Psychosocial Studies Research Articles

Online Couple-Based Meditation Intervention for Patients With Primary or Metastatic Brain Tumors and Their Partners: Results of a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

ObjectivesAlthough patients with primary and metastatic brain tumors and their partners are at risk of experiencing high symptom burden, they are often excluded from psychosocial intervention studies. Thus, we sought to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a couple-based meditation (CBM) program targeting symptom and well-being outcomes. MethodsCouples completed baseline measures assessing symptom and well-being outcomes and were randomized to the CBM or a usual care control group. Couples in the CBM groups attended four weekly (60 minutes each) therapist-led sessions that were delivered via FaceTime (Apple Inc, Cupertino, CA). The CBM program focused on cultivating mindfulness, compassion, gratitude and purpose, and integrated emotional disclosure exercises. Both groups were reassessed six and 12 weeks after baseline. ResultsWe approached 60 eligible dyads, of which 37 (62%) consented, 35 (95%) were randomized, and 22 (63%) completed all assessments. Couples in the CBM group attended a mean of 3.33 sessions (SD 1.09). For patients, significant group differences in favor of the CBM group were found for cognitive (d = 1.05) and general disease symptoms (d = 0.93), and relationship well-being (d = 0.68) and compassion (d = 0.96). No significant group differences were revealed for partners. ConclusionIt seems to be feasible, acceptable, and possibly efficacious to deliver a dyadic intervention via FaceTime to brain tumor couples. Although both patients and partners in the CBM group rated the intervention as beneficial, significant group differences with medium-to-large effect sizes were only found for patients.

Predictors for the Early Termination of a Psychological Intervention During Treatment with Assisted Reproductive Technologies.

Introduction Assisted reproductive technologies are typically perceived by couples as being an emotional burden. The objective of the study “Positive Ausrichtung bei unerfülltem Kinderwunsch” [Positive adjustment in infertility] (PACI) is to examine the efficacy and acceptance of a smartphone-supported psychosocial intervention during infertility treatment. In this investigation, the early drop-out of study subjects from the study is of primary interest. The objective of the investigation was to find predictors for ending a psychological intervention prematurely. Materials and Methods There are data available from an eight-month randomised, controlled study in which 141 patients and their partners participated. Sociodemographic and fertility-related data were collected at the start of the study. The couples received the ScreenIVF questionnaire at two points in time. As part of a post-evaluation, a survey was conducted on the efficacy of the psychological online intervention. To analyse the data, a dyadic data structure was used in order to determine connections within the study subject couples between the selected stress indicators and the drop-out. In addition, a “risk score” as a possible predictor for the drop-out was tested. Results The descriptive observation of the sample indicates in this interim assessment that the study subjects recruited are less stressed patient couples. Actor–partner interdependence models indicate statistically significant connections between the stress indicators of anxiety, little social support and helplessness and an early drop-out. Conclusions The statistically significant effects found in this study with regard to the stress indicators in connection with drop-outs from psychosocial intervention studies indicate that it is advisable to continue to seek measures for people undergoing stressful medical treatments in order to motivate and support them and thus optimally utilise the opportunities of a medical treatment. The number of patients who endure their ART treatment may also increase as a result, which could lead in turn to increased patient satisfaction over the long term (and thus possibly to higher pregnancy rates).

The psychoanalytically-informed interview in social work research

ABSTRACT British psycho-social studies is a new paradigm of transdisciplinary scholarship situated at the borderlands of social and psychological theory. Its development has been represented as providing avenues for a more critical and reflexive engagement with psychoanalysis in social work, disentangled from the unfavourable meanings with which psychoanalysis has been associated (e.g. as apolitical and reductively focussed on intrapsychic dynamics). However, much remains to be said about the implications of methodological developments and debate in psycho-social studies for social work research, particularly in terms of the impetus it provides for reflecting on the transformations brought about in resituating psychoanalytic concepts and practices away from their traditional clinical context in social research and theory. This article draws from doctoral research concerned specifically with the theory and practice of research interviewing. It provides an account of the development of this research and explores the role of interpretation as part of a psychoanalytically-informed interview approach.

