Follow-Up Care After Maltreatment: Sociodemographic Associations With Timeliness in a Southern State.

Children who experience maltreatment are at elevated risk of developing mental health difficulties. Even so, they often do not receive timely, evidenced-based mental health treatment, which may exacerbate the risk of poor outcomes. This study aims to describe the receipt of timely follow-up care after maltreatment in a southern state with known treatment shortages and aims to identify factors associated with timely follow-up care. We utilized a retrospective cohort design using 2014 Mississippi Medicaid administrative claims data for youth 0-18 years. Prevalence estimates and associations with definite and probable maltreatment (based on recorded age/injury combinations) during inpatient and outpatient healthcare encounters were evaluated. Rates of 30-day maltreatment follow-up with any medical or behavioral health provider were also assessed. Prevalence estimates of definite and probable maltreatment in the eligible study population (N = 324,752) were 0.53% and 3.8%, respectively. Only one-third of identified children received 30-day follow-up. Black and older children as well as children diagnosed with anxiety or depression were more likely to receive 30-day follow-up than younger children, white children, and children without anxiety or depression. Low rates of timely follow-up indicate the need for intentional workflow practices to increase the likelihood of follow-up.

Lessons learned: A neuroimaging research center's transition to open and reproducible science.

Human functional neuroimaging has evolved dramatically in recent years, driven by increased technical complexity and emerging evidence that functional neuroimaging findings are not generally reproducible. In response to these trends, neuroimaging scientists have developed principles, practices, and tools to both manage this complexity as well as to enhance the rigor and reproducibility of neuroimaging science. We group these best practices under four categories: experiment pre-registration, FAIR data principles, reproducible neuroimaging analyses, and open science. While there is growing recognition of the need to implement these best practices there exists little practical guidance of how to accomplish this goal. In this work, we describe lessons learned from efforts to adopt these best practices within the Brain Imaging Research Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences over 4 years (July 2018-May 2022). We provide a brief summary of the four categories of best practices. We then describe our center's scientific workflow (from hypothesis formulation to result reporting) and detail how each element of this workflow maps onto these four categories. We also provide specific examples of practices or tools that support this mapping process. Finally, we offer a roadmap for the stepwise adoption of these practices, providing recommendations of why and what to do as well as a summary of cost-benefit tradeoffs for each step of the transition.

Decreases in psychiatric symptoms persist following exposure-based group therapy for sexual violence victimization among incarcerated women.

Survivors Healing from Abuse: Recovery through Exposure (SHARE) is a brief, exposure-based group treatment for incarcerated female survivors of sexual violence. Preliminary evaluations of SHARE showed declines in depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms from pre- to posttreatment. However, prior investigations have not included a longitudinal follow-up period and thus knowledge of whether therapeutic benefits persist following the termination of the group is lacking. Here, we examined data from 57 incarcerated women who completed SHARE and provided follow-up data while still incarcerated (M = 95 days posttreatment). Results from a one-way repeated-measures ANOVA showed significant reductions in PTSD and depression symptoms from pre- to posttreatment (large effect sizes), with symptoms further reduced during the follow-up period. In addition, McNemar tests showed a significant reduction in the proportion of participants at or above the clinical cut-off for probable PTSD and depression from pre- to posttreatment as well as from posttreatment to the follow-up assessment. Together, results suggest that the therapeutic benefits of SHARE persist after treatment is completed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Interpersonal vs. Non-Interpersonal Cumulative Traumas and Psychiatric Symptoms in Treatment-Seeking Incarcerated Women.

Incarcerated women are at elevated risk of lifetime trauma exposure. Prevalence rates of trauma exposure and how these events relate to specific domains of psychiatric symptomology among this group are lacking. This study hypothesized a greater range of diverse cumulative trauma experiences (CTEs) would be positively associated with psychiatric symptoms in general (depression, PTSD, distress tolerance), but that interpersonal CTEs in particular would be uniquely associated with greater symptoms of guilt and shame. A total of 112 women (87% White, Mage = 34 years) seeking treatment for a history of sexual violence victimization participated in the study. Women incarcerated for nonviolent offenses at two minimum-security prisons completed self-report measures of exposure to diverse traumatic events and internalizing symptoms. On average, participants reported a history of experiencing 5.46 traumatic event types. Total CTEs was significantly associated with all psychiatric variables in the expected direction. While both interpersonal and non-interpersonal CTEs were positively associated with levels of PTSD, depression, and distress intolerance, only interpersonal CTEs were significantly associated with guilt and shame. Traumatic experiences that are interpersonal in nature may confer specific risk for psychiatric symptoms in victims.

