ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Specific daily actions (eg, goal setting, meaningful activities) are associated with mental health. Performing specific daily actions at a higher frequency is associated with significantly lower baseline symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as better psychological treatment outcomes for depression and anxiety. OBJECTIVE: This study explored how the frequency of specific daily actions associated with mental health may differ prior to, during, and following treatment according to demographic and clinical characteristics. METHODS: Using a sample of 448 patients from an Australian national digital psychology service, we examined baseline differences in daily action frequency and changes in daily action frequency during a digital psychological treatment according to demographic and clinical subgroups. A total of 5 specific types of daily actions were measured using the Things You Do Questionnaire: healthy thinking, meaningful activities, goals and plans, healthy habits, and social connections. RESULTS: The frequency of daily actions differed according to employment status (largest P=.005) and educational level (largest P=.004). Daily action frequency was lower in those participants with more severe or chronic depression or anxiety symptoms (largest P=.004). Participants reported larger increases in how often they did these daily actions from baseline to midtreatment compared to mid- to posttreatment. Depression duration (P=.01) and severity (P<.001) were associated with differences in how daily action frequency changed during treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study support continued research exploring the relationship between daily actions and mental health, how this relationship might differ between individuals, and the clinical potential of supporting individuals to increase the frequency of daily actions to improve mental health.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A large number of modifiable and measurable daily actions are thought to impact mental health. The "Things You Do" refers to 5 types of daily actions that have been associated with mental health: healthy thinking, meaningful activities, goals and plans, healthy habits, and social connections. Previous studies have reported the psychometric properties of the Things You Do Questionnaire (TYDQ)-21-item (TYDQ21). The 21-item version, however, has an uneven distribution of items across the 5 aforementioned factors and may be lengthy to administer on a regular basis. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a brief version of the TYDQ. To accomplish this, we identified the top 10 and 15 items on the TYDQ21 and then evaluated the performance of the 10-item and 15-item versions of the TYDQ in community and treatment-seeking samples. METHODS: Using confirmatory factor analysis, the top 2 or 3 items were used to develop the 10-item and 15-item versions, respectively. Model fit, reliability, and validity were examined for both versions in 2 samples: a survey of community adults (n=6070) and adults who completed an assessment at a digital psychology service (n=14,878). Treatment responsivity was examined in a subgroup of participants (n=448). RESULTS: Parallel analysis supported the 5-factor structure of the TYDQ. The brief (10-item and 15-item) versions were associated with better model fit than the 21-item version, as revealed by its comparative fit index, root-mean-square error of approximation, and Tucker-Lewis index. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance were supported. The 15-item version explained more variance in the 21-item scores than the 10-item version. Internal consistency was appropriate (eg, the 15-item version had a Cronbach α of >0.90 in both samples) and there were no marked differences between how the brief versions correlated with validated measures of depression or anxiety symptoms. The measure was responsive to treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The 15-item version is appropriate for use as a brief measure of daily actions associated with mental health while balancing brevity and clinical utility. Further research is encouraged to replicate our psychometric evaluation in other settings (eg, face-to-face services). TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12613000407796; https://tinyurl.com/2s67a6ps.
ABSTRACT
O Serviço-Escola de Psicologia (SEP) da Unifesp foi constituído com o intuito de transcender o tradicional funcionamento das clínicas-escola, superando a atomização da Psicologia em áreas e oferecendo serviços integrados à rede. Isso possibilita uma formação interdisciplinar, pluralista, generalista, não tecnicista, crítica, permitindo a compreensão e atuação do psicólogo em diversos contextos socioculturais. O objetivo do artigo é descrever, avaliar e problematizar as ações do SEP da Unifesp, em relação à oferta de campos de estágio e ações desenvolvidas neles. É um estudo transversal, baseado em metodologia predominantemente quantitativa e descritiva. O levantamento de dados foi realizado por meio de dois questionários online respondidos por todos os supervisores. Os dados quantitativos foram submetidos à análise estatística descritiva. Os resultados evidenciaram maior incidência das ações no município de Santos e, em menor grau, em outros municípios da Baixada Santista e na cidade de São Paulo. A maioria das atividades de estágios não se limita ao espaço físico de atendimento clínico do Serviço-Escola, ocorrendo junto às instituições públicas ou às instituições ligadas ao terceiro setor na região, relacionadas, direta ou indiretamente, com a promoção de políticas públicas. A pluralidade de recursos utilizados (grupos, atendimento individual, acompanhamento terapêutico, oficinas, matriciamento, entre outros) revela uma ampliação do repertório de competências e habilidades. A variedade de oferta de projetos e campos de estágio, públicos-alvo atendidos, assim como a diversidade e flexibilidade de ações e estratégias desenvolvidas, apontam um movimento de congruência em relação às diretrizes curriculares nacionais e ao inovador Projeto Pedagógico do curso.(AU)
