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The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between the level of perceived support for the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness and satisfaction with health and quality of life among undergraduate college students with disabilities.

Purpose: Campus counseling centers, which oversee the provision of mental health services, can play a vital role in supporting positive outcomes among college students in general; however, little remains known about the effectiveness of campus-based counseling for reducing academic and psychological distress among college students with disabilities. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of individual campus-based counseling for students with disabilities and to determine whether the effectiveness of counseling varied by student disability status. Method: Data for the present study were gathered by the Center for Collegiate Mental Health from the 2016-2019 academic years. Participants consisted of help-seeking students with only psychiatric disabilities (n = 643), students with disabilities other than only psychiatric disabilities (n = 3,833), and students without a disability (n = 54,576). Results: Results indicated that students with disabilities demonstrated significantly fewer reductions in levels of psychological and academic distress than their nondisabled peers, and analyses further revealed variation by disability type. Conclusions: These findings advance our understanding of the effectiveness of campus counseling services for improving pertinent outcomes among help-seeking college students with disabilities. Implications for clinical practice, theory, and future research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effectiveness of an Internet-based educational intervention plus a peer support-moderated listserv for improving parenting skills and coping and reducing parental stress among mothers with serious mental illnesses. The analyses examined whether positive results achieved immediately after the intervention were improved upon during the 18-month postbaseline period.Mothers with serious mental illnesses (N=131) were randomly assigned to an experimental or an active control condition. Outcomes were assessed over time by using a repeated-measures analysis of variance.Participants in the experimental condition experienced statistically greater reduction in parental stress at the 18-month follow-up than those in the active control condition.This relatively low-cost intervention, along with the Internet's advantages of accessibility, anonymity, and insulation from child care issues, suggests potential utility for reducing parenting stress for busy mothers. These results provide a foundation for enhancing this intervention to achieve other targeted outcomes related to parenting.

Objective The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between education and recovery-oriented outcomes among adults with serious mental illnesses (SMIs). Method Data from 623 adults with SMIs were combined from 6 separate studies, using baseline measures prior to any intervention. An independent samples t test was conducted on recovery scores and overall quality of life (QOL) to compare participants with more than high school education to those with less. Additionally, a multivariate analysis of variance was run on each of the individual items of the QOL index to further investigate differences in QOL by education group. Results Contrary to expectations, individuals with higher levels of educational attainment reported lower scores on recovery and several domains compared with individuals with lower levels of educational attainment. Conclusions and implications for practice The results of the current study indicate that people with SMIs with higher educational attainment may actually be at greater risk for experiencing poor recovery-oriented outcomes. Rehabilitation efforts should focus not only on increasing educational attainment, but managing other factors that potentially interfere with recovery, such as self-stigma and demoralization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Involvement with child protective services (CPS) can have detrimental effects on children and parents alike. This study provided updated information about the prevalence of parenting among individuals with a serious mental illness and established the first contemporaneous and comparative national prevalence estimates of CPS involvement for parents with and without a serious mental illness.Data came from the Truven Health Analytics PULSE national survey of 42,761 adults conducted between September 2014 and December 2015. Survey questions assessed the presence of a serious mental illness, parenting status, contact with CPS, and types of CPS involvement.Prevalence of parenthood was similar between individuals with (69%) and without (71%) a serious mental illness. Parents with a serious mental illness were approximately eight times more likely to have CPS contact and 26 times more likely to have a change in living arrangements compared with parents without a serious mental illness. Even when the analysis was limited to parents who had CPS contact, parents with a serious mental illness were at greater risk of custody loss compared with parents without mental illness.These results further heighten the need to attend to parenting among individuals with a serious mental illness and better understand the factors associated with CPS involvement to reduce the identified disparities between parents with and without a mental illness. Efforts to reduce CPS involvement would likely reduce stress and enhance recovery and mental health for parents and their children.

Participation in various aspects of community life (e.g., education, employment) plays a critical role in fostering young adult development and health. To support behavioral health services in addressing a broader array of meaningful community participation areas, the current study examined the participation interests of young adults with serious mental illnesses via a literature review and focus groups interviews. Literature review results revealed a range of community participation areas of interest to these individuals, including employment, education, religion and spirituality, social networking (e.g., using social media), volunteering activities, socializing, and civic and artistic participation (e.g., attending a political event, playing music). Focus group participants named many of these same areas, but also mentioned unique areas of participation that have not been the focus of previous research (i.e., playing games, sports, exploration of other communities (e.g., traveling), hanging out, and nature-based participation). Implications for future research and behavioral health practice are discussed.

Prior research has documented differences in both performance and motivation between students with learning disabilities (LD) and non-learning disabled (non-LD) students. However, few studies have conducted a finer grained analysis comparing students with LD with nondisabled students of varying achievement levels. The present study examines differences between LD, low-achieving, average-achieving, and high-achieving adolescents on algebra performance and readiness, motivational constructs (competence expectancy, interest, and goal orientation in mathematics), and the discrepancy between students' competence and their perceptions of their own competence. Results indicate that while students with LD may demonstrate lower algebra readiness and algebra achievement and more inaccurate judgments of their own competence compared with the whole non-LD sample, critical differences in performance and motivation were most evident between high-achieving and low-achieving students, not students with learning disabilities.

This study serves as an initial attempt to examine the ways in which doctoral students with learning disabilities utilize campus-based disability support services. As an increasing number of students with diagnosed learning disabilities are entering doctoral programs, it is important that researchers focus on understanding the unique needs of this population. Research has shown that access to accommodations in the form of disability support services can be critical to academic persistence and success in higher education, but few studies have focused specifically on the perceived needs of doctoral students or the ways in which their needs and use of services may be different from undergraduate students. Service providers in doctoral degree granting institutions across the United States were sent a web-based survey aimed at examining the ways doctoral students with learning disabilities and/or ADHD utilize campus-based disability support services. Our findings suggest that there is array of services provided to doctoral students with learning disabilities. The findings enhance our understanding of the experiences of doctoral students with learning disabilities and ADHD with regard to needs for, and utilization of, campus-based support services.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between various biopsychosocial factors and depressive symptoms in individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). Survey data were collected from 238 individuals with SCIs. The survey measured symptoms of depression, injury level, pain, catastrophizing beliefs, coping skills, perceived stress, and social support. Results indicated that pain (β = .14, p < .05), catastrophizing beliefs (β = .13, p < .05), and perceived stress (β = .50, p < .001) have a positive association with depressive symptoms. Positive coping skills (β = −.16, p < .01) were found to have a negative relationship with depressive symptoms. Injury level (β = .05, ns) and social support (β = −.09, ns) were not found to significantly affect depressive symptoms. The results of the study generally support the biopsychosocial model of depression in individuals with SCIs. Interventions should be aimed at promoting positive coping and ameliorating pain, catastrophizing beliefs, and perceived stress.