Subjective Stress Appraisals Over Time: the Evolving Structure of the COVID-19 Stressor Scale.

The COVID-19 Stressors Scale measures individuals' appraisals of stressors related to the pandemic. Measurement of perceptions of stressors is necessary to understand the socioemotional impacts of not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but other disasters. The study examined the factor structure of the scale among adults in the U.S. over six time points. A shortened version was used, and the fit was examined over time. The results of the study show contextual appraisals change over time and offer important implications for the measurement of stressfulness of disasters, a critical step in designing and assessing impacts of social programs aimed to reduce the deleterious effects of disasters.

The Long-COVID Well-Being Scale (LCOVID-WBS): Development of a nascent measure of long-COVID symptoms and impacts.

As is now well-known, COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease, which for some can cause symptoms that last long after initial infection. In 2021, a clinical set of symptoms referred to as long-COVID was identified. For many patients, long-COVID is a confusing and frightening multisystem disease, with the potential for myriad negative psychosocial effects, including significant impacts on employment and mental health, and requiring ongoing care. Research and treatment of long-COVID will be facilitated by a sound measure that addresses aspects of well-being, symptom experiences, and psychosocial impacts among long-COVID patients. The present work addresses this need by presenting the results of the development and preliminary psychometrics for the Long-COVID Well-Being Scale (LCOVID-WBS). In an exploratory factor analysis with a panel of 236 participants, researchers identified four factors: Emotional Strain, Physical Ability Strain, Control of Life, and Overall Evaluation of Health. The nascent measure represents the first step to measuring the impacts of long-COVID.

Mental health literacy and relational health literacy among college students.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine MHL and RHL in a sample of college students in the United States, and to explore linkages among literacies and related constructs. Participants: Participants were 169 (N = 169) participants who were adult college students at a state university in the southern United States. Participants were recruited through an online recruitment management system that allows college students to participate in research studies for participation credit. Method: We analyzed online survey data using descriptive analysis. In effort to develop a measurement tool to measure relational mental health literacy, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis on the Relational Health Literacy Scale (RHLS) that was developed for the present study. Results: Results suggest that college students would be willing to seek mental health resources from some professional sources. Participants were able to more easily identify symptoms of anxiety and depression, and struggled to accurately identify symptoms of mania, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Respondents also demonstrated some awareness of relationship health issues. Conclusions: Implications for further research, practice and policy making are presented and discussed.

Predictors of Mental Health Help-Seeking During COVID-19: Social Support, Emotion Regulation, and Mental Health Symptoms.

Little is known about factors that contribute to mental health help-seeking during disasters beyond attitudes toward counseling. The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) global pandemic dramatically impacted individuals, families, and communities worldwide. The pandemic led to significant disruptions to family routines, and evidence suggests an increase in instances of mental health symptoms, like depression and anxiety, and poor utilization of mental health services. To better understand psychological factors associated with help-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers surveyed respondents (n = 1,533 at time 1) about their mental health and help-seeking using Amazon's MTurk platform. The results indicated that individuals with higher levels of anxiety rate their likelihood of help-seeking as higher and those who do seek psychological help report higher levels of depression. Further, those who began new treatment for behavioral health difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic reported lower social support and less clarity about how they felt (specifically, emotional clarity when upset). Implications for clinical researchers and public health are discussed.

Predictors of children's emotion regulation outcomes during COVID-19: Role of conflict within the family.

Objective: This work aimed to analyze the role of family conflict on children's emotion regulation and stress outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought novel stress to families. The stress experienced could impact family relationships-specifically, perceptions of closeness and patterns of conflict. Positive family environment and high-quality family relationships are associated with adaptive coping and lower levels of stress among children. Method: Data were collected online from 110 participants at baseline and again 30 days later. Associations between parent-child relationship, sibling relationships, and child stress and emotion regulation outcomes 30 days later were tested through multiple stepwise regression. Results: Both significant regression models suggest that parent-child conflict is the strongest predictor of child stress and negativity over the 30-day assessment period. Sibling conflict predicted child stress but not negativity. Conclusion: Family conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced children's emotion regulation outcomes as seen through significant associations between child-parent conflict, sibling conflict, perceived child stress, and children's negativity. Implications: Family scientists and practitioners should consider interventions that help parents teach their children how to cope with their own stresses and emotions after conflict.

