Biomedical subjects

Devon Berry

Publications and source records attributed to Devon Berry.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Methodological pitfalls in the study of religiosity and spirituality.

The number of studies demonstrating a relationship between religiosity and spirituality and physical and psychological health have increased rapidly during the past decade. There are significant disputes in the literature regarding the methodological quality of research in this area. Despite nursing scholars' interest in this area, no thorough review of the methodological critiques is available. The purpose of this study is to review areas of methodological difficulty in the study of religiosity and spirituality by identifying contemporary methodological critiques, critically evaluating the critiques and the underlying issues, and making suggestions for methodological advancement in the field. Three main areas of methodological critique exist: construct measurement, study design, and data analysis. Research in this area should aim for conceptual clarity, deliberate design, and appropriate analysis. Considerations of these critiques are instructive for nursing research done in the area of religiosity and spirituality.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

PubMed2003

TPL-KATS-card sort: a tool for assessing structural knowledge.

The study of how individuals organize knowledge has been a popular endeavor for several decades. As a result, techniques have been developed to assess how individuals represent and organize knowledge internally. Although several conceptual knowledge elicitation methods have been developed and used to assess the organization of knowledge, their use is often labor intensive and time consuming. Presented here is a software tool that was developed to reduce the problems associated with manually administering the conceptual knowledge elicitation technique, or card sorting. The TPL-KATS-card sort software not only simplifies the administration of the task, but also adds features to the card-sorting task such as media insertion, time stamping, and instructorless administration. In the present article, an introduction to the card-sorting technique is provided, the new software tool is described, and the advantages of the software are detailed.

Concept Formation↗

PubMed2002

Does religious psychotherapy improve anxiety and depression in religious adults? A review of randomized controlled studies.

Nurses in mental health settings are expected to provide insightful, wholistic, and effective care. Many patients in mental health settings have concerns or needs related to spiritual or religious dimensions. Unfortunately, many of these concerns are not addressed. Religious psychotherapy (RPT) is an approach to therapy that attempts to recognize and utilize the religious beliefs of clients in treatment for the purposes of reducing mental health difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to review the current randomized and controlled research (RCT) on the utilization of RPT in adult populations with anxiety and depressive disorders and to make recommendations for practice and future research. A search of the literature yielded four studies. A critical review of the studies yielded the following findings: (1) The findings across studies consistently demonstrate that RPT is as effective as standard treatment; (2) the results in each study were statistically significant and appeared to qualify as being clinically significant; and 3) the studies reviewed, although varying in quality, were true experiments marked by intervention, randomization, and control groups or comparison with standard treatment groups. There is warrant for greater consideration of the religious beliefs of depressed and anxious clients in outpatient settings. Nurses should be aware of the potential for the reduction of distressing symptomology through the consideration of clients' belief systems as they effect clients' perceptions of their own mental health.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The relationship between depression and emerging adulthood: theory generation.

Depression during the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood is a major mental health concern. Developmental theories addressing this transition, also called emerging adulthood, are few, and fewer yet are theories addressing mental health or psychopathology during this period. This article establishes the legitimacy of emerging adulthood as a unique developmental period and attempts to generate directions for theory development by merging theories of depression and development at the point of emerging adulthood. This article concludes with a theoretical discussion and application of this process in research and practice.

Adaptation, Psychological↗