Background: Suicide is a leading but preventable cause of death and is preceded by domains of thoughts, plans, and attempts. We assessed the prevalence of suicidality domains and determined the association of suicidality domains with sexual identity, mental health disorder symptoms, and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: We used the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data to perform weighted multivariable logistic regression and margins analyses to examine between and within-group differences in suicidality by sexual identity among adults aged ≥ 18 years. Results: About 4.89%, 1.37%, and 0.56% of the population experienced suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts, respectively. Those aged 18–25 years old had a higher odds of suicidality compared to those aged 26 years or older. Compared to those who reported having no alcohol use dependence, illicit drug use dependence, and major depressive episodes (MDEs), those who reported alcohol use dependence, illicit drug use dependence, and MDE had higher odds of suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. Between all sexual identity groups, bisexuals who experienced MDEs had the highest probability of having suicidal thoughts while lesbians and gays who experienced MDE showed a higher probability of suicidal plans and attempts compared to heterosexuals. Within each sexual identity group, the probability of having suicidal thoughts, suicidal plans, and suicidal attempts was higher for those who had experienced MDEs compared to those who had not experienced MDEs. Conclusion: Substance use disorder and MDE symptoms were associated with increased suicidality, especially among young adults and sexual minority people. This disparity underscores the need for tailored interventions and policies to enhance the provision of prompt mental health screening, diagnosis, and linkage to care for mental health services, particularly among the most vulnerable in the population.

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, is the observation that 20% of input (e.g., workers) produce 80% of the results. Consistent with this principle, previous research has identified a group (20%) of families, the Vital Few, who provide a disproportionate amount of foster care and are more willing to foster children with special needs. The ability to predict the emergence of these families has important implications for recruitment, support and placement stability, as well as longevity of foster families. This study replicated and extended previous research by conducting a follow-up study of 107 families (90% response rate) 17 years after pre-service training. Consistent with previous research we found a small proportion (10%) of families who provide a disproportionate amount of care in terms of length of service and number of children fostered, approved to foster, adopted, and removed at families' request. At the completion of pre-service training Vital Few families were more likely to have had previous foster parent experience and one or more children in their homes; mothers and fathers in the Vital Few were older, and fathers reported less education. Also, at pre-service training more Vital Few families said they would foster sibling groups (100 vs. 64%), but there were no other differences in terms of willingness to foster children with special needs. This study further validates the utility of the Pareto Principle for understanding foster families and, by extension, has important implications for the well-being and stability of foster children.

BSW students appear to be under increasing levels of stress. In response to concerns about students' well-being, we developed a three-credit-hour self-care elective. This article explores students' participation in the primary assignment of the course, a modified version of mindfulness-based stress reduction. We also present empirical findings of an exploratory study examining students' mindfulness and their subjective experiences with the assignment. Results support the usefulness of mindfulness-based stress reduction assignments in supporting BSW students' well-being. This kind of assignment may also contribute to the development of the first social work competency, "demonstrate ethical and professional behavior," (Council on Social Work Education, 2015, p. 7) through an increase in self-reflective and self-regulation skills.

Little has been published regarding BSW students' perceived stress, coping self-efficacy, and self-care. A preexperimental study, with one qualitative question, was used to determine the effects of a self-care course on students' perceived stress scores (PSS), coping self-efficacy scores (CSES), and subjective experiences. Nineteen undergraduate students participated. Mean age of participants was 25, 90% were female, and most were Caucasian. The average CSES was 161.42 (SD=41.57) at pretest and 180.72 (SD=34.97) at posttest. A statistically significant difference in mean scores was found (t=−2.109, p=.05). The average PSS was 17.58 (SD=8.50) at pretest and 14.83 (SD=5.607) at posttest. Students' subjective experiences with the course were positive, and 79% noted that their understanding of self-care changed. Despite the small sample and lack of diversity, the study's contribution is noteworthy. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the impact of a 3-credit course on self-care for BSW students.

There is a small, methodologically diverse body of research indicating that approximately 20% of families provide disproportionate amounts of foster caregiving, place fewer restrictions on characteristics of children they are willing to foster and actually do foster, and provide caregiving environments as good as or better than those provided by other foster families. Cherry and Orme (2013) conceptualized this phenomenon in terms of the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule or the Vital Few, and they refer to these 20% of families as the Vital Few and the remaining 80% as the Useful Many. This review will examine and synthesize the available research on Vital Few foster families and explore next steps in the development of this body of research.

Equine-facilitated therapy (EFT) is a relatively new treatment for trauma and PTSD. EFT as well as animal assisted interventions in general have been introduced and implemented in mental health treatment for children and adults, though the research in support of these interventions has not kept up with practice. The purpose of this review is to examine the use of EFT for clients suffering from trauma/PTSD. Studies were included if PTSD/trauma was assessed and/or was measured as an outcome. A search of relevant databases resulted in nine peer-reviewed studies that met criteria. Studies are summarized and implications for future research are discussed. In general, findings suggest that EFT is a promising intervention for trauma/PTSD. Recommendations include a call for more research that includes veterans as well as for research that explicates the mechanisms by which EFT may be effective. Key words: trauma, PTSD, equine, equine therapy

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80–20 rule or the Vital Few, has been successfully used as a framework to identify the small proportion of highly productive foster parents who provide a disproportionate amount of care. This study replicated and extended this research using a nationally representative sample of foster families (N=876) with a focus on willingness to foster, and actually fostering, children with special needs.Using latent class analysis, two classes of foster parents were identified: one accounted for 19% of respondents and the other 81%. We refer to the former as the Vital Few and the latter as the Useful Many. Vital Few respondents fostered 74.2% of foster children — 11 times more than the Useful Many, although only fostering two times longer. They also had almost 1-1/2 times as many foster children in their homes at the time of the study. Notably, the Vital Few were willing to foster more types of children with special needs and a higher percentage had actually fostered children with each of the seven types of special needs studied. The classes were similar demographically except that Vital Few respondents were less likely to work outside the home and Vital Few mothers were slightly less educated as compared to Useful Many mothers.This study further validates the utility of the Pareto Principle for understanding foster parents and, by extension, has important implications for the well-being and stability of foster children with special needs. Considerations for supporting the Vital Few, including education and training needs, are discussed.

Child abuse and neglect in the United States resulted in 676,569 reports in 2011 (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2012). Workers in this field struggle with low pay, high caseloads, inadequate training and supervision, and risk of violence, all of which contribute to worker burnout and poor worker retention rates. Worker self-efficacy is predictive of worker retention, job performance, and persistence in this difficult field. This paper reports the development of a new measure of self-efficacy from a sample of 395 child welfare workers. Factor analysis revealed two domains of self-efficacy, direct practice and indirect practice, which can be modestly predicted by worker characteristics upon hire and the training program the workers attend. Worker self-efficacy can be used to identify vulnerable workers who may be especially in need of strong supervisory support as well as understand who to target for recruitment. A review of the literature of self-efficacy in child welfare workers is included.

Children with disabilities represent a significant and increasing proportion of children in foster care. In a national sample of 304 foster mothers we identified two groups of mothers, one willing to foster children with any type of disability except HIV/AIDS (51%) (Unconditional mothers), and a second group who were more selective (49%) (Selective mothers). Unconditional mothers fostered longer, fostered more children, and had more foster children in their homes.

Many foster parents serve only briefly, and foster and adopt few children. Anecdotal reports suggest that a small percentage of foster parents provide a disproportionate amount of care; however, we know virtually nothing about these parents. This study applied the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80–20 rule or Vital Few, as a framework to conceptualize these foster parents. Using latent class analysis, two classes of mothers were identified: one accounted for 21% of mothers and the other 79%. We refer to the former as the Vital Few and the latter as the Useful Many. Vital Few mothers fostered 73% of foster children — 10 times more than Useful Many mothers although only fostering three times longer. They adopted twice as many foster children while experiencing half the yearly rate of placement disruptions. Vital Few mothers were less likely to work outside the home, had better parenting attitudes, more stable home environments, more time to foster, and more professional support for fostering, but less support from kin. Further, they were as competent as the Useful Many on numerous other psychosocial measures. Understanding characteristics of these resilient Vital Few can inform recruitment and retention efforts and offer realistic expectations of foster parents.

This study provides evidence for the psychometrics of a 25-item instrument that measures divorcing individuals' perceived level of interparental conflict. The Level of Conflict Assessment (LOCA) was administered to 484 individuals who were attending a state-mandated parent education seminar for divorcing or separating parents. The unique feature of this instrument is that it was designed to measure perceived levels of conflict at the time of divorce. The internal consistency reliability of the scale was very high (α = .94). Through generalized linear modeling regression (specifically Gamma with log-link), five out of eight items were statistically significant, establishing a level of scale validity.

In this article, the authors present the Willingness to Foster Scale-Disabilities and Medical Conditions (WFS-DMC) and report results concerning its psychometric properties. The WFS-DMC is a new measure designed to accurately and efficiently assess the willingness of parents to foster children with special needs, in particular, disabilities and special medical conditions. The authors tested the WFS-DMC with a national sample of 298 foster mothers. Internal consistency reliability was excellent (alpha = .90). With reference to construct validity, mothers with higher WFS-DMC scores fostered longer, fostered and adopted more children, and requested the removal of a smaller proportion of foster children. Furthermore, the mothers' WFS-DMC scores were unrelated to demographic characteristics. The WFS-DMC could help guide the decision-making process involved in matching children who have special needs with parents willing to care for them.

This study examined the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory-Applicant–Co-Parenting Scale (CFAI-CP), a new scale developed to measure foster parent applicants' co-parenting potential. Also, this study illustrates statistical methods used to analyze the psychometric properties of dyadic data. Factor structure and measurement invariance were tested with 111 approved foster couples. Mplus was used to accommodate ordinal-level data. Exploratory factor analysis supported a 10-item, unidimensional measure with excellent internal consistency reliability (.88 fathers, .89 mothers). Confirmatory factor analysis supported scalar measurement invariance but not structural invariance, as expected. Good construct validity was evident. Findings support the CFAI-CP as an empirically sound measure to assess foster parent co-parenting.

This article presents a new measure of available time specific to fostering, the Available Time Scale (ATS). It was tested with a national sample of 304 foster mothers and is designed to measure the amount of time foster parents are able to devote to fostering activities. The ATS has excellent reliability, and good support exists for its validity. The ATS was associated with number of years fostered, number of children fostered, and intention to continue fostering. Furthermore, it was related to desirable parenting behaviors for the general well-being and development of children in foster care; and children in foster care's behavioral, emotional, and cultural needs.

Objectives: This study examined service delivery to parental caregivers with mental health problems, substance use problems, or both. The study sought to determine whether, once need is identified, suitable services are offered and then provided. Methods: The study was a secondary analysis of the 1994 National Study of Protective, Preventive, and Reunification Services Delivered to Children and Their Families. The national study interviewed child welfare caseworkers about the problems of and services provided to 2,109 families. Results: Of parents with mental problems, 77.9% were offered services and 84.0% of those were provided services. Of parents with substance use problems, 65.7% were offered treatment and 67.5% of those were provided it. Other problems included lack of parenting skills, lack of education and job skills, parent-child conflict, and lack of income. Significant associations were found between caseworkers' identifying problems and offering relevant services. Caregivers with substance use problems were less likely to be offered substance treatment services than caregivers with both mental health and substance use problems. Conclusions: The child welfare system may facilitate service use for caregivers. More research is needed to understand the process of service delivery to caregivers, including why services are not offered to some caregivers and why some services are not provided after being offered. Future research should examine why caregivers with substance use problems are vulnerable to not receiving treatment and whether and how service use varies for other problems not examined in this study. (Psychiatric Services 60: 56-60, 2009)

Primary care is a promising setting for alcohol screening and intervention with low-income Hispanic farmworkers, yet no research has been conducted that estimates the prevalence of harmful and hazardous drinking, psychiatric comorbidities, or receptivity to treatment in this population. This study investigates rates of alcohol misuse, depression, anxiety, somatization, and cigarette use in a convenience sample of low-income Hispanic farmworkers and farmworker spouses in Florida making walk-in visits to a rural community health center. Results indicated a high prevalence of alcohol use but also a strong willingness to receive treatment. Forty-four percent (44%) screened positive for harmful and hazardous alcohol use; over half (58%) screened positive for one or more comorbidity risks. Receptivity to alcohol treatment was high (75%). These results strongly support the need for and potential utility of alcohol intervention in primary care for this population.