Педагогические условия укрепления здоровья и оптимизации функционального состояния организма старшеклассников, занимающихся в учреждениях дополнительного образования спортивной направленности (на примере легкой атлетики)

The present research featured the pedagogical conditions for improving the health of senior pupils that are doing athletics in institutions of additional sport education. The research objective was to justify the pedagogical conditions of health promotion for high school students involved in sports. The research methods included: analysis and synthesis of scientific and methodological literature data; methods for assessing physical development (anthropometry, methods of studying posture), functional state of body (pulsometry, dynamometry), psychophysiological state, psychodynamic functions, physical qualities (testing), psychosocial studies (conversations, questionnaires), and methods of statistical processing. The research resulted in a pedagogical model of conditions that can strengthen the health of senior pupils involved in additional sport education. The authors studied and experimentally verified pedagogical conditions of health promotion for senior pupils doing track and field athletics. They proved that the ideal pedagogical conditions should meet the following requirements. First of all, one has to define the necessary organizational, information-educational, and educational-motivational measures. Second, the procedure requires a comprehensive psychological, pedagogical, and physiological monitoring of health indicators of pupils. Finally, one should define criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the educational process.

Dropout rates of in-person psychosocialsubstance use disorder treatments: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Relapse rates for psychosocial substance use disorder (SUD) treatments are high, and dropout is a robust predictor of relapse. This study aimed to estimate average dropout rates of in-person psychosocial SUD treatments and to assess predictors of dropout. A comprehensive meta-analysis of dropout rates of studies of in-person psychosocial SUD treatment. Studies included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies. Studies conducted anywhere in the world that examined SUD treatment and were published from 1965 to 2016, inclusive. One hundred and fifty-one studies, 338 study arms and 299 dropout rates including 26 243 participants. Databases were searched for studies of SUD treatment that included an in-person psychosocial component. Meta-analyses and meta-regressions were conducted to estimate dropout rates and identify predictors of dropout, including participant characteristics, facilitator characteristics and treatment characteristics. Pooled estimates were calculated with random-effects analyses accounting for the hierarchical structure of study arms nested within studies. The average dropout rate across all studies and study arms was 30.4% [95% confidence interval (CI)=27.2-33.8 and 95% prediction interval (PI)=6.25-74.15], with substantial heterogeneity (I2 =93.7%, P<0.0001). Studies including a higher percentage of African Americans and lower-income individuals were associated with higher dropout rates. At intake, more cigarettes/day anda greater percentage of heroin use days were associated with lower dropout rates, whereas heavier cocaine use was associated with higher dropout rates. Dropout rates were highest for studies targeting cocaine, methamphetamines and major stimulants (broadly defined) and lowest for studies targeting alcohol, tobacco and heroin, although there were few studies on methamphetamines, major stimulants and heroin. Programs characterized by more treatment sessions and greater average session length were associated with higher dropout rates.Facilitator characteristics were not significantly associated with dropout. On average, approximately 30% of participants drop out of in-person psychosocial SUD treatment studies, but there is wide variability. Drop-out rates vary with the treated population, the substance being targeted, and the characteristics of the treatment.

Psychodynamic incidents in teaching: Researching relational aspects of classroom practice

For those working in the relatively new field of psychosocial studies, the action of psychodynamic phenomena in day-to-day life is uncontroversial as these phenomena are at work both in clinical settings and in normal life outside the clinical frame. If this is indeed the case, then they must also be at play in everyday classrooms. But to what degree, and to what effect – and how can we create data exploring these issues? This article is the result of a doctoral study that looks at these issues. It explores the methodological and ethical complexities around investigating intimate psychodynamic events experienced in the public context of the school; it presents some extracts from the data constructed, exploring the intersection between narrative methods, autoethnography and psychoanalytic inquiry. This article concludes with some suggestions as to ways that teachers and researchers might continue to explore such psychodynamic incidents.

Psychosocial curating: a theory and practice of exhibition-making at the intersection between health and aesthetics

A recent Manifesto for a Visual Medical Humanities suggested that more in-depth analysis of the contribution of visual art to medical humanities is urgently required. This need perhaps arises because...

NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO GAIN INSIGHTS INTO ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS

Adolescence is a developmentally critical period when youth exhibit increasing rates of drug experimentation and problematic use and onset of substance use disorders (SUDs). The underlying neuropsychosocial characteristics of these behaviors can be better explored with the implementation of new technologies such as using social media to recruit large sample groups of substance-using individuals, mining of big datasets to identify novel neurobehavioral indices of risk for SUD, and developing new neuroimaging and psychosocial studies for improved early identification and treatment of adolescent SUDs.

