Biomedical subjects

Lawrence H Yang

Publications and source records attributed to Lawrence H Yang.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Effects of attributing serious mental illnesses to genetic causes on orientations to treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Professional services for persons with serious mental illnesses are underutilized. The genetics revolution has the potential to increase professional help seeking by increasing biomedical interpretations of mental illness among the public. The objective of this study was to assess whether genetic attributions for serious mental illnesses are associated with more positive orientations to professional treatment among members of the general public. METHODS: Data from two nationally representative surveys were analyzed. First, associations between perceptions of genetic causes of both schizophrenia and depression and treatment recommendations and perceived treatment effectiveness were assessed in a vignette study that was part of the 1996 General Social Survey (GSS). Second, the effect of various descriptions of the role of genetic factors in schizophrenia and depression on perceived treatment effectiveness was assessed in a vignette experiment conducted in 2002-2003. RESULTS: Perception of genetic causes was associated with more recommendations for mental hospitalization and prescription medication but not with more recommendations to see a psychiatrist, a therapist, or a general medical practitioner. Perception of genetic causes was not related to perceived treatment effectiveness in the GSS, and genetic causes as described in the vignette were associated with lower perceived effectiveness of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing emphasis on genetic causes of mental illnesses may have multifaceted effects on orientations to professional treatment. Genetic attributions appear to direct people's help seeking toward the most extreme or biological forms of intervention, possibly because people view genetically influenced disorders as more serious and chronic. At the same time, such attributions lead to pessimism that intervention will be effective.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Causal attributions about schizophrenia in families in China: expressed emotion and patient relapse.

Previous studies have indicated a robust link between relatives' causal attributions and levels of expressed emotion (EE). However, these studies have primarily been conducted in Western cultures. The current study, conducted in China, examined the spontaneous causal attributions made by 54 relatives of schizophrenia patients during the Camberwell Family Interview. Chinese relatives made few controllable and personal attributions overall. Yet as predicted, highly critical and/or hostile EE relatives attributed patients' negative behaviors to more controllable and personal factors. High EE and controllable attributions positively predicted relapse, whereas personal attributions unexpectedly protected against relapse. EE mediated the effect of controllable, but not personal, attributions on relapse. Relatives' use of a particular Chinese characteristic (narrow-mindedness) was integral to the personal dimension's protective effect.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Measuring mental illness stigma.

The effectiveness of efforts designed to address mental illness stigma will rest on our ability to understand stigma processes, the factors that produce and sustain such processes, and the mechanisms that lead from stigmatization to harmful consequences. Critical to such an understanding is our capacity to observe and measure the essential components of stigma processes. This article is designed to assist researchers in selecting or creating measures that can address critical research questions regarding stigma. Our conceptualization of stigma processes leads us to consider components of labeling, stereotyping, cognitive separating, emotional reactions, status loss, and discrimination. We review 123 empirical articles published between January 1995 and June 2003 that have sought to assess mental illness stigma and use these articles to provide a profile of current measurement in this area. From the articles we identify commonly used and promising measures and describe those measures in more detail so that readers can decide whether the described measures might be appropriate for their studies. We end by identifying gaps in stigma measurement in terms of concepts covered and populations assessed.

Cognition↗