Associations between vicarious discrimination and mental health among young adult college students: Findings from the 2020-2021 Healthy Minds Study.

BACKGROUND: Poor mental health among young adults in higher education is a growing concern. In recent years, the visibility of racism has sharply risen. Vicarious discrimination is defined as the secondhand witnessing of racism, and given society's increased accessibility to social media and the Internet, addressing indirect violence is urgently needed to inform anti-racism and mental health efforts. The current study examined associations between vicarious discrimination and mental health across a large sample of young college students in the United States. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Healthy Minds Study (HMS; 2020-2021; N=130,566) and used multivariable logistic regression to examine whether past-year vicarious discrimination was associated with various mental health outcomes, adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and direct discrimination. RESULTS: The sample was predominantly white (n=31,438, 63.66%) and female-identifying (n=34,313, 69.49%) with an average age of 21.1 years. Approximately 35.9% of the sample endorsed experiencing vicarious discrimination. Vicarious discrimination was associated with greater depression (OR:1.97; 95% CI: [1.86,2.09], p< 0.001), anxiety (OR:1.82; 95% CI: [1.72,1.92], p<0.001), languishing (OR:1.75; 95% CI: [1.65,1.87], p<0.001), perceived need for treatment (OR:2.24; 95% CI: [2.10,2.40], p<0.001), suicidal ideation (OR:1.86; 95% CI: [1.73,2.01], p<0.001), suicide plan (OR:1.91; 95% CI: [1.71,2.14], p<0.001), suicide attempt (OR:1.89; 95% CI: [1.51,2.36], p<0.001), self-injurious behavior (OR:2.0; 95% CI: [1.88,2.12], p<0.001), and loneliness (OR:1.67; 95% CI: [1.58,1.77], p<0.001). DISCUSSION: Consistent with growing literature, vicarious discrimination was associated with poorer mental health among young college students. Additional research should investigate moderators, mediators, and interventions to support those who may be impacted indirectly by discrimination.

Mental Health of Asian American Caregivers of Family Members With Severe Mental Illness.

Within the general population, caregivers of individuals with severe mental illness experience considerable mental health burdens. Less is known about these burdens among Asian Americans, who frequently serve as primary caregivers of family members in accordance with cultural values of familism and interdependence. Asian American caregivers experience severe stigma regarding mental health issues as well as other barriers to care, often resulting in decreased help-seeking behaviors and poorer mental health. Given a paucity of research, the authors systematically reviewed the literature on mental health outcomes among Asian American caregivers. This column offers policy and practice suggestions for supporting the mental health of Asian American families affected by severe mental illness.

Religiousness and psychotic experiences among young adult college students in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Religiousness and psychotic experiences have been related, though findings have been mixed, with little attention paid to specific religious affiliations and religious importance. METHODS: We analyzed data from the Healthy Minds Study (2020-2021), which was an online survey administered at 140 college campuses across the United States. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the associations between religiousness (affiliation and importance) and 12-month psychotic experiences, adjusting for age, gender, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Only Christian religious affiliation was associated with lower odds of psychotic experiences (aOR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.75, 0.84), while Non-Christian religious affiliation (aOR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.19, 1.50) and Multiple religious affiliation s were associated with greater odds (aOR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.15, 1.42). Overall, increased religious importance was associated with lower odds of psychotic experiences (aOR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.94-0.99). After stratifying by affiliation, religious importance was only associated with lower odds of psychotic experiences among people who identified as Other Christian, Mormon, and Other World Religion. Religious importance was associated with greater odds of psychotic experiences among Atheists, Agnostics, Buddhists, Nothing in Particular, and Multiple Religions. CONCLUSION: Religious affiliation and importance had varying associations with psychotic experiences, depending on type of religious affiliation. More research is needed to explore the modifying effects of religiousness. Responsiveness to religious beliefs and practices may be critical when assessing risk for psychosis.

Sexual Minority Status and Psychotic Experiences Among Young Adult College Students in the United States.

2020-2021 Healthy Minds Study, and used multivariable logistic regression to examine the associations between sexual minority status and psychotic experiences, adjusting for age, gender, and race/ethnicity. We then tested whether psychosocial factors accounted for the association. Sexual minority status was associated with 1.87 times greater odds of having psychotic experiences over the past 12 months (aOR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.77-1.99; N = 110,551). Several factors mediated the association between sexual orientation and psychotic experiences such as loneliness (26.93%), anxiety (30.90%), depression (33.18%), and marijuana use (13.95%); all factors together accounted for 59.01% of the association between sexual minority status and psychotic experiences. Food insecurity, recent abuse, and discrimination did not significantly mediate the association. Findings should raise clinical awareness that psychotic experiences are more common among sexual minorities than among heterosexuals, which is largely explained by mental health factors, calling for targeted outreach and intervention.

Abuse and suicide risk among college students in the United States: Findings from the 2019 Healthy Minds Study.

BACKGROUND: Suicide has increased among American youth, and remains a concern on college campuses where students have reported increasing levels of psychological distress, alcohol use, social isolation, and loneliness. Abuse is known to be a risk factor for suicide, but more research is needed to understand whether current specific types of abuse and their co-occurrence are related to current suicidal thoughts and behaviors among young adults in college. METHODS: We analyzed data from the 2019 wave of the Healthy Minds Study, a cross-sectional, web-based survey administered to undergraduate and graduate students. Using multivariable logistic regression, we examined the associations between abuse and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, adjusting for sociodemographic and mental health covariates. RESULTS: In the past 12 months, 12.56% of the sample reported suicidal ideation, 5.70% reported making a suicide plan, and 1.28% reported making a suicide attempt. Over a third of the sample reported at least one type of abuse over the past 12 months. Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse were all associated with greater odds of all suicide outcomes, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and mental health. Endorsing multiple types of abuses was associated with greater odds of suicide outcomes in a dose-response fashion. LIMITATIONS: Data were cross-sectional and the response rate for this survey was 16%. CONCLUSIONS: Universities can implement a multi-pronged approach that covers screening for types of abuse, initiating awareness campaigns around abuse and suicide, and training faculty and staff to make appropriate referrals. Student services must also be equipped to address students who perpetrate abuse.

Religion and Alcohol Use among Second Generation Korean Americans: Commentary on "Assessing the Associations between Religiosity and Alcohol Use Stages in a Representative U.S. Sample" by Lin et al, 2020.

OBJECTIVE: This commentary describes the extent to which church-attending Korean Americans engage in heavy drinking and treatment seeking behaviors. Methods: Using a church-based participatory approach, I conducted a rapid ethnographic assessment, part of which included an online survey (N=137). Results: I found that 54.74% of the sample of reported hazardous drinking over the past 12 months, 33.48% reported driving under the influence at some point in life, and 0% sought any treatment. Participant observation and unstructured interviews revealed that at this particular church, drunkenness was considered sinful among key informants, but many church members still drank heavily, often with other church members. Conclusion: We observed an interaction between religious and drinking cultures among second generation Korean American young and middle aged adults. Future research can explore the potential ways in which Korean Americans accommodate religious proscriptions and heavy drinking, and how awareness of discrepancies between behaviors and values may figure into preventive interventions.

Urban upbringing and psychotic experiences in the United States: A racial and geographic comparison.

Urban upbringing has been associated with greater risk for psychotic experiences, though research is needed to confirm whether this is true in the U.S., and whether the association depends on race, type of experience, and region of the country. We analyzed data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (White respondents only) and the National Survey of American Life (Black respondents). Multivariable logistic regression models found that urban upbringing was not significantly associated with lifetime psychotic experiences for Whites, but was significantly associated with lower odds for Blacks, adjusting for socio-demographic covariates and common mental disorders. Rural upbringing was associated with greater odds of lifetime auditory hallucinatory experiences for Blacks. Exploratory analyses suggested growing up in a large city or 'other' environment were associated with greater odds of lifetime psychotic experiences among Whites currently residing in the Northeast, but lower odds among Whites residing in the South. For Blacks currently residing in the West, rural upbringing was associated with significantly greater odds of lifetime psychotic experiences when compared with growing up in a large city. White and Blacks may have different lived experiences in urban and rural settings, calling for more race- and location- specific research to explain these diverging patterns.