UNIFESP's Psychology Service-School (SEP) was founded with the objective of going beyond the traditional functioning of school-clinics, overcoming the atomization of Psychology in areas and offering services integrated to the network. This enables an interdisciplinary, pluralist, generalist, non-technicist, and critical training, allowing psychologists' understanding and action in different sociocultural contexts. This article aims to describe, evaluate, and discuss the actions of UNIFESP's SEP regarding the offer of internship fields and the actions developed in those fields. It is a cross-sectional study, based on a predominantly descriptive and quantitative methodology. The data was surveyed with two online questionnaires answered by all supervisors. Quantitative data were submitted to descriptive statistical analysis. The results showed a higher incidence of actions in the municipality of Santos and, to a lesser extent, in other municipalities of the Baixada Santista and in the city of São Paulo. Most internship activities are not limited to the physical space of the service-school's clinical care and take place alongside public institutions or institutions linked to the third sector in the area, directly or indirectly related to the promotion of public policies. The plurality of resources (groups, personal care, therapeutic monitoring, workshops, matrix support, among others) reveals an expansion of competences and skills repertoire. The variety of projects and internship fields offers, of target audiences served, as well as the diversity and flexibility of the developed actions and strategies point to a congruence movement relating to national curricular guidelines and to the innovative pedagogical project of the course.(AU)
El Serviço-Escola de Psicologia (SEP) de la Unifesp (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brasil) buscó trascender el funcionamiento tradicional de las clínicas universitarias, superar la atomización de la Psicología en áreas y ofrecer servicios integrados a la red. Esto permite una formación interdisciplinar, pluralista, generalista, sin tecnicismos, crítica, lo que posibilita a los/las psicólogos/as comprender y actuar en diferentes contextos socioculturales. Este artículo pretendió describir, evaluar y problematizar las acciones del SEP Unifesp respecto a la oferta de campos de prácticas profesionales y acciones desarrolladas. Es un estudio transversal, con metodología predominantemente cuantitativa y descriptiva. Los datos se recolectaron de dos cuestionarios en línea respondidos por los/las supervisores/as. Se les aplicaron un análisis estadístico descriptivo. Hubo más acciones en la ciudad de Santos (Brasil) que en otros municipios de la región metropolitana de la Baixada Santista y en la ciudad de São Paulo. La mayoría de las prácticas profesionales no se limita a la atención clínica del SEP, ocurriendo en instituciones públicas o vinculadas al tercer sector en la región, directa o indirectamente, relacionadas con la promoción de políticas públicas. La pluralidad de recursos (grupos, atención individual, acompañamiento terapéutico, talleres, soporte matricial, entre otros) revela un amplio repertorio de competencias y habilidades. La variada oferta de proyectos y campos para prácticas profesionales, los públicos destinatarios atendidos, así como la diversidad y flexibilidad de acciones y estrategias desarrolladas apuntan a una congruencia respecto a los lineamientos curriculares nacionales y al innovador proyecto pedagógico del curso.(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Psychology , Public Policy , Schools , Teaching , Clinical Clerkship , Professional Training , Interdisciplinary Studies , Professional Practice , Clinical Competence , Health Personnel , Competency-Based Education , Problem-Based Learning , Mental Health ServicesABSTRACT
Este estudo apresenta um panorama das principais queixas declaradas pela clientela masculina ao procurar o serviço de psicologia de um centro de saúde de Belém do Pará, Norte do Brasil, por meio do mapeamento dos atendimentos no período de 2009 a 2013. O método desta pesquisa descritiva consistiu no levantamento de dados produzidos por um psicólogo durante seu atendimento clínico. As principais queixas relacionam-se à (i) ansiedade, (ii) depressão, (iii) violência entre parceiros íntimos, e (iv) outros conflitos interpessoais. Os dados coletados também permitiram constatar que os homens constituíram 41,2% da clientela, concentraram 46,1% dos atendimentos realizados, encontravam-se em sua maior parte na faixa etária entre os 20 e 29 anos e tenderam a buscar o serviço espontaneamente. A discussão dos resultados apontou para a necessidade de levar em conta as especificidades da clientela masculina e promover um debate mais amplo acerca da saúde do homem, conferindo-lhe maior visibilidade.
This study presents an overview of the main complaints reported by the male clientele when looking for a psychology service in a health center in Belém do Pará, Northern Brazil, through the mapping of visits in the period from 2009 to 2013. The method of this descriptive research consisted of collecting data produced by a psychologist during his clinical care. The main complaints are related to (i) anxiety, (ii) depression, (ii) violence between intimate partners, and (iv) other interpersonal conflicts. The data collected also revealed that men represent 41.2% of the clientele, concentrate 46.1% of the consultations performed, were mostly in the age group between 20 and 29 years old and tended to seek the service spontaneously. The discussion of the results pointed to the need to take into account the specificities of the male clientele and foster a debate about the men's health, giving it greater visibility.
Subject(s)
Psychology , Men's Health , Primary Health Care , Health Centers , Health Services , MenABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The NIPPERS (Nursery Intervention Project for Parents & Education Related Services) was a novel community psychology service based in nursery settings in socio-economically disadvantaged, inner-city areas in London. METHOD: The service included consultation work with nursery staff, structured parenting groups and individual sessions for parents. RESULTS: The delivery of the clinical service and research evaluation underwent several changes in the first phase of the project, in particular to ensure that the service was acceptable and accessible to families and staff. Although take-up of community services was higher than in the local clinic-based services, it was not taken up by some 40% of parents. Due to the allocation design, it was not possible to measure the effectiveness of the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The NIPPERS service was successful in delivering a community child psychology service to families with high levels of early child behavioural problems at high risk for continuing difficulties.
