Local Perceptions of the Impact of Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy in Rural Uganda

Recently, greater attention and resources have been devoted to improving mental healthcare in low and middle income countries (LMIC), though this support has not matched efforts in other areas of health and development. Mental health, however, is an essential component in efforts to achieve major health and development goals. 

 

Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Depression, for example, is a leading cause of disability, associated with negative economic and health outcomes including reduced productivity and role functioning, poor prognosis and treatment adherence in HIV/AIDS, and poor outcomes in children of depressed mothers, such as low birthweight, undernutrition, reduced vaccination and well-child visits, and mental disorders. These associations suggest that increasing availability and access to depression treatments may have broad health and development benefits but there remains little evidence that treatment translates into such improvements. Read More>>>>>>

Number Knowledge and Error Types of Elementary Portuguese Students: Implications for Instruction

Student mathematical skills normally are acquired through a cumulative and progressive learning process. Numeracy or number knowledge (i.e., the understanding of whole numbers and number relationships) has been identified as a predictor of successful mathematics learning. Most children are able to acquire number knowledge skills when taught informally (e.g., home) or formally (e.g., school). 

Elementary Portuguese Students

However, not all children acquire numeracy skills easily. Theories of number competency have been linked to several factors such as family income e.g., working memory capacity e.g., and language abilities. Other studies have connected mathematics learning disability (MLD) to specific number knowledge tasks such as comparing and naming digits. Read More>>>>>>>>>

Using Language and Affective Profiles to Investigate Differences between Individuals

Presenting affect as being composed of two systems, each one of them categorized as high and low, leads to four different combinations beyond a two-system approach. In this line of thinking, Archer et al. have theorized on four possible affective profiles based on the combination of people’s affectivity levels: self-fulfilling (highpositive affect, low negative affect); high affective (high positive affect, high negative affect); low affective (low positive affect, low negative affect); and self-destructive (low positive affect, high negative affect). 

The effective profiles model has led to a great number of studies during the past ten years that have investigated individual differences in ill-being and well-being. Nevertheless, most of these studies have used self-reports, that is, only a handful of the studies have investigated actual behavior among individuals with different profiles. In this context, individuals’ activities on the Internet (e.g., connecting to others, expressing preferences, status updates) provide excellent observable data for studying human behavior. Read More>>>>>>>>>

Adolescent Depression Prevention Programs

Depression in childhood remains uncommon. When puberty begins, the rate of depression increases sharply. The prevalence rates for depression among adolescents inIndia range from 3% among school going adolescents (13-19 years) to 11.2% of school drop outs  Adolescent depression is a health concern for the whole community because it is associated with many negative outcomes.

Adolescent Depression

Adolescentonset depression is also strongly associated with chronic and recurrent depression in adulthood that may be difficult to treat. Additionally, there are many obstacles in seeking and attaining treatment for depression in adolescents, such as perceived stigma, availability and cost of services, and lack of trained providers. Due to these reasons, there has been an increasing focus on preventing depression before it becomes so serious that treatment is needed. Read More>>>>>>>>>>

Increased Autism Incidence: Is there a Single Cause?

The dramatic increase in the incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) over the past several decades has provoked widespread attention to potential causes of this disturbing trend. Two decades ago, autism was detected in 1 in 1000 children; as of 2014 an estimated 1 in 88 children has been identified with ASD.

 

Increased Autism Incidence

Most importantly, this increase cannot be fully accounted for by the refinement of detection and diagnostic procedures. Recent statistics indicate that only about 50% of the observed increase in autism incidence can be accounted for by changes in diagnostic criteria, public awareness or other non-causal parameters. Given these alarming statistics, it is essential to identify the causes of this trend that is approaching epidemic proportions affecting many countries worldwide. Read More>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Continuous Suicide Attempts

Suicide attempt is defined as a self-inflicted, potentially injurious behaviour with a nonfatal outcome for which there is evidence of intent to die; a suicide attempt may result in no injuries, or death. 

 

Suicide Attempts

The existing literature is heterogeneous about the operational definition of “suicide reattempters”. Some studies suggest that SRs can be defined as such after an “index” suicide attempt, or that they are patients who committed two or more suicide attempts; other Authors consider SRs those who made three or more suicide attempts. Although this may represent a limitation, nonetheless we should be aware that in clinical ER settings clinicians are often compelled to work without the possibility to use scales and clinical interviews which are likely used afterwards, for instance if the patient is referred to the Psychiatry Ward. Read More>>>>>>>>>