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Prior to passage of the National Mental Health Act in 1946 there existed, within the U.S. Public Health Service, a Division of Mental Hygiene whose responsibility was largely confined to research on narcotic addiction and to administration of the two U.S. Public Health Service Hospitals at Lexington, Kentucky and Fort Worth, Texas, which are primarily concerned with treatment and care of narcotic addicts. Although on paper the Division had some responsibility for research into nervous and mental diseases, the research program was never really implemented by an adequate allotment of funds. The act of 1946 constituted a declaration of intent to provide funds for a broad program of research, training and aid to States for the development of means of dealing with mental health problem. A brief review of the evidence presented and the individuals and groups participating in Congressional hearings which resulted in the final formulation of the Act reveals at least four forces which helped to convince the Congress that action in this field on the part of the federal government was imperative.

A correlation analysis was used to assess the similarity between mental health need priority systems set up under the Community Mental Health Centers Act, and priority systems developed using a simplified scheme of mental health indicators. Data came from Community Mental Health Centers State Plans for six Southern states. Results indicated that the simplified. scheme provides adequate replication of the priority systems. Hence, time and effort need not be expended on elaborate schemes for developing priority systems (or sets of mental health indicators for research) unless it can be demonstrated that they have superior validity. A second implication developed from the data concludes that sets of techniques, like other procedural systems may, if not evaluated, tend to be perpetuated when in fact they should be replaced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a preliminary report on relationships between changes in life events and changes in psychiatric symptomatology in a community sample of 720 adults in New Haven, Connecticut. Over a two-year period it was found that the greater the net change in life events the more likely was the individual's mental status to have changed. A net increase in life events was associated with a worsening of symptoms, while a net decrease resulted in improvement. Similar patterns were found for most of the 64 individual life events [or which information was gathered as well as for events categorized according to type of social activity, changes in the respondent's social field, and degree of desirability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses how to set up a child evaluation clinic in a medium-sized community in the United States. The key person in such a venture should be a pediatrician who has a special interest in child development, mental retardation, and the psychologic problems of children. The next step should be to find an organization in the community which can be made interested in mental health. The services of a clinical psychologist were secured by persuading the Director of Special Education at the local Board of Education to relinquish one-fifth of a psychologist's contract in order that she might work one day a week at the proposed clinic. After recruiting the staff, the project was presented to the local County Medical Society for their approval. The services of the clinic are available to all children of the county who have behavior disorders, emotional problems, developmental problems, difficulties in school, or mental retardation.

Provides information on different approaches to emotional management of children with chronic illness in the U.S. Number of children surveyed by the National Health Survey who had restricted days of activity; Cooperation with all the medical personnel in order to correct the specific defect and control the symptoms of the particular illness; Steps taken in preventing the disease process and the treatment regimen.

Review of research on social class and mental illness suggests the hypothesis of two patterns: (1) a discrete relationship with the lowest class having a higher rate than all others but with little difference in rates for other classes; (2) a continuous relationship, with rates systematically increasing with each drop in class status, but with an extremely large increase for the lowest class. Findings for 4,650 Washington male first admissions between 1954 and 1965 support this hypothesis. Alternative interpretations of the relationship between social class and mental illness are considered. Since most interpretations posit a discrete pattern, they will have to be modified or extended to account for both patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on meetings related to social development in the U.S. The Inter-American Conference on Research and Training in Sociology, a three-day conference, August 27 to 29, 1960 was held at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California. The Bay Area Forum for Social Science Studies in the Health Fields was organized in March, 1961 to provide a common meeting point and discussion platform for social scientists engaged in applied, theoretical and experimental research in the health fields. A series of informal monthly meetings is planned in which guest speakers will discuss their work with fellow sociologists, anthropologists and others interested in this area. The National Institute of Mental Health is making available, under the Mental Health Small Research Grant Program, grants up to a maximum of 3,500 dollars plus indirect costs to encourage the initiation of research in the social and medical sciences relevant to mental health.

This article examines the effect of radical social changes on personality development, based on the residents of two communities in the U.S. Predicted a number of behavioral and underlying personality differences involved in behavioral settings. Teacher's apprehensiveness increased in proportion to the number of incidents involving colleagues, regardless of ideological position. Studying instruction method on acceptance of food in a survival kit. Identifies the correlation between various types of classroom socioemotional structures and mental health.

