Speech-language pathology intervention in a youth justice setting : Benefits perceived by staff extend beyond communication
- Authors: Snow, Pamela , Bagley, Kerryn , White, Donna
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol. 20, no. 4 (2018), p. 458-467
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- Description: Purpose: Young people in youth justice (YJ) settings face high-risk for unidentified language disorder, however, speech-language pathology (SLP) services are not routinely offered in such settings. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the perceptions and experiences of YJ staff in a custodial centre of the utility of having a speech-language pathologist working with young offenders. Method: Following a SLP intervention trial, two staff focus groups were conducted by an independent SLP. Interview probes were developed through review of the literature and consultation with the practitioner who conducted the clinical intervention. Focus groups were digitally recorded for thematic analysis, which was carried out by the three authors independently. Result: YJ staff expressed consistently positive views about the SLP intervention trial in their centre. Staff indicated that they learnt a great deal about the complexity of communication difficulties in this population, and that this information informed and guided their own practices. They expressed surprise at the engagement of young people in the SLP service, and supported its embedding in the YJ setting. Conclusion: YJ staff endorsed the value of a SLP service in a custodial setting. Further research should focus on refining measurement of this service and its impact. © 2017,
Anxiety disorders and all-cause mortality : Systematic review and meta-analysis
- Authors: Miloyan, Beyon , Bulley, Adam , Bandeen-Roche, Karen , Eaton, William , Goncalves-Bradley, Daniela. C.
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Vol. 51, no. 11 (2016), p. 1467-1475
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- Description: PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies that examined the relationship between anxiety disorders, or clinically significant anxiety symptoms, at baseline and all-cause mortality at follow-up relative to control participants without clinically significant anxiety. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, PsycInfo, and CINAHL were searched through July 2015, along with manual searches of published reviews and forward and backward snowball searches of included studies. Studies were excluded if anxiety was not defined with a standardized instrument, or if participants were followed-up for 1 year or less. The initial search yielded 7901 articles after the removal of duplicates, of which 328 underwent full-text screening. RESULTS: Forty-two estimates from 36 articles were included in the meta-analysis with a total sample of 127,552 participants and over 11,573 deaths. The overall hazard ratio (HR) estimate of mortality in clinically anxious participants relative to controls was 1.09 (95 % CI 1.01-1.16); however, this was reduced after adjusting for publication bias (1.03; 95 % CI 0.95-1.13). There was no evidence of increased mortality risk among anxious participants derived from community samples (0.99; 95 % CI 0.96-1.02) and in studies that adjusted for a diagnosis of depression (1.01; 95 % CI 0.96-1.06). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that positive associations in the literature are attributable to studies in smaller samples, comorbid depression (or other psychiatric conditions) among participants, and possible confounding in medical patient samples followed-up for short durations.
Clinical significance of worry and physical symptoms in late-life generalized anxiety disorder
- Authors: Miloyan, Beyon , Pachana, Nancy
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Vol. 30, no. 12 (2015), p. 1186-1194
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- Description: Objective Worry is a hallmark feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, age-related changes in symptom presentation raise questions about the clinical significance of these symptom clusters in later life. The aim of this study was to explore the relative contribution of worry and physical symptom frequency to clinical significance associated with late-life GAD. Methods A sample of 637 self-reported worriers (aged 65 years and older) was extracted from Wave 1 of the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions. Results Consistent with previous findings, we observed reductions in worry frequency and increases in physical symptom frequency with increasing age of participants. Physical symptoms, but not worry symptoms, distinguished older adults with clinical and sub-threshold GAD. Whereas physical symptom count was associated with distress, occupational, and functional disability, worry count was only associated with distress. Conclusions Among self-reported worriers, worry frequency provides limited clinical utility over and above physical symptom frequency. These findings suggest that physical symptom frequency may become an increasingly important feature of GAD in later life. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stuttering, disability and the higher education sector in Australia
- Authors: Meredith, Grant , Packman, Ann , Marks, Genee
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology Vol. 14, no. 4 (2012), p. 370-376
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- Description: The aim of this study was to ascertain the extent to which Australian public universities and their associated disability liaison services offer web-based information for current or prospective students who stutter. The disability pages of the websites of all 39 public universities in Australia were visited and the information about disability services assessed according to 12 criteria developed by the authors. Results indicate that there is a dearth of information on Australian university websites available for students or prospective students who stutter. Only 13% of the sites reported any form of alternative teaching and assessment procedures for speech-impaired students and only 51% of 39 disability liaison officers responded when contacted by email. Such a student could not make an informed choice to enrol in a university based upon the information on disability services available on public Australian university websites. © 2012 The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited.