Elevated Prevalence of Suicide Attempts among Victims of Police Violence in the USA.

Recent evidence suggests that police victimization is widespread in the USA and psychologically impactful. We hypothesized that civilian-reported police victimization, particularly assaultive victimization (i.e., physical/sexual), would be associated with a greater prevalence of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation. Data were drawn from the Survey of Police-Public Encounters, a population-based survey of adults (N = 1615) residing in four US cities. Surveys assessed lifetime exposure to police victimization based on the World Health Organization domains of violence (i.e., physical, sexual, psychological, and neglect), using the Police Practices Inventory. Logistic regression models tested for associations between police victimization and (1) past 12-month suicide attempts and (2) past 12-month suicidal ideation, adjusted for demographic factors (i.e., gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, income), crime involvement, past intimate partner and sexual victimization exposure, and lifetime mental illness. Police victimization was associated with suicide attempts but not suicidal ideation in adjusted analyses. Specifically, odds of attempts were greatly increased for respondents reporting assaultive forms of victimization, including physical victimization (odds ratio = 4.5), physical victimization with a weapon (odds ratio = 10.7), and sexual victimization (odds ratio = 10.2). Assessing for police victimization and other violence exposures may be a useful component of suicide risk screening in urban US settings. Further, community-based efforts should be made to reduce the prevalence of exposure to police victimization.

Psychotic Experiences in the Context of Police Victimization: Data From the Survey of Police-Public Encounters.

Social defeat has been proposed as the common mechanism underlying several well-replicated risk factors for sub-threshold psychotic experiences (PEs) identified in epidemiological research. Victimization by the police may likewise be socially defeating among vulnerable individuals and, therefore, may be associated with elevated risk for PEs. However, no prior studies have examined the relation between police victimization and PEs. We tested the hypothesis that exposure to police victimization (ie, physical, sexual, psychological, and neglect) would be associated with increased odds for PEs in the Survey of Police-Public Encounters data (N = 1615), a general population sample of adults from 4 US cities. Respondents who reported each type of police victimization were more likely to report PEs in logistic regression analyses (all P < .01), most of which were significant even when adjusting for demographic variables, psychological distress, and self-reported crime involvement (adjusted OR range: 1.30 to 7.16). Furthermore, the prevalence of PEs increased with greater exposure to police victimization in a linear dose-response relation, OR (95% CI) = 1.44 (1.24-1.66). These findings suggest that police victimization is a clinically important and previously unreported risk factor for PEs in the urban US population. These findings support the need for community-based outreach efforts and greater police training to reduce the prevalence of this exposure, particularly in socially disadvantaged urban communities.

Is smoking tobacco associated with psychotic experiences across racial categories in the United States? Findings from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys.

Smoking tobacco has been associated with psychosis, though research has yet to fully examine the extent to which this association reaches into the sub-threshold range of the psychosis continuum within the US, and whether this association persists after accounting for co-occurring disorders. We analyzed data from three large racially-diverse surveys of the US population and found that current smokers were more likely to report a lifetime psychotic experience when compared with never smokers after adjusting for socio-demographics. But after controlling for anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders, these effects only remained strong and statistically significant for Asian-Americans.

Sleep disturbances are associated with psychotic experiences: Findings from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.

Sleep disturbances have been linked to psychotic experiences in the general adult populations of multiple countries, but this association has yet to be confirmed in the United States using robust diagnostic measures. We analyzed a subsample (n=2304) of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, and found that when compared with those who did not report any sleep problems, individuals with sleep disturbances lasting two weeks or longer over the past 12months were significantly more likely to report at least one psychotic experience during that same time frame. Specifically, difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night, early morning awakenings, and feeling sleepy during the day were each associated with greater odds of reporting psychotic experiences over the past year after controlling for socio-demographic variables. However, only difficulty falling asleep and early morning awakenings were still significant after adjusting for DSM comorbid disorders. Reporting three or four types of sleep disturbances was especially predictive of psychotic experiences. Our findings underscore the importance of detecting and reducing sleep problems among individuals who report PE.