Beyond good and evil? Popular songs, mathemes and bus rides (art and transition in the region of the former Yugoslavia)

Art production and art reception play a vital role in transitional societies. However, their actual operation and patterns of impact often appear ‘messy’ to those who use and evaluate art in transitional contexts: an artwork can serve as a catalyst for peace building and transitional justice processes, but it can also obstruct such processes, or impart ambiguous meanings to them; and its modes of operation (including the art producers’ awareness of their role in transitional justice processes), its reception trends and its influence on transitional society all vary over time. Framed by transitional justice theory and an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates the insights of psychosocial cultural studies, comparative arts and the phenomenology of embodiment, this article scrutinizes this ambivalent operation in relation to the fluctuating sphere of reception in the region of the former Yugoslavia since the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1993. The author juxtaposes art practices widely different in terms of expression, format, scope, reach and ambition, but comparable insofar as they all operate in the ‘open’ and appeal to senses and repetition engagement to create patterns of affiliation. These include various types of popular music (turbo-folk, rock, hip-hop, soft pop) and the public intervention activities of the Serbian DAH Theatre and pan-regional art and theory collective Monument Group. The article argues for the development of hermeneutic and axiological thinking that befits the complex functioning of art in transition: nuanced and multilevelled, challenging inherited hierarchies and paradigms while appreciating the prolonged life/impact of art practices and the sensorial, cognitive and ideological variation in their reception. It proposes moving beyond the binary assessments and adopting a more dynamic approach to the evaluation of artworks in transition for the benefit of both scholars and practitioners in the field.

A structured classification of the types of pain research studies accessed by different health professionals involved in pain management.

The aim of this study was to describe the information access behaviours of clinicians involved in pain management with respect to their use of a pain evidence resource and to determine the areas of professional differences. Users (n = 258) of a free pain evidence alerting service (PAIN+) were enrolled in this study. The users regularly received email alerts about newly published clinical articles about pain that were pre-appraised for scientific merit and clinical relevance. A sample of up to 10 abstracts retrieved by each user were retrieved and classified using a descriptive classification system to describe the types of research, pain subtypes, interventions and outcomes that were reported in the accessed studies. Frequencies and chi-square tests were performed to compare access behaviours across professions. A total of 258 participants viewed 2311 abstracts. More than 52% of abstracts viewed were primary clinical studies; the majority (87%) addressed treatment effectiveness and were quantitative research (99.8%). The most commonly accessed clinical topic (58%) related to musculoskeletal pain and the most accessed pain type was chronic pain (76%). Drugs, injections and rehabilitation therapy were most commonly addressed in accessed intervention studies. Differences in professional focus were reflected in access: physicians/nurses accessed studies on injections (23%) and drugs (26%) and nurses accessed surgical studies, whereas other professions rarely did. Physiotherapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs) preferentially accessed studies on rehabilitation. OTs and psychologists preferentially accessed the available studies on cognitive interventions; OTs accessed more ergonomic studies. Psychologists most accessed educational and psychosocial intervention studies. There were no differences in access across professions to multidisciplinary interventions. While access partially reflects the content of the pain repository, professional differences in access were evident that related to the nature of the intervention, type of pain and the research design. Multidisciplinary evidence repositories may need to consider how to include and meet varied information needs.

Psychosocial studies and the practice of psychology: a South African perspective

In this paper I explore the relationship between psychosocial studies and the practice of psychology, with a view to considering how each might enhance the other. The first part of this paper reviews existing work within psychosocial studies on applied practice internationally. Thereafter, the ways in which psychosocial studies has been taken up in the South African context is briefly described, before turning to a contextual overview of the status of applied psychology in this context. I argue that, given South Africa’s high levels of poverty and unequal access to mental health resources, novel ways of providing psychological services is needed and this is where psychosocial studies and a responsive practice of applied psychology might be enlivened together. The second part of this paper therefore describes a service-learning course for fourth year psychology students, and caregivers and their children with physical disabilities, as an exemplar of this responsive psychosocial practice. The teaching philosophy that guides the delivery of the course as well as the course content are described, both underpinned by a psychosocial framework. For the purposes of this paper, I focus on two major tenets of this psychosocial framework and how these are articulated in the service learning. I argue that a mutually beneficial relationship exists in bringing together applied psychological practice, in its less traditional sense, and a psychosocial studies that draws on psychoanalysis in particular, illuminating that which is surprising, possibly ‘unconscious’, to both.

Psychosocial studies with psychoanalysis

Psychosocial studies is methodologically and theoretically diverse, drawing on a wide range of intellectual resources. However, psychoanalysis has often taken a privileged position within this diversity, because of its well-developed conceptual vocabulary that can be put to use to theorise the psychosocial subject. Its practices have become a model for some aspects of psychosocial work, especially in relation to its focus on intense study of individuals, its explicit engagement with ethical relations, and its traversing of disciplinary boundaries across the arts, humanities and social sciences. This article begins with a brief description of some principles of psychosocial thinking, including its transdisciplinarity and criticality and its interest in ethics and in reflexivity. It then explores the place of psychoanalysis in this genealogy, presenting the case for psychoanalysis’ continuing contribution to the development of psychosocial studies. It is argued that this case is a strong one, but that the critique of psychoanalysis from the discursive, postcolonial, feminist and queer perspectives that are also found in psychosocial studies is important. The claim will be made that the engagement between psychoanalysis and its psychosocial critics is fundamentally productive. Even though it generates real tensions, these tensions are necessary and significant, reflecting genuine struggles over how best to understand the socially constructed human subject.