Can the severity of dependence scale be usefully applied to 'ecstasy'?
- Authors: Bruno, Raimondo , Matthews, Allison , Topp, Libby , Degenhardt, Louisa , Gomez, Rapson , Dunn, Matthew
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Neuropsychobiology Vol. 60, no. 3-4 (2009), p. 137-147
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- Description: Background/Aims: Although use of 'ecstasy' (drugs sold as containing 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is prevalent, it is typically infrequent, and treatment presentations involving ecstasy as a principal problem drug are relatively rare. Human case reports and animal literature suggest dependence potential, although there may be some unique aspects to this syndrome for ecstasy in comparison to other substances. The Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) was examined to determine whether this could usefully identify 'dependent' ecstasy consumers. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1,658 frequent (at least monthly) ecstasy consumers across Australia, assessing drug use, associated harms and risk behaviours. Dependence was evaluated with the SDS, using a cut-off of ≥4 to identify potential 'dependence'. Results: One fifth of the participants were screened as potentially dependent. These individuals used ecstasy more frequently, in greater amounts, engaged more extensively in risk behaviours and reported greater role interference than other participants. These findings were independent of methamphetamine use or dependence. The underlying structure of the ecstasy SDS was bifactorial. Conclusions: The SDS has demonstrated construct validity as a screening tool to identify ecstasy users at elevated risk of experiencing adverse consequences, including features of dependence. The underlying structure of dependence symptoms differs for ecstasy compared to other drug classes, and some dependent consumers use the drug infrequently. The unique neurotoxic potential and entactogenic effects of ecstasy may require a distinct nosological classification for the experience of dependence associated with the drug. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Psychosocial adjustment in newly diagnosed prostate cancer
- Authors: Love, Anthony , Scealy, Marita , Bloch, Sidney , Duchesne, Gillian , Couper, Jeremy , MacVean, Michelle , Costello, Anthony , Kissane, David
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 42, no. 5 (2008), p. 423-429
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- Description: Objective: To examine the psychological and social adjustment of men with early or advanced stage prostate cancer and to compare them with a matched group of cancer-free community volunteers. Methods: A longitudinal observational study in which 367 men recently diagnosed with early (n =211) or advanced stage (n = 156), prostate cancer were compared to 169 cancer-free men from the community, of similar age and residential area, using self-report measures of psychosocial adjustment. Results: On the mental health subscales of the Short-Form 36-item Health Survey, men with advanced disease had lower vitality and social functioning than the other two groups, and lower mental health scores than the comparison group. Both patient groups had lower role-emotional scores than the comparison group. With regard to the Brief Symptom Inventory, the advanced disease group had higher somatization scores, and lower interpersonal sensitivity and paranoid ideation scores than the early stage group and the community comparison group. In terms of psychiatric morbidity, there were higher rates of anxiety disorders but not depressive disorders in both patient groups although overall diagnosis rates were low. No differences were found in terms of couple or family functioning. Conclusions: There is impairment in psychosocial function in men with prostate cancer, particularly those with advanced disease, but no increase in the rate of formal psychiatric disorder or adverse effects on the couples and families. This suggests directions for psychosocial interventions with these patient groups