Predicting attrition in long-term residential substance use disorder treatment: A modifiable risk factors perspective.

Although numerous factors are associated with attrition in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, many are unmodifiable and therefore difficult to target in efforts to improve treatment outcomes. The current study sought to identify the strongest and most modifiable predictors of attrition in long-term residential SUD treatment from myriad characteristics associated with treatment termination. Archival data were examined for 2,069 adults (74% male; 38% non-Hispanic White) who entered a long-term residential SUD treatment facility between January 2010 and June 2016. Program staff recorded clients' demographic, situational, substance use, and intake data at admission; discharge data were recorded at termination. To increase the likelihood our results were clinically meaningful, we randomly split our sample, ran 2 5-step hierarchical logistic regressions, and cross-validated our results. Across samples, we found younger age, having less than a high school education (Step 1), unstable living arrangements (Step 2), greater prior month use of primary substances, less prior month use of alcohol, and prior year needle use preceding treatment (Step 4), and longer recommended length of stay in treatment (Step 5) predicted attrition. To improve long-term residential SUD treatment completion, we propose treatment adaptations begin with the most modifiable predictors of attrition. Accordingly, the current data indicate initial focus should be placed on refurbishing the process through which recommended treatment durations are approached by providers. Subsequent focus should be placed on modifiable factors that present greater systemic challenges, followed by those that are unmodifiable but can be indirectly targeted by interventions tailored to specific underrepresented groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Changes in acceptance of dating violence and physical dating violence victimization in a longitudinal study with teens.

Teen dating violence is a pervasive issue in adolescence and has been linked to maladjustment (Temple, Shorey, Fite et al., 2013). Physical dating violence is a particularly significant problem with one in five adolescents reporting experiencing physical teen dating violence (TDV; Wincentak et al., 2017). Acceptance of violence has been suggested to increase the risk of TDV; however, most studies to date have been cross-sectional. The purpose of the current study is to examine patterns of acceptance of dating violence and TDV victimization across time. Participants were ethnically diverse teenagers (N = 1042; ages 13-18) who were followed over a four-year period. Multivariate latent growth curve modeling techniques were used to determine trajectories of physical TDV victimization and attitudes accepting of dating violence. Results showed two trajectories for physical TDV victimization, linear and quadratic, and two trajectories for acceptance of dating violence, non-linear and quadratic. Parallel models investigating the interplay between TDV victimization and acceptance demonstrated two possible trends; however, we did not find any evidence for a longitudinal relationship between the two variables, suggesting that change in acceptance was not related to change in physical TDV victimization. Instead, our results suggest a significant amount of heterogeneity in these trajectories. These findings suggest studies are still needed to further explore longitudinal patterns of TDV to better understand how to reduce the risk of teen dating violence.

THE CAREGIVING HELPLESSNESS QUESTIONNAIRE: EVIDENCE FOR VALIDITY AND UTILITY WITH MOTHERS OF INFANTS.

Severe disruptions in the caregiving system can lead to disorganized caregiving characterized by maternal helplessness and fear. Such caregivers abdicate their caregiving role and fail to provide protection to the child. The measurement of disorganized caregiving has historically been limited to lengthy, labor-intensive interviews, indicating a need for other feasible tools to assess this important construct. Furthermore, few studies have investigated correlates of disorganized caregiving. Participants included 120 diverse, primarily economically disadvantaged women who were part of a longitudinal study examining psychosocial risk factors before and after the birth of a child. Participants completed the Caregiving Helplessness Questionnaire (CHQ; C. George & J. Solomon, 2011) along with measures assessing maternal mental health, trauma exposure, parenting stress, and infant socioemotional adjustment. Results indicated that caregiver helplessness and fear, based on the CHQ, were positively associated with maternal depression, parenting stress, and perceptions of infant socioemotional problems. Importantly, results also revealed significant associations between current maternal trauma experiences and mothers' reports of helplessness and fear. Findings from the present study indicate that the CHQ may be a valid screening tool for disorganized caregiving among mothers of infants. In addition, a number of maternal experiences may be related to disorganized caregiving following the birth of a child.