on Facebook
on Twitter
on YouTube
Research Archive: Mental Health
Return to present year
2006
Research Highlights represent a selected portion of RAND Health research. For more, browse all RAND Health research.
Troubled Cambodian refugees likely to seek help for mental health problems — Oct. 2006
In a survey of Cambodian refugees in California, nearly 70 percent of those with mental health disorders sought medical help for emotional or psychological problems in the previous year, contradicting the common belief that Asians are less likely to seek mental health services.
News release
More on mental health research
Possible link between HIV/AIDs-infected mothers and their children's mental health — Oct. 2006
The physical health of mothers with HIV/AIDs appears to be associated with the mental health of their children. Also, the stability of a mother's health may be associated with improvement in the mental health of their children over time.
Aiding children in long-term recovery from traumatic events — Oct. 2006
RAND has released a toolkit that shows how to provide school-based mental health programs for students exposed to violence, natural disasters and other traumatic events. The toolkit will enable schools to help students displaced by natural disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
News release
RAND Health researcher travels to New Orleans to help plan city's future health care — Sep. 2006
Dr. Kenneth Wells, Senior Natural Scientist at RAND and Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, has recently returned from a trip to New Orleans, where he served as a consultant to help the city plan for its future health care system. Dr. Wells shared his personal notes and pictures from his travels through the devastated area.
Treating HIV patients with mental illness in the same location does not affect quality of care — Sep. 2006
A study of HIV patients with serious mental illness revealed that most patients reported satisfaction with mental health and HIV treatment they were receiving at the same location. Co-location also did not affect utilization of services or appropriateness of care.
Challenges in the evaluation and implementation of school-based health and mental health programs — Aug. 2006
This article describes the challenges of launching and evaluating school-based health and mental health programs, while simultaneously maintaining flexibility and cultural awareness during all stages of the process.
RAND Health researcher named Beck Institute Scholar for 2006-2007 — Aug. 2006
Kim Hepner, a Behavioral Scientist at RAND, has been named a Beck Institute Scholar for the 2006-2007 academic year. This fellowship program offers state-of-the-art training to individuals who have and will make significant contributions to the field of cognitive therapy. Beck Institute Scholars participate in an extramural training program that brings together mental health professionals from around the world.
More about the award at beckinstitute.org
Poverty affects treatment outcomes for mental health patients — Aug. 2006
Poor patients with panic disorder were more severely ill at both start and end of psychiatric treatment, despite responding as well as non-impoverished patients during the course of therapy. Treatment programs may need to be extended to treat residual symptoms in poor patients.
Effects of Medicaid policies on mental health service use among children — July 2006
Children who live in areas with behavioral carve-outs under Medicaid managed care were less likely to use inpatient mental health services, possibly due to restrictions within these types of plans. Children who were older or had a greater need for mental health care were more likely to use these services, as were children whose caregivers had higher levels of education.
Use of restraints in nursing homes associated with decline in mental health — July 2006
Nursing home residents who are restrained are more likely to experience depression and a reduction in cognitive performance and social engagement.
Pandemic influenza preparedness must address psychological and social factors — July 2006
Existing pandemic influenza preparedness plans in the U.S. address disease surveillance, containment, and mass vaccination strategies, but little attention has been directed to psychological and social factors that may influence human behavior during a pandemic. This article provides timely expert panel recommendations for pandemic influenza response and recovery by addressing human behavior and adaptation.
National survey of Medicaid mental health care arrangements — July 2006
Medicaid has been the primary payer for public mental health systems, but little is known about managed care arrangements at the health plan level. This study confirmed that most states were contracting to serve a broad range of Medicaid enrollees, with a wide array of covered benefits. Most plans were HMO-type arrangements, and a large percentage of states used government entities as vendors.
Gender differences in teen willingness to use mental health services — July 2006
In seeking emotional support, girls tended to go to friends while boys turned to family members. Boys had less mental health knowledge and experience than girls, and also associated more stigma with mental health care. Girls were twice as likely to report willingness to use mental health services.
Effects of state parity laws on use of mental health care — June 2006
Results suggest that state parity laws succeeded in expanding access to mental health care for those with relatively mild mental health problems.
Mental health care for depression and substance abuse not influenced by gender — June 2006
Detection and care of mental health and substance use problems for patients with major depression is not influenced by the gender of patient and provider. However, depressed female patients may have greater unmet needs for alcohol and drug use counseling than their male counterparts.
Safe Start Evaluation Project helps reduce negative impacts of violence on children — June 2006
Children who are exposed to violence can experience negative social and psychological effects both at the time of the exposure and throughout their life. The Safe Start Evaluation Project strives to find effective programs to improve children's chances of future well being.
RAND Health researcher honored by the American Psychiatric Association — May 2006
Dr. Kenneth Wells, Senior Natural Scientist at RAND and Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, was awarded the Lester N. Hofheimer Prize by the American Psychiatric Association for his contributions to research in psychiatry.Improving the quality of treatment for depression in primary care — May 2006
New medications and therapies have dramatically changed how depression is treated, but the quality of treatment generally remains poor in primary care settings. Future work in this area should encourage awareness in schools and workplaces and should address concerns about overtreatment.
Integrating mental health treatment and general medical care — May 2006
Adults with severe mental illnesses generally have poorer access to and quality of general health care, often due to the separation between mental health treatment and general medical care. This article discusses the obstacles to integrating the two systems and proposes strategies to address them.
Trauma tool-kit for schools helps students with recovery — May 2006
This tool helps schools support the long-term recovery of students who have been traumatized by exposure to violence, natural disasters, and terrorism. Summaries of each selected program are included, with details about implementation, personnel training and materials, and contact information.
Full document
Preparing health providers to treat trauma in conflict-affected countries — Apr. 2006
Extensive training in mental health services can better prepare primary healthcare providers to treat people traumatized by widespread violence in developing nations.
Screening tool for diagnosing mental disorders in primary care patients — Apr. 2006
A brief five-question screening tool may be useful for primary care providers in identifying patients with five common mental disorders.
Exploring stress and coping among urban African American adolescents — Mar. 2006
African American urban teens identified sources of stress as school, friends, and family. However, they also relied on these same individuals for support: friends helped teens cope with romantic relationship stress and family helped with job, school, and family stress. Girls used coping strategies more frequently than boys did.
Patterns of HIV care for patients with serious mental illness — Mar. 2006
Results of this study suggest that seriously mentally ill patients with HIV are receiving adequate HIV care. Fifty-one percent of these patients were taking highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) and more than 80% received close monitoring of their CD4 counts and viral loads.
Combined behavioral and drug therapy improves treatment for panic disorder — Mar. 2006
Patients with panic disorder experienced more improvement when treated with a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy than with usual primary care treatment, with only a moderate increase in cost.
Psychiatric staff dynamics affect patients' long-term quality of life — Mar. 2006
Psychiatric patients' long-term quality of life improved more when mutual respect among treatment staff was greater. Patients experienced more satisfaction with the quality of their housing, social life, relationships with families, and finances.
Adolescent primary care patients' preferences for depression treatment — Mar. 2006
Most adolescents with depression preferred counseling over medication for treating their depression. Female patients with prior treatment experience and current symptoms of depression and anxiety were also more likely to prefer active treatment over watchful waiting.
Depression and PTSD both impact HIV patients' medication use and health outcomes — Feb. 2006
In patients with HIV, having symptoms of depression or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affected how well these patients followed their prescribed treatment with medications. However, patients with symptoms of both mental disorders were also more likely to have a detectable viral load.
Management of mental disorders in VA primary care practices — Feb. 2006
VA primary care programs tend to refer patients for more serious mental illnesses, but may also use mental health specialists to provide mental health care in general medical settings.
Older Americans with depression and pain face greater economic burden — Feb. 2006
In this study, patients aged 55-65 with both depression and pain experienced a greater economic burden than those with depression alone. These patients faced increased costs and worse functioning, and were also more likely to receive government support.
Racial disparities in medication use among veterans with bipolar disorder — Jan. 2006
Findings suggest that race is associated with patterns of psychotropic medication use among veterans with bipolar disorder. African Americans were significantly less likely to receive lithium and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and significantly more likely to receive antipsychotics.
Improving the interface between psychiatry and general medical care — Jan. 2006
This study presents recommendations for achieving high-quality care for common mental disorders through collaboration between medical and mental health providers and facilitating use of evidence-based quality improvement models.
Improving care for depressed patients with substance use problems — Jan. 2006
Patients suffering from depression who were also substance misusers were found to be at risk for poorer depression treatment results. Quality improvement programs can reduce associated depressive disorders, regardless of whether depressed patients also had substance use problems.
Alcohol use prevalent among anxious and depressed primary care patients — Jan. 2006
In a study of primary care patients, heavy and frequent alcohol use was associated with specific individual anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder, and/or major depression.
Omega-3 fatty acids may be associated with reduced risk of dementia — Jan. 2006
This study finds that there is not enough data to conclude that omega-3 fatty acids have an effect on cognitive function in normal aging or on the incidence or treatment of dementia, however, there is a possible reduction in the risk of dementia.
Racial differences in the treatment of veterans with bipolar disorder — Jan. 2006
African Americans were less likely than whites to have an outpatient follow-up visit within 90 days of being diagnosed with bipolar disease.
Top