Anne Honey

Rethinking Ethics Review as Institutional Discourse

In this article, the authors trace the emergence of an institutional discourse of ethical research and interrogate its effects in constituting what ethical research is taken to be and how ethical researchers are configured. They illuminate the dissonance between this regime of truth and research practice and the implications for the injunction to respect others, illustrating their case with instances from their interview study with anorexic teenage girls. The authors propose that conceptualising the regulation of research ethics as an institutional discourse opens up the possibility for asserting counterdiscourses that place relational ethics at the center of moral decision making in research.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Employment: Perspectives of People with Mental Illness

In this article, the author presents the perspectives of people with mental illness about the benefits and drawbacks of employment, what factors influence these, and how they affect consumers’ decisions and actions. Forty-one consumers of mental health services participated in 76 in-depth interviews and two focus groups. The author coded data inductively and analyzed them using grounded theory method. The results demonstrate that the benefits and drawbacks of employment are experienced in six domains. Individuals’ perceptions of benefits and drawbacks are influenced by individual and contextual factors, are dynamic over time, and are instrumental in determining their employment-related actions. The findings suggest several areas for future exploration with a view to improving policy and practice in employment for people with mental illness.

The mental health of young people with disabilities: impact of social conditions

BackgroundYoung people with disabilities have poorer mental health than their non-disabled peers. However, people with disabilities are more likely than others to experience financial hardship and low social support, both of which have been linked with poor mental health outcomes. This article explores the extent to which the relatively poor mental health of young people with disabilities is related to the social conditions in which they live.MethodsSecondary analysis was performed on Wave 6 (2006) of the survey of Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA). This nationally representative sample included 3,392 young Australians, aged 15–29, of whom 475 reported having a long-term health condition, impairment or disability.ResultsYoung people with disabilities reported poorer mental health than their non-disabled peers. However, this relationship was moderated by both social adversity and social support, with minimal differences in mental health observed between the groups under conditions of high social support and low financial hardship.DiscussionThe results suggest that disability represents a potential adversity that may be exacerbated or ameliorated by the effects of wealth/financial hardship and social support.ConclusionIt may be possible to improve the mental health of disabled people by addressing their social exclusion.

The Specifics of Coping: Parents of Daughters With Anorexia Nervosa:

In this article, the authors report on an interview study in which parents described the coping strategies they used to deal with the demands of having a daughter diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. They compare parents’ accounts with commonly used categorizations in quantitative studies of parental coping and adjustment. The study indicates that parents attribute multiple, complex, and unique motives to their actions that problematize quantitative constructions of types of coping. Parents often defined their actions differently and reported using coping strategies that were not considered or measured by the most widely used quantitative coping instruments. The analysis indicates that when the focus is on understanding and assisting parental coping in particular circumstances, situated, contextspecific analyses are necessary to design measures that accurately reflect parents’ coping efforts.

Developmental Profiles of Children Born to Mothers with Intellectual Disability.

The developmental status of 37 pre-school aged children born to mothers with intellectual disability was assessed and the relationship between developmental status and selected child, maternal and home/environment characteristics was examined. The developmental status of the children varied markedly. Controlling for possible organic pathology, the development of these children did not vary significantly from age-norm expectations in four domains: physical, self-help, social and academic. No statistically significant correlation was found between developmental status and characteristics of the mother or home/environment. The key to prevention may lie in the provision of suitable antenatal and maternity services to ensure the best possible birth outcomes.

The paradox of virtue: (re)thinking deviance, anorexia and schooling

In this paper we posit a radical retheorization of anorexia as a form of deviance. We examine how the disciplinary practices and moral technologies typical of contemporary secondary schooling signify and enter into the articulation of three ‘virtue discourses’ (discipline, achievement and healthism), and tease out how these ‘virtue discourses’ play into the formation of the ‘anorexic’ subject. Informed by Foucauldian theory, our analysis draws on our life history interview study with teenage girls diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and their parents. We argue that anorexia can be understood not as a form of deviance but as a ‘paradox of virtue’ involving zealous compliance with and taking up of socially and culturally sanctioned ‘virtue discourses’ that are immanent in schooling and wider society.

Parents Dealing with Anorexia Nervosa: Actions and Meanings

This paper examines parents’ actions in response to anorexia nervosa, and how these are shaped by the ways they construct or understand the eating disorder. The findings indicate that parents try to influence their daughters by searching for help, providing practical support, avoiding confrontation, complying with special requirements, persuading, explaining, and pressuring, using ploys and force, providing emotional support, and mediating interactions. Parents’ actions are influenced by how they construct anorexia, such as whether they see it as an eating issue, an illness, a psychological problem, a choice, or a mystery. Understanding parents’ actions and constructions can help clinicians develop collaborative partnerships with parents.

Lower well-being of young Australian adults with self-reported disability reflects their poorer living conditions rather than health issues.

Objective: To determine the extent to which the lower well‐being of young Australians with disabilities could be accounted for by increased rates of exposure to adversity and reduced access to personal, economic, social and community resources.

Measuring the later stages of the recovery journey: insights gained from clubhouse members.

The Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS) is a frequently used measure of recovery from mental illness but has previously been shown to poorly differentiate between more recovered consumers. This research aimed to: (1) identify components of later recovery stages; (2) ascertain the extent to which these are measured in the RAS; and (3) suggest modifications to improve the ability of the RAS to differentiate between more recovered consumers. Clubhouse members who scored high on the RAS participated in focus groups in which they discussed areas of recovery most recently or yet to be achieved. Constant comparative analysis of data indicated that later stages of recovery are characterized by: (a) accepting your illness and gaining control over symptoms (b) self love and optimism, (c) doing things for and experiencing pleasure, (d) contributing through meaningful activity, (e) having a diversity of friendships, (f) being needed and valued by others and (g) coming to terms with family relationships. Results suggest the RAS would be improved by addition of items, particularly in functional and social recovery domains.

Mental health trajectories of young people after disability onset

BACKGROUND Young people with disabilities are at greater risk of having mental health problems than are their nondisabled peers. Most research about the relationship between disability and mental health has been cross-sectional and unable to identify mental health status prior to onset of disability or possible mental health pathways following disability. There is a lack of information, therefore, about what happens to young peoples mental health when they become disabled. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to identify the mental health trajectories for young Australian adults after onset of self-reported disability, taking into account their predisability mental health status. METHODS Longitudinal data from waves 1 to 7 (2001 to 2007) of the survey of Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) were analyzed using a growth mixture modeling approach. RESULTS Three distinct mental health trajectories were identified for the 136 young people reporting onset of ongoing disability. The majority (64.7%) of respondents experienced positive mental health before and following onset of disability. However, a significant minority (35.3%) experienced either (a) low mental health both prior to and following onset of disability (19.1%) or (b) mental health deterioration following onset of disability (16.2%). CONCLUSION Targeting appropriate interventions to the young people with disabilities in these 2 groups could have a significant impact on enduring mental health status.