Individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ may face significant challenges during adoption because legal inclusion does not guarantee that professionals are prepared to provide culturally competent and affirmative support. This study evaluates a theory-informed professional training intervention designed to enhance the capacity of adoption teams working with same-sex couples. Grounded in minority stress theory and affirmative practice principles, the 21-hour online program was delivered in Portugal following the legislation of same-sex adoption, responding to a prior assessment that showed a lack of training among professionals. Its effectiveness was evaluated among 45 participants using pre- and post-training measures. The results showed significant improvements in scientific knowledge and affirmative practice attitudes. No significant change was observed regarding support for equal rights, likely due to high baseline scores and the stability of socio-political views compared to domain-specific professional skills. Ultimately, the study contributes an evaluated model of LGBTQ+ affirmative training for adoption services and suggests that future research incorporate larger samples and controlled waiting-list designs.
A wide range of professionals with diverse training and disciplinary orientations are considered mental health professionals. This can result in an ambiguous professional identity, role confusion, and professional tensions. Recent studies explore the implications of role confusion and professional tensions on mental health service delivery. However, there is a dearth of research on how systemic factors, such as laws and policies, influence professional identity and contribute to role confusion and professional tensions. The present study uses qualitative document analysis to examine the historical evolution of mental health professionals in India's laws and policies. The findings illustrate significant ambiguities around the concept of mental health professionals. This ambiguity, alongside the thrust for a biomedical approach in mental health care, has historically divided psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, such as psychologists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses. The paper discusses its implications for professional training and practice. Further, recommendations are given to address these issues and foster a collaborative, inclusive, and well-regulated mental health workforce.
People living with HIV (PLHIV) in institutional settings often experience elevated psychological distress due to chronic illness, stigma, and social isolation. This study examined the effectiveness of Positive Behavior Therapy (PBT) in reducing psychological distress and affective disturbances among institutionalized PLHIV. Seventy-five participants aged 19-60 years received an eight-week structured PBT intervention using a pre-post research design. Psychological distress and affect were assessed using standardized measures. Results indicated significant reductions in depression, anxiety, stress, and negative affect following the intervention, while positive affect remained stable. Male participants reported higher post-intervention depression than females, suggesting the need for gender-sensitive approaches. The findings support PBT as an effective, holistic intervention grounded in cognitive-behavioral and positive psychology principles. However, the absence of a control group, reliance on self-report measures, and lack of follow-up limit causal conclusions and long-term interpretation. Despite these limitations, the study highlights the importance of integrating structured psychological interventions like PBT into institutional HIV care to enhance mental health and overall well-being.
Despite increased attention in the literature to understanding the adverse effect of IPV on survivors, little is known about exposure to IPV during childhood and the later impact on emerging professionals. The present study is among the first to analyze the relationship between witnessing IPV during childhood and other psychosocial variables among Master of Social Work (MSW) students. Survey data was collected from MSW students in the United States. Participants (N = 468) responded to items including demographics, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), protective and compensatory experiences (PACEs), verbal and physical aggression, physical and emotional sibling violence (PESV), participant/family mental health, participant/family substance use, and participant physical health. Chi-square analysis found an association between witnessing IPV and household income in childhood, father and mother education, geographic region in childhood, and family history of mental illness and substance abuse. Independent t-test analysis found differences in ACEs, PACEs, verbal aggression and PESV by witnessing IPV. Findings suggest that for MSW students, childhood exposure to IPV may be associated with socioeconomic status, geographic context, verbal aggression, ACES, PACEs, and PESV. The implications for social work education and social work practice are critical to consider as MSW students will be those supporting society's most vulnerable populations.
The aim of the study is to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of insomnia symptoms among middle-aged and older adults in Malaysia. In all, 5602 cross-sectional nationally representative data from adults (>= 40 years) of the 2018 Malaysia Aging and Retirement Survey (MARS) was analyzed. Insomnia symptoms were assessed with three items from the Jenkins Sleep Scale (JSS-4). Unconditional multivariable logistic regression was used to identify relationships between social and health factors and insomnia symptoms. To examine the indirect effects of multimorbidity on insomnia symptoms via loneliness and multisite pain, causal mediation analyses were conducted. The prevalence of insomnia symptoms was 29.0%. In the final adjusted model, urban residence (AOR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.10-1.43), multisite pain (AOR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.04-1.35), loneliness (AOR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.08-1.14), poor self-rated health (AOR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.11-1.22), incontinence (AOR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.56-2.33), and multimorbidity (AOR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.05-1.39) were positively associated with insomnia symptoms, while male sex (AOR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.77-0.99), Islamic religion (AOR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.66-0.86), has caring friends (AOR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.85-0.98), and higher physical activity (AOR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94-0.98) were negatively associated with insomnia symptoms. Furthermore, there was a significant indirect effect of loneliness (explaining 29.2%) and multisite pain (explaining 30.3%) on insomnia via multimorbidity. Almost one in three aging adults reported insomnia symptoms. Loneliness and multisite pain were found to mediate the association between multi-morbidity and insomnia problems. Reducing loneliness and multisite pain may help in reducing insomnia symptoms in aging multi-morbid patients.
This study examined the mediating roles of emotional and social loneliness, as two distinct dimensions of loneliness, in the associations between fear of missing out (FoMO) and the multidimensional model of social media addiction (SMA) among university students. SMA was assessed across four subdimensions: virtual tolerance, virtual communication, virtual problem, and virtual information. Data were collected from 331 university students and analyzed via structural equation modeling. FoMO was significantly associated with emotional loneliness and all four SMA subdimensions. Emotional loneliness mediated the associations between FoMO and virtual communication (B = 0.115, 95% CI [0.027, 0.216]) and virtual problem (B = 0.127, 95% CI [0.041, 0.219]), whereas social loneliness did not significantly mediate any of these pathways. These results emphasize the role of emotional disconnection in problematic social media use and support FoMO as a key psychological correlate of SMA. By distinguishing between two forms of loneliness and applying a multidimensional SMA framework, the study provides theoretical and practical insights with implications for targeted intervention strategies.
