post measures of knowledge, competency/skill and attitudes, as well as baseline interprofessional education (IPE) socialization. Training yielded moderate-to-large improvements in suicide-related knowledge, perceived risk assessment/prevention skills, attitudes toward helping patients, and professional capacity to work with suicidal patients. Small pre-post differences were observed recognizing the need for additional training. IPE socialization moderated impacts on professional capacity. This study offers support for the promising impacts of competency-based and IPE-specific training.

The intersection of nonsuicidal self-injury and suicide-related behavior: Patterns of elevated risk and implications for college mental health.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the overlap of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide-related behaviors (SRB) among college students with regard to demographics, mental health, and coping styles. PARTICIPANTS: Respondents were 572 undergraduate students at a southwestern public university. METHODS: Data were collected in 2015. Respondents completed a demographic survey and assessments of NSSI, SRB, internalizing symptoms (ie, anxiety, stress, and depression), aggression, and negative coping strategies. The survey was administered via a Web-based procedure. RESULTS: Women reported more frequent cutting behaviors than men. Endorsement of NSSI was also associated with an increased likelihood of lifetime SRB. A subgroup of students endorsing both NSSI and SRB demonstrated poorer mental health, more negative coping, and self-reported female sex. CONCLUSIONS: College healthcare providers may benefit from competency-based training in techniques for the combination treatment of NSSI and SRB, as well as culturally based models of suicide.

Predictors of self-efficacy for sleep in primary care.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To identify factors impacting self-efficacy for sleep. Specifically, the aims were to examine associations between self-efficacy for sleep and (1) socio-demographic variables and (2) potential predictors including sleep severity, depression, dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, quality of life/health status and insomnia treatment acceptability for behavioural treatment. BACKGROUND: Between 50 and 70 million Americans experience insomnia. Costs of treatment, absenteeism and reduced productivity exceed 42 billion dollars annually. Medication for insomnia can result in impaired memory, fatigue, injuries, reduced health, medication habituation, difficulties in work and relationships and enhanced healthcare usage. Studies have suggested that behavioural management can be beneficial; however, factors contributing to success with behavioural management are unclear. DESIGN: This quantitative correlational study used inventory-based measures. METHODS: The Self-Efficacy for Sleep Scale, Insomnia Treatment Acceptability Scale, SF-8™ Health Survey, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and Dysfunctional Beliefs about Sleep Scale were completed by 236 individuals with significant insomnia as measured by Insomnia Severity Index scores of 8 or higher. RESULTS: A significant association was found between sleep self-efficacy and race (p < 0·01). All predicator variables except one were found to be significantly correlated with the self-efficacy for sleep (p < 0·01). CONCLUSIONS: For behavioural self-management strategies to be effective for treating insomnia, these reported predictors may need to be assessed and managed. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: These findings suggest that nurses may want to assess insomnia severity, health status, level of depression and beliefs about sleep prior to beginning or when encountering barriers to the successful utilisation of behavioural approaches to manage sleep. If a patient is found to possess these limiting factors, the nurse may want to address these issues through medication, education and/or other behavioural approaches. Once addressed, the patient may find behavioural management for insomnia to be quite successful.