Pathway model of parental help seeking for adolescents experiencing first-episode psychosis.

AIM: Parents and caregivers are confronted with many challenges when caring for adolescents experiencing first-episode psychosis (FEP). Understanding and support for parental help-seeking process is essential for adolescents' timely access to treatment. The study aimed to develop a pathway model of parental help seeking for adolescents experiencing FEP and identify crucial time points for intervention. METHODS: Directed content analysis was conducted on semi-structured qualitative interviews of 16 parents whose children had experienced FEP and focused on parents' experiences prior to and during FEP until first hospitalization. RESULTS: The resultant parental help seeking for FEP model included two stages and six phases. The contemplation stage is composed of phases of initial awareness, recognizing severity and considering options. The action stage entailed help-seeking intention, securing help and service appraisal. All parents promptly began help seeking after recognizing severe symptoms and sought advice from professional and community supports, although parents' lack of initial awareness was common. Further analysis on individual parents' help-seeking trajectories showed that among the 50% parents who reported pre-existing childhood conditions, 87.5% did not report initial awareness of psychotic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Findings recommend intervention at three specific periods of help seeking. First, psychoeducation is needed when parents first engage with health care for their children's disabling conditions. Professionals treating childhood conditions need training to vigilantly monitor the overall mental health of the children over time. Second, it is important to enhance the roles of formal and informal community resources in facilitating parental help seeking. Finally, family-focused interventions are essential in supporting the family for securing needed treatment.

Young for one's grade: a risk factor for psychotic experiences among adults in the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication.

School-related difficulties have received relatively little attention as environmental risk factors for psychotic experiences (PEs), despite being characterized by marginalization and social defeat during critical periods of psychological development. This study examined both childhood age relative to one's classmates and school mobility as risk factors for adult psychotic experiences in the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R). Weighted logistic regression models were used to explore the hypotheses that lifetime psychotic experiences reported on the World Health Organization psychosis screen would be more prevalent among those younger than their classmates during childhood and for those with frequent school mobility. Younger perceived relative age (odds ratio (OR)=2.05, 95% confidence interval=1.43-2.95) was independently associated with psychotic experiences in the fully adjusted model, but school mobility was not. School-related risk factors for psychosis provide promising points for community-level intervention, and support the claim that environmental factors characterized by disadvantage and marginalization contribute to psychosis etiology.

Mental health correlates of past homelessness in Latinos and Asians.

Mental illness and addiction are strongly associated with homelessness, yet few studies have shown how these relationships vary across ethnic categories that are underrepresented in the homeless population. This study draws from the National Latino and Asian American Survey to examine mental health and substance abuse correlates of homelessness amongst Latinos and Asians living in the United States. Clinical and institutional factors associated with homelessness varied by ethnicity. Among Latinos, alcohol abuse or dependence, conduct disorder and intermittent explosive disorder were risk factors for homelessness, while attending a religious service more than once a week was a protective factor. Among Asians, mood disorder was a risk factor as were health problems and receiving welfare in the past. Understanding ethnicity-specific correlates of homelessness may guide culturally nuanced mental health prevention and intervention efforts.

