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InPsych 2020 | Vol 42

February/March | Issue 1

InPsych 2020 | Vol 42

Education and research : Research snapshot

Analyse this

Analyse this

Applying the evidence

Mental health apps show promise but need to be evidence-based.

A variety of mental health apps exist, but the majority have not been evaluated for effectiveness. Australian researchers conducted a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a strengths focused app, ‘My Coping Plan’ in improving mental health and coping among 56 Australian university students with self-reported elevated psychological distress (K10 total >16). The app assists users to develop a healthy coping plan to manage distress and other negative emotions. Users can also learn about coping and healthy coping strategies, including sleep, nutrition, physical activity and pleasurable events. After using the app for one month participants in the intervention group reported significantly lower psychological distress, improved wellbeing and improved use of healthy coping strategies compared to participants in a waitlist control group. There was no difference between groups in reported use of unhealthy coping strategies. It was concluded that the app can improve mental health and wellbeing in the short-term, probably through increased self-efficacy. Some people may need professional support to sustain healthy coping strategies over the long-term.

doi.org/10.1111/cp.12185

Internalising racism

There is a growing body of research on internalised racism, but further research is needed to understand the experiences of different ethnic and racial groups.

An aspect of racism that has received little attention is the internalised component, whereby as a result of racist stereotypes and ideologies coming from the dominant racial group about a person’s own racial group, they start to have feelings of self-doubt, disrespect and disgust towards their own race and/or themselves. American researchers conducted a systematic review of the psychological literature on internalised racism. Psychological research on internalised racism is growing and there have been some conceptual and empirical developments, including theoretical conceptualisations, developments of scales and correlates with mental health variables. However, further research is needed that incorporates qualitative data collection about the experiences of different ethnic and racial groups, examines the connection between internalised racism and other forms of internalised oppression and incorporates social justice and advocacy in clinical and community services.

doi.org/10.1111/josi.12350

Prisoners with psychosis

Treating prisoners with psychosis in hospital may reduce their risk of reoffending.

There is a high prevalence of psychosis in prisons and effective management is important for both clinical and criminal outcomes. British researchers examined whether treatment location (prison versus hospital) affected the likelihood of reoffending and the time to reoffending. They compared released prisoners with psychosis with discharged psychosis patients and matched them on criminal history and age at discharge or release (124 matched pairs). Released prisoners were more likely to commit any offence within any given time period (1, 2 or 3 years). At any time period assessed, three times as many released prisoners with psychosis reoffended proportionally to their matched controls who have been discharged from hospitals. The researchers conclude that the findings suggest that it is not only the diagnosis of psychosis that impacts on the time to reoffending but also whether it is managed in prisons or specialist hospitals. They recommend that offenders with psychosis be treated in secure hospitals to reduce future likelihood of reoffending.

doi.org/10.1080/14789949.2019.1651381

Why don’t parents seek help?

Reluctance of many parents to seek mental health help for their children may be because they believe there are too many barriers.

There is a high prevalence of child mental health problems in Australia, but a large number of parents do not actively seek professional help for their child. The impact of parent beliefs on help-seeking behaviour was examined via questionnaires in a sample of 399 Australian parents of children aged from 4 to 14 years. Parents who had not sought help for their child, compared to those who had sought help, perceived significantly more barriers to help seeking and had significantly stronger beliefs that child emotional and behavioural difficulties were deliberate. However, correlational analyses indicated that, as parents’ sense of competence increased, and their beliefs that their child’s difficulties were stable, they perceived fewer barriers to help seeking. This research highlights the need for parent education and intervention to address beliefs that impact on their likelihood of seeking help for their child.

doi.org/10.1017/edp.2019.8

References

Disclaimer: Published in InPsych on February 2020. The APS aims to ensure that information published in InPsych is current and accurate at the time of publication. Changes after publication may affect the accuracy of this information. Readers are responsible for ascertaining the currency and completeness of information they rely on, which is particularly important for government initiatives, legislation or best-practice principles which are open to amendment. The information provided in InPsych does not replace obtaining appropriate professional and/or legal advice.

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