A latent profile analysis of the COVID-19 Stressors Scale.

OBJECTIVE: Research from the early months of the SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19) pandemic identifies many COVID-related stressors, including fears of infection, disruptions to work/learning and daily self-care routines, and lack of access to reliable information and resources. Measuring the complex, ongoing nature of the stressors related to COVID-19 is of great practical utility, as is investigating how people may differently respond to stressors. The objective of the present study was to identify the possible profiles of COVID-19-related stressors using a recently developed measure, the COVID-19 Stressors Scale. METHOD: The present study sampled individuals from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; n = 1,530) and examined the COVID-19 Stressors Scale with a latent profile analysis. RESULTS: Using a latent profile analysis, three profiles of COVID-19-related stressors were identified, Moderate Disruption Distress, High Disruption Distress, and Identity and Role Strain. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of the study, the authors encourage researchers to differentiate types of stressors profiles of individual experiences COVID-19 or future pandemics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Where is the Family in Young Adult Substance Use Treatment? The Case for Systemic Family Therapy for Young Adults with Substance Use Disorders.

Despite the prevalence of SUDs, many individuals remain untreated (Grant et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 73(1), 39-45, 2016). Substance use disorders (SUDs) in young adults present unique challenges and stressors to parents of these individuals (D'Aniello et al., American Journal of Family Therapy, 2020; Kaur et al., International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 5(6), 2380-2383, 2018; Shumway et al., Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 37(1), 75-98, 2019). Parents and caregivers often facilitate their children's care and provide pragmatic and emotional support to their children; this high level of care is challenging to maintain, as with any chronic, relapsing condition. In the case of SUDs, the challenges caregivers face may be exacerbated by the stigma and the blame associated with parents in the development and maintenance of children's SUDs, and the strains that come with navigating barriers related to accessing treatment in the USA. Estimates suggest that healthcare spending for substance use treatment is relatively low and few utilize therapeutic family treatment. This disconnect between widespread SUD prevalence, and service underutilization, indicates that families who need treatment are not accessing it. The present paper synthesizes the extant literature on the role of family members in SUD treatment, as families are a primary context of care for their children's treatment across many chronic, relapsing conditions. Finally, we identify the utility of family therapy in addressing family member's unique needs related to their loved one with a SUD, in the family and in a treatment context.

The Protective Role of Parent Resilience on Mental Health and the Parent-Child Relationship During COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic is linked to particularly potent psychological effects for children and their caregivers while families adjust to new daily routines for work, education, and self-care. Longitudinal associations are presented from a national sample of 271 parents (mean age = 35.29 years, 48.5% female) on resilience, mental health and stress indicators, and parenting outcomes. Multigroup path model results indicate significant associations between resilience and parent stress or parent perceived child stress initiates a sequence of significant linkages to parent depression, followed by caregiver burden and parent-child relationship quality. This final set of linkages between depression and both parenting outcomes were significantly stronger for men, who also reported higher rates of perceived child stress. Results suggest that fathers' depression symptoms and associated spill-over to perceived child stress is producing stronger effects on their parenting experiences than effects reported by mothers.

Psychotherapeutic processes associated with couple therapy discontinuance: An observational analysis using the rapid marital interaction coding system.

Premature discontinuation presents challenges to couple clients and therapists alike. Although couple therapy has demonstrated efficacy and effectiveness, little is known about the mechanisms that contribute to couple therapy completion. This study presents the results of an observational inquiry into the psychotherapeutic processes associated with treatment discontinuance using clinical data. Using observational coding of the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System (RMICS) researchers sought to examine differences in in-session interactions between couple members in a matched sample of therapy continuers and discontinuers. Results indicate that specifically for female partners, the absence of positive interactions is linked to therapy discontinuation. Clinical implications of these findings are presented and discussed.

Barriers to help seeking and provider preferences for sexual functioning concerns among undergraduates.