Sustaining motivational interviewing: a meta-analysis of training studies.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Previous research indicates that motivational interviewing (MI) skills decline over time among participants in training workshops when post-workshop feedback and coaching are not provided. This study explored moderators of skill retention among trainees learning MI mainly for substance use disorder treatment in real-world treatment settings, including workshop enhancements and type and dose of post-workshop feedback and coaching. METHODS: A meta-analysis of training studies was conducted with studies that reported MI skills using observational measures and that included trainees from real-world agency settings. Standardized change scores were calculated to indicate the magnitude of pre-post training change in MI skills; standardized change scores from post-training to 3 and 6+ months follow-up were calculated to indicate the sustainability of training gains over time. Effect sizes were aggregated using random effects models. RESULTS: Twenty-one papers that reported the effects of MI training on agency staff were included in this review. Across studies, training yielded gains in MI skills (d = 0.76). Studies that did not include feedback and/or coaching reported eroding skills over a 6-month follow-up (d = -0.30), whereas post-workshop feedback/coaching sustained skills (d = 0.03). Effects of post-workshop feedback/coaching were moderated by frequency, duration and length of training. Moreover, studies reporting low levels of attrition from training protocols showed small increases in skills over the 6-month follow-up period (d = 0.12), whereas studies with high attrition showed skill erosion (d = -0.29). CONCLUSIONS: On average, three to four feedback/coaching sessions over a 6-month period sustain skills among trainees for motivational interviewing, mainly for substance use disorder treatment. However, high rates of attrition from feedback/coaching contributes to post-workshop skill erosion.

Treatment seeking and unmet need for care among persons reporting psychosis-like experiences.

OBJECTIVE: Psychosis-like experiences may be clinically significant given their demonstrated associations with concurrent psychological distress and the later development of diagnosable psychotic disorders. Prior studies of treatment for psychosis-like experiences have yielded conflicting results. The aims of this study were to investigate help seeking and need for care among individuals with psychosis-like experiences in a large general population sample. METHODS: Data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (N=10,541) were used to examine help-seeking behaviors among survey respondents who reported psychosis-like symptoms over a 12-month period. Adjusted odds ratios were calculated for a variety of help-seeking variables, with control for demographic factors and co-occurring psychiatric conditions. RESULTS: Among the 10,541 respondents, 3.4% reported a psychosis-like experience in the past 12 months. Respondents who reported psychosis-like experiences were more than twice as likely as those who did not to seek treatment. Those who reported such experiences but who did not seek treatment were more likely to have felt the need for or to have been encouraged by others to seek treatment and less likely to have felt that they had no psychiatric problem. Associations with unmet need for care were largely attributable to co-occurring psychiatric disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents with psychosis-like experiences had elevated rates of help seeking, as well as significant unmet clinical need among those not in treatment.

Acculturative stress and psychotic-like experiences among Asian and Latino immigrants to the United States.

Previous studies have shown variation in the prevalence and incidence of psychosis across immigrant groups, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Stress related to acculturation may increase risk for psychosis among immigrant groups. In this study we examine the association between acculturative stress and psychotic-like experiences in a sample of Latino- and Asian-American immigrants to the United States in the National Latino and Asian American Study (n=2434). Acculturative stress was associated with visual and auditory hallucinations among Asians, but only with hearing voices among Latinos. Increased risk for psychotic-like experiences among Latinos was primarily associated with younger age of immigration. Acculturative stress appears to be a promising candidate mechanism explaining the relationship between immigration and psychosis, particularly among Asian Americans. Ethnic differences may reflect variability between groups that integrate more readily into the host culture and those that are subject to greater discrimination and environmental adversity.

Child loss and psychosis onset: evidence for traumatic experience as an etiological factor in psychosis.

Previous research suggests that trauma may contribute to psychosis onset. In this study, we examine the effect of parental loss of a child on the onset of psychotic experience using data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, hypothesizing that child loss will precede the onset of psychosis and will be associated with a later age of onset. We likewise tested this association for six other psychiatric conditions to demonstrate specificity for psychosis. Individuals with a psychotic disorder who had lost a child had a significantly later age of onset, particularly in males, even when controlling for demographic variables and co-occurring substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. Psychosis onset frequently occurred within a year of child loss. No associations were found between child loss and onset of other psychiatric conditions, supporting specificity of the effect on psychosis. The presented findings implicate child loss as an etiological factor in the onset of psychosis, providing converging evidence with previous studies demonstrating associations between more widely studied trauma exposures (abuse, neglect, and assault) and psychosis.