Psychosocial justice for students in custody

Availability to quality education is significantly beneficial to the life prospects of young people. In particular, for young people caught up in the justice system, it is argued that involvement in education reduces risk of further criminality and improves a person’s prospects for future community engagement. This paper overviews a recent study undertaken in the Australian state of Victoria. The study worked with project partner, Parkville College, the government school operating inside the state’s two detention centres, to examine what supports and hinders education for students in custody. Amongst other purposes, education should be about the pursuit of justice and if accepted as an ontological opportunity, education can invite the pursuit of a particular kind of justice – psychosocial justice. Subsequently, psychosocial theory applied to educational practice in youth detention is inextricably linked to issues concerning justice, both for how theory is invoked and ways in which practice is enacted. The paper first introduces the concept of psychosocial justice then hears from staff connected to Parkville College regarding issues and concerns related to their work. As shown, education for incarcerated young people, not just in Australia but internationally, is enhanced by contributions from psychosocial studies providing a means to pursuing justice informed by a politics of psychosocialism.

Psychosocial interventions for advanced cancer patients: A systematic review.

Psychosocial care for advanced cancer encompasses a wide range of interventions that help patients make life-changing decisions, manage debilitating symptoms, confront impending mortality, and improve other patient outcomes. Psychosocial care is becoming increasingly available to advanced cancer patients; however, an overview of the various types of interventions is lacking. The current review systematically examined randomised-controlled trials of psychosocial interventions for advanced cancer patients from January 2007 to June 2018. MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases were searched, and a total of 68 studies were included in the review. We found a range of psychosocial interventions studies and grouped them based on six theoretical/clinical approaches: cognitive behavioural therapy based; meaning enhancing; dignity, life review, and narrative; other counselling; education only; and music, writing, and others. The different psychosocial interventions had significantly varied characteristics (eg, format, duration, and resources used) to address issues faced by advanced cancer patients. There is compelling evidence for the use of meaning-centred psychotherapy to improve meaning and quality of life and use of question prompt lists and communication skills training to improve communication with health care providers. Some psychosocial interventions are further along in establishing evidence for effectiveness. Our findings demonstrate a growing capacity within the field to meet the psychosocial needs of advanced cancer patients. Lessons and direction in clinical practice and future research endeavours are discussed.

TRANSMISSION, RELATIONALITY, ETHNOGRAPHY

The “relational turn” in social research raises many issues that might loosely be collected together under the heading of “reflexivity.” This can have a variety of meanings, but here, following a newly articulated “tradition” in psychosocial studies, we are using it to think about how the relationality of the research process impacts upon, and is in turn influenced by, the relationality that is the subject of the research itself. We are interested in what we can discover about the research we might be engaged in through opening ourselves up to the relational context in which this research takes place. We suggest that attending closely to what happens between members of a research team can provide powerful insights into the substantive content of the research itself, helping create a more nuanced set of understandings than might otherwise have been possible. In this paper, we present material about the relationship that evolved between us whilst carrying out an ethnographic study of a London Jewish community. This material reveals a relationality that bears strongly on the content of the ethnography itself, specifically referring to intergenerational transmission and rupture, gender dynamics, and the problematics of vulnerability and loss.

An Assessment of Ghana’s Enacted Kindergarten Curriculum

Drawing on the policy enactment theory, the present study assessed the enacted kindergarten (KG) curriculum in Ghana. Participants were 101 kindergarten teachers in one district of the Upper West Region of Ghana. They completed the Kindergarten Enacted Curriculum Scale (KECS) once. The KECS included 13 items (KG1) and 17 items (KG2) that assessed the extent to which participants taught content in four subscales: literacy and numeracy (LN), psychosocial skills (PS), environmental studies (ES), and physical development (PD). Participants responded to items on a 4-point Likert scale as major focus (scored 3), minor focus (scored 2), touched on briefly (scored 1), and not taught (scored 0). Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed for the entire scale and for each subscale. Results indicated that most participants focused on the LN and ES subscales; with the most neglected content areas being the PS and PD subscales. Most KG1 teachers focused on LN (Listening/Speaking—97.7%), with the lowest percentage in PS (Getting Along/Others— 25.0%) and PD (Physical Exercise—29.5%). Similarly, KG2 teachers focused on ES (Healthy Individual-93.0%), and the lowest percentage in PS (Knowing/Living with Others–39.3%) and PD (Spatial Awareness—42.1%). PS was positively correlated with PD, ES, and KECS. Inferential tests revealed gender differences for the PD subscale. Data indicated grade level differences in teaching LN and PD. These findings suggest that kindergarten teachers in this study continued to focus on academics (LN and ES), despite the emphasis of the KG curriculum being on the holistic development of the young child. &#x0D; Keywords: Assessment, curriculum, kindergarten, Ghana, teachers&#x0D;