OBJECTIVE: Researchers who have studied help-seeking for sexual health concerns have consistently documented that individuals, couples, and families underutilize sexual health services. Additionally, research has demonstrated that individuals endorse myriad barriers to seeking informal and formal help, especially for sexual health concerns. This study examined past, present, and future provider preferences for sexual functioning concerns. Participants: A sample of 347 undergraduate students at a large university in the Northeast United States. Methods: Participants responded to questionnaires about their help-seeking behaviors for formal and informal help sources. Results: Despite the occurrence of sexual functioning concerns in the current study, services that address sexual concerns were largely underutilized. However, barriers to seeking help and negative attitudes toward seeking help did not seem to be primary reasons for the underutilization of services for the current sample. Results also indicated that providers that focus specifically on the treatment of sexual functioning concerns are among the most underutilized services. Discussion: Implications for sexual health providers based on results are provided.

Measuring Cumulative Stressfulness: Psychometric Properties of the COVID-19 Stressors Scale.

Scales assessing stressor exposure often fail to demonstrate adequate psychometric qualities, demonstrating low interitem reliability or complex factor structures, as would be expected, given that the majority of stressors are independent events. However, in large-scale mass crisis events, the stressors may be highly interrelated, indicating shared experience. Furthermore, few stressor exposure scales also measure appraised stressfulness of those stressors. Development of a psychometrically sound measure of both stressor exposure and appraisal advances the study of highly stressful events such as community-wide crises, especially in providing a useful measure of its cumulative stressfulness. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an enduring, worldwide stressor with an indefinite timeline. The COVID-19 Stressor Scale is a 23-item measure of stressor exposure and appraisal related to the pandemic developed within the first weeks of widespread shelter-in-place practices in the Unites States. We present initial psychometric results of the COVID-19 Stressor Scale. Results of a principal components analysis indicate that the measure is unidimensional and has strong internal consistency. Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated. The COVID-19 Stressor Scale is a useful measure for studying the ongoing stressors associated with the pandemic and presents a model for measuring other massive, ongoing crises.

Pressure to Attend Therapy, Dyadic Adjustment, and Adverse Childhood Experiences: Direct and Indirect Effects on the Therapeutic Alliance in Couples Therapy.

In this study we examine the role that pressure to attend therapy, dyadic adjustment, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) play in developing the therapeutic alliance. A total of 351 couples received treatment as usual at three family therapy training clinics. Participants rated predictor variables at intake and alliance at the fourth session. Results of a path analysis indicate that each partner's dyadic adjustment is directly associated with the quality of her or his own alliance. In addition, when male partners report more ACEs and pressure to attend treatment, their own alliance scores decrease. Additionally, when one partner reports feeling pressure to attend therapy, the other partner's alliance decreases. Finally, for males, there is an indirect effect of dyadic adjustment on alliance through pressure to attend therapy. These results suggest that clinicians should routinely assess relationship adjustment, how pressured each partner is feeling to attend treatment, and ACEs; as these may impact alliance quality.

Predictive validity of the R-URICA.

OBJECTIVES: Measuring client motivation to change, and then using information from that assessment to plan and conduct treatment, has been of great interest to therapists. Researchers have modified a measure of motivation to change to develop the R-URICA (Tambling & Johnson, 2012, Fam. J., 20, 59). DESIGN: This manuscript presents the results of an exploration of the validity of the R-URICA in a sample of individuals in couple therapy. Sample included 581 couples from a treatment-as-usual sample of counselling clinic clients. This study presents the results of inquiry into the ways in which scores on the R-URICA are modified over time in therapy, an indicator of the predictive validity of the instrument. MEASURES: R-URICA, RDAS. RESULTS: Results indicated that scores on the Action Subscale of the R-URICA change over time, indicating that therapy positively impacts this aspect of motivation to change. Results also suggested that the aspects of the R-URICA are related to where couples present for couple therapy and changes in dyadic adjustment in couple therapy. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Practitioners should inquire about motivation to change at the outset of therapy. Further, practitioners should be sensitive to differences in motivation to change among families or couples as not all clients may be equally motivated. Practitioners may wish to devote time to engagement of male partners in therapy as males are more variable in their motivation to change and seem to impact outcomes. Practitioners may wish to consider the use of the R-URICA as an alternative measure of motivation to change in therapy.