Who owns spiritual care, and why does it matter?
Psychological Services, Vol 20(1), Feb 2023, 1-5; doi:10.1037/ser0000739At our unique juncture in history, challenged by a global pandemic, the impact of climate change, and a polarized political landscape, more and more people are seeking mental health assistance (Mochari-Greenberger & Pande, 2021), and a larger proportion of those who seek help are describing existential or spiritual concerns (Chirico, 2021; Kondrath, 2022). Many psychologists may be experiencing themselves as insufficiently prepared to help with spiritual concerns (Vogel et al., 2013); the mission of this special section is to facilitate discourse and d...
Source: Psychological Services - January 30, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Development, adaptation, and clinical implementation of the Later-Adulthood Trauma Reengagement (LATR) group intervention for older veterans.
We describe the development of a 10-session group intervention with goals of providing psychoeducation about LATR, enhancing stress management and coping skills, and fostering meaning making. We characterize implementation and outcome characteristics for seven group cohorts over 5 years; groups were completed in-person or virtually. Outcomes were measured with the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, Meaning in Life Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Positive Appraisals of Military experience (PAMES), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-5, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Forty-seven Veterans (aged 65–93) began t...
Source: Psychological Services - January 26, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Effectiveness of trauma-informed care interventions at the organizational level: A systematic review.
Psychological Services, Vol 20(4), Nov 2023, 849-862; doi:10.1037/ser0000737Due to the recognition of the high prevalence and widespread effects of trauma, trauma-informed care (TIC) framework has emerged to address its impact and prevent retraumatization in the systems of care. Since organizational support has been identified as crucial in TIC implementation and sustainability, this systematic review assessed the status quo of TIC interventions which explicitly incorporate an organizational component. Our search yielded 880 articles, and 15 met the inclusion criteria. All the studies were carried out in the United States,...
Source: Psychological Services - January 23, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Perspectives of postdoctoral fellows: A qualitative study of clinical supervision in psycho-oncology.
Psychological Services, Vol 20(2), May 2023, 206-218; doi:10.1037/ser0000740Given the prevalence and distress associated with a cancer diagnosis, the training of psycho-oncology providers to meet the mental health needs of cancer survivors warrants investigation. Clinical supervision is a key teaching strategy for psychology trainees, particularly during a postdoctoral fellowship when trainees are gaining specialized training and making important career decisions. This qualitative study examined how postdoctoral fellows in psycho-oncology used clinical supervision and the supervisory relationship for their personal and pro...
Source: Psychological Services - January 23, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Prevalence of sexual desire and arousal difficulties among women veterans: A retrospective cohort design.
Psychological Services, Vol 20(4), Nov 2023, 780-788; doi:10.1037/ser0000733Low sexual desire and arousal are associated with several negative health outcomes, including reduced quality of life, depression, anxiety, and relationship discord. Although women veterans have high rates of risk factors for sexual dysfunctions (e.g., elevated rates of trauma, depression, anxiety), research on their sexual functioning is lacking. Using a retrospective cohort design, we examined the prevalence of documented sexual desire and arousal disorder diagnoses or symptoms, using International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes,...
Source: Psychological Services - December 19, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Communication and collaboration in a drug court team.
This study underscores the potential utility of operationalizing and measuring day-to-day, individual-level communication and collaboration practices in future studies of drug court process, in order to index drug court team dynamics that may contribute to its effectiveness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Psychological Services)
Source: Psychological Services - December 15, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Chaplains’ perspectives on standardizing spiritual assessments.
Psychological Services, Vol 20(1), Feb 2023, 30-39; doi:10.1037/ser0000726Chaplains are an integral part of mental health treatment within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and over the past decade, efforts have been made to integrate chaplain services into behavioral health treatment. One unique duty of chaplains is to conduct spiritual assessments, which are characterized as collaborative discussions with veterans to understand their overall religious and belief system, identify spiritual injuries, and how to integrate one’s spiritual values into medical care. Although spiritual assessments in Veterans Affairs M...
Source: Psychological Services - December 5, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Static and dynamic predictors of forensic mental health decision-making.