The authors are members of the faculty of the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas and give leadership to the research carried on by the Personality Research Center at that institution. The problem of mental health has always been foremost in their thinking, and the), have worked closely together since 1958 on a variety of significant researches relating to the description and understanding of conditions contributing to teacher mental health, to teacher personality, and to teacher classroom behavior. The projects toward which this impressive program of investigation has been directed are reviewed in the current contribution. The original work on ‘Mental Health in Teacher Education’ was subsidized by the National Instiute of Mental Health. It is important to note, as observed in the article, that the research studies are continuing with subsidies both from the U.S. Office of Education and the National Institute of Mental Health. Professor Peck serves as director of the Personality Research Center, and Professors Bown and Veldman as co-developers of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents several research on the role of classroom interactions and teachers influence in combating mental illness of children in the U.S. The report of the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health contained recommendations in combating mental illness which include balanced portfolio of mental health services and research, suggestion for increasing government spending for all levels of mental health services, encourage towards health and helping professions. Ralph Rabinovitch, director of Hawthorne Center, indicated that schools must offer psychological guide through organize and challenging programs of academic studies and routines for emotionally handicapped children.

A sample survey using personal interviews was conducted in the Reno, Nevada, area to assess public conceptions of suicide and suicidal actions, attitudes toward the notion of suicide, attitudes toward people personally known to have committed or attempted suicide, and various degrees of familiarity with suicidal behaviors. Suicidal behavior by others was personally familiar to 74 percent of the respondents, and the general conceptions of suicide included shame and social disgrace, but not blame, to the family. Suicide generally was seen as something that happens to a person, rather than something he intentionally brings about. Public health implications of the data are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from a mail-questionnaire study of adults in Alameda County, California, were used to replicate the essentials of Langner's analyses in the second volume of the Midtown Manhattan Study, but employing as a presumptive mental-health measure an eight-item Index of Psychological Well-Being. The results parallel the reported Midtown associations between selected stress factors and mental health as rated by psychiatrists from extensive interview evidence. The concordant findings suggest that both the Midtown psychiatrists' ratings and the Index of Psychological Well-Being may pertain to essentially the same psychological dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a study of 1,045 state mental hospital patients released on leave of absence during the calendar year of 1956 to the Oakland California Bureau of Social Work, a large amount of evaluative information was collected on post-hospital adjustment. Data from case records, administrative files, and hospital records were reviewed. They clearly demonstrated that most ex-patients did not possess a sufficient number of social resources to allow them to adapt to the world outside the state hospital. On the basis of these findings, one can easily understand why seven out of ten of these patients returned to the hospital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the result of a study regarding the training of teachers for the emotionally disturbed children in the U.S. It was found out that most teachers of mentally ill children have little involvement in the theoretical approach. There were some encountered problems on presenting the techniques of the teachers in dealing with the children. The process of the survey includes an interview on the evaluations of their own training and experiences and a discussion on the content of the training program. The result of the study was presented

The article reports developments related in education in the U.S. The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) has already a membership total of the 1964 membership year. The CEC's board of governors approved the application of the American Association of Instructors of the Blind Inc. as a CEC affiliate. The 42nd Annual International Convention, held at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago, Illinois on March 31, 1964 to April 4, 1964, had registered more than three thousand convention attendees. The Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act, otherwise known as the Public Law 88-164, was signed by the U.S. President John Kennedy on October 31, 1963.

The article evaluates the psychoeducational processes in classes for emotionally handicapped children. The authors reviewed and analyzed a sample of program description from schools in the U.S. that are currently giving classes for emotionally handicapped children, and gathered the data from existing reports into a beginning taxonomy of the procedures and considerations involved in conducting classes for emotionally handicapped children. In this article, the researchers found that there is a need for some elderly classification of the various psychoeducational processes.

The article concerns with the somatopsychological relationships between physical disability and personality characteristics in children with cerebral palsy in the U.S. It aims to determine whether significant differences exist in personality in children with congenital or early acquired cerebral palsy. The basic theoretical issue involved is whether or not crippling at birth has a unique deterministic influence on personality development. It would be best to examine some controversial somatopsychological aspects of early crippling because of their theoretical significance and important practical implications in the total rehabilitation of the child suffering the disease.

The article focuses on the study that seeks to determine the emotional problems of physically handicapped adolescents in the U.S. During the group discussion, most of the subjects were at ease in talking about practical problems rather than emotional ones and they also conveyed fantasies of miraculous recovery. Only few of the boys felt who were recently injured felt embarrassed and sensed that girls would not want them. On the other hand, those whose disabilities were present already for a longer duration said that they no longer fear contact with girls.

Focuses on the problems of providing school mental health services to children in the U.S. Impact of mental health services on children; Details on the pattern of mental health and education; Benefits of developing a school mental health service.