Deep reflexivity in tourism research

Reflexivity has come to be accepted as standard methodological practice in qualitative tourism research, enabling researchers to reflect on how their subjectivity inevitably impacts on their work. However, reflexive accounts vary enormously from intimate, in-depth explorations to more modest reflexive disclosure statements, which are usually relegated to ‘safe’ spaces in the text such as the methodology section. Additionally, there is an implicit assumption in tourism studies that, while reflexivity is to be encouraged, some information is too private or embarrassing to be shared publicly. I introduce the notion of deep reflexivity, a radical approach to positionality and intersectionality developed by psychosocial researchers. Deep reflexivity implies that reflexive practice should be extended to include critical reflections on the researcher’s emotions, embodiment and unconscious processes that may impact on research. Such information can be accessed through introspection, the interpretation of fantasies, or even dream analysis. This approach is particularly applicable to psychological interview-based research in tourism, but I argue that it has wider relevance and potential. Deep reflexivity in practice is illustrated by sharing a personal account of conducting fieldwork in a volunteer tourism setting in Kenya and I reflect on the challenges that this form of reflexivity presents in terms of ethics, professional integrity, and methodological accuracy. I conclude by arguing that psychosocial studies and the concept of deep reflexivity present a promising avenue for methodological disruption and advancement in critical tourism research.

Trajectories of Depression and Anxiety in Latina Breast Cancer Survivors.

To identify subgroups of Latina breast cancer survivors with unique trajectories of depression and anxiety and examine predictors associated with these subgroups. Secondary analysis of Latina breast cancer survivors (N = 293) from three psychosocial intervention studies. Depression and anxiety were assessed at intake and at weeks 8 and 16. Group-based growth mixture modeling was used to identify subgroups who followed distinct trajectories of depression and anxiety. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to identify predictors of trajectory-based subgroup membership. Three trajectories emerged for depression. Latina women treated for breast cancer are at an elevated risk for depression and anxiety and follow distinct trajectories of these symptoms. Psychosocial interventions are needed to manage these symptoms, particularly for subgroups in which depression and anxiety persist or worsen.

Comments on “Psychosocial Histories of Psychoanalysis,” by Belinda Mandelbaum and Stephen Frosh

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; I should begin by explaining that my point of view is somewhat different from the authors ́. My tools of analysis are Weberian sociology and Bourdieu’s writings on the constitution of the professional and scientific fields, rather than psychosocial studies, with which I have little familiarity.&#x0D; In their work, Frosh and Mandelbaum discuss how Brazilian psychoanalysis, in a process that could be interpreted as denial, coexisted with the military dictatorship and its whole repressive apparatus without expressing the slightest sign of criticism or opposition to the country’s social and political circumstances. It would even be fair to say that psychoanalysis flourished at the height of the dictatorship and was spread as a therapy and world view through the media and the discourse of a captivated intelligentsia.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Psychosocial Histories of Psychoanalysis

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; This paper approaches the history of psychoanalysis through the emphasis that psychosocial studies places on reflexivity and ethics. It argues that psychoanalysis has a strong and specific ethic based on the importance of developing and being allowed to use the capacity to understand one’s internal and external situation clearly, without constraint and – to the degree that it is possible – truthfully, and to make that the basis for the relationships one forms with others. This is the case for individuals but also for organizations, including the institutions of psychoanalysis. When psychoanalysis acts in accord with this perception, it is pursuing its own ethical position; when it contradicts it – for example, through aligning itself with socially repressive practices or obscuring the truth – then it loses its integrity. The paper suggests that some of the institutional history of psychoanalysis can be understood as a backing-away from this ethic in contexts of authoritarianism and a defensive denial of this process. Countering this denial by uncovering this history is necessary for reinstating psychoanalysis as an ethical domain. A case illustration is briefly outlined, that of Brazilian psychoanalysis during the civil-military dictatorship of the 1960s to 1980s, focusing on how these events have been obscured or opened up to scrutiny.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;