Psychological Services, Vol 20(4), Nov 2023, 899-907; doi:10.1037/ser0000731In Canada, individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCR) fall under the supervision of a jurisdictional review board (RB) per the Criminal Code. Limited research has examined whether RB decisions balance the needs of public safety with social reintegration as intended by federal legislation. To fill this gap, the present study determined whether forensic decisional outcomes in one provincial RB system accounted for information relevant to violence risk. Study instruments included the Level of Service/Case Manageme...
Source: Psychological Services - November 17, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Navigating barriers to antiracist supervision within the veterans affairs health care system: Reflections on 2020 and a call to action.
This article explores the experience of three White psychologists/psychologists-in-training within this national context, and specifically, the impact on psychology training and supervision in the wake of the Executive Order on Combatting Race and Sex Stereotyping released in September 2020. Consistent with the extant literature in our field, we understand supervision to be an essential space for in-depth attention to trainee development around cultural humility and critical consciousness wherein we as supervisors also grow and deepen our own practice (Falender et al., 2013; Hook et al., 2016). As we navigated 2020, we fou...
Source: Psychological Services - November 17, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Perspectives of mental health professionals on the delivery of embedded mental health services for U.S. Air Force airmen.
Psychological Services, Vol 20(4), Nov 2023, 988-1000; doi:10.1037/ser0000727United States Air Force (USAF) leadership implemented the integrated operational support care model, which involves embedding mental health professionals directly within operational units to meet the mental health needs of airmen. The present study evaluated perspectives of embedded mental health professionals on the delivery of embedded care services for airmen assigned to various units and installations. We conducted semistructured interviews with 26 embedded mental health professionals. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim fo...
Source: Psychological Services - November 10, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Active bystandership for law enforcement: Improving public safety by creating a policing culture of peer intervention.
This article describes the following regarding ABLE: (a) history and program development timeline, (b) programmatic structure and objectives, and (c) an examination of ABLE’s potential to help law enforcement agencies create meaningful, positive culture change to improve public health and safety using active bystandership. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Psychological Services)
Source: Psychological Services - November 10, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

“We’ve been here all along:” The collective resilience of transgender and gender diverse U.S. service members.
Psychological Services, Vol 20(2), May 2023, 382-396; doi:10.1037/ser0000721Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people in the United States face high rates of minority stressors, such as social rejection, homelessness, discrimination, and identity-based violence (James et al., 2016). Transgender and gender diverse service members are also exposed to unique military-specific stressors such as discriminatory military policies, combat stress, and military sexual trauma (Tucker et al., 2019). However, little is known about TGD troops’ experiences of resilience when navigating stress and trauma exposure during their military...
Source: Psychological Services - November 10, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Chaplains in federal and state organizations: An institutional note.
This article offers a short history of chaplaincy and provides snapshots about where chaplains work as federal and state employees in three sample states: Massachusetts, Illinois, and California. This institutional perspective is integral to understanding where and how chaplains are staffed and where collaborations are possible. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Psychological Services)
Source: Psychological Services - November 10, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Moral injury and psychosocial functioning in health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Psychological Services, Vol 20(1), Feb 2023, 19-29; doi:10.1037/ser0000718Studies of moral injury among nonmilitary samples are scarce despite repeated calls to examine the prevalence and outcomes of moral injury among civilian frontline workers. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of moral injury and to examine its association with psychosocial functioning among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed health care workers (N = 480), assessing exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) and psychosocial functioning. Data were analyzed using latent class analysis (LCA) ...
Source: Psychological Services - November 10, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research

Addressing the college mental health crisis: Training students to become effective bystanders.
This study examined the effects of three distinct interventions—self-efficacy, misperceptions, empathetic listening control—on college students’ willingness to help a peer struggling with mental health issues. One hundred fifty college students (81 women, 67 men, 2 nonbinary) were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions. All three interventions contained information about the prevalence of mental health concerns among college students, symptoms of common mental health disorders, and exercises to increase participant engagement with the intervention content. Each intervention also contained a conditi...
Source: Psychological Services - November 7, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research