Jon Hunter

Adult attachment measures: A 25-year review

OBJECTIVE Over the past 25 years, attachment research has extended beyond infant-parent bonds to examine dyadic relationships in children, adolescents, and adults. Attachment has been shown to influence a wide array of biopsychosocial phenomena, including social functioning, coping, stress response, psychological well-being, health behavior, and morbidity, and has thus emerged as an important focus of psychosomatic research. This article reviews the measurement of adult attachment, highlighting instruments of relevance to-or with potential use in-psychosomatic research. METHODS Following a literature search of articles that were related to the scales and measurement methods of attachment in adult populations, 29 instruments were examined with respect to their utility for psychosomatic researchers. RESULTS Validity, reliability, and feasibility were tabulated on 29 instruments. Eleven of the instruments with strong psychometric properties, wide use, or use in psychosomatic research are described. These include the following: Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, and Main); Adult Attachment Projective (George and West); Adult Attachment Questionnaire (Simpson, Rholes, and Phillips); Adult Attachment Scale (and Revised Adult Attachment Scale) (Collins and Read); Attachment Style Questionnaire (Feeney); Current Relationship Interview (Crowell and Owens); Experiences in Close Relationships (Brennan, Clark, and Shaver) and Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (Fraley, Waller, and Brennan); Parental Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling, and Brown); Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaire (West and Sheldon-Keller); Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew and Horowitz); and Relationship Scales Questionnaire (Grifiin and Bartholomew). CONCLUSION In addition to reliability and validity, investigators need to consider relationship focus, attachment constructs, dimensions or categories of interest, and the time required for training, administration, and scoring. Further considerations regarding attachment measurement in the context of psychosomatic research are discussed.

Development and validation of a brief screening instrument for psychosocial risk associated with genetic testing: a pan-Canadian cohort study

Objectives To develop a brief, reliable and valid instrument to screen psychosocial risk among those who are undergoing genetic testing for Adult-Onset Hereditary Disease (AOHD). Design A prospective two-phase cohort study. Setting 5 genetic testing centres for AOHD, such as cancer, Huntingtons disease or haemochromatosis, in ambulatory clinics of tertiary hospitals across Canada. Participants 141 individuals undergoing genetic testing were approached and consented to the instrument development phase of the study (Phase I). The Genetic Psychosocial Risk Instrument (GPRI) developed in Phase I was tested in Phase II for item refinement and validation. A separate cohort of 722 individuals consented to the study, 712 completed the baseline package and 463 completed all follow-up assessments. Most participants were female, at the mid-life stage. Individuals in advanced stages of the illness or with cognitive impairment or a language barrier were excluded. Interventions Phase I: GPRI items were generated from (1) a review of the literature, (2) input from genetic counsellors and (3) phase I participants. Phase II: further item refinement and validation were conducted with a second cohort of participants who completed the GPRI at baseline and were followed for psychological distress 1-month postgenetic testing results. Primary and secondary outcome measures GPRI, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and Impact of Event Scale (IES). Results The final 20-item GPRI had a high reliability—Cronbachs α at 0.81. The construct validity was supported by high correlations between GPRI and BSI and IES. The predictive value was demonstrated by a receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.78 plotting GPRI against follow-up assessments using HAM-D and HAM-A. Conclusions With a cut-off score of 50, GPRI identified 84% of participants who displayed distress postgenetic testing results, supporting its potential usefulness in a clinical setting.

Hard to swallow: a systematic review of deliberate foreign body ingestion

OBJECTIVE Deliberate foreign body ingestion (DFBI) is often impulsively driven, repetitive and refractory to intervention and frequently necessitates multiple medical interventions. As such, the frustrations among health care providers are great, and the financial toll on health care is significant. Nevertheless, the literature on DFBI is sparse, and suggestions for treatment planning and management are limited. The authors sought to investigate and uncover efficacious treatments and strategies for preventing reoccurrence in DFBI. We build on earlier work by offering both broad and diagnosis-specific management strategies. METHOD A literature review was performed addressing the presentation, management and prevention of reoccurrences of DFBI. Four cases of DFBI are presented illustrating those psychiatric diagnoses (psychosis, malingering, obsessive-compulsive disorder and borderline personality disorder) most frequently encountered in hospital practice. Both broad and specific treatment approaches are presented. RESULTS Patients engaging in DFBI are best managed through a multidisciplinary approach, following acute medical management. Successful strategies for the prevention of reoccurrences of DFBI are inconclusive. CONCLUSION Understanding the function of this behavior is critical in developing treatment for patients who engage in these dangerous, potentially life-threatening, self-injurious behaviors. An amalgam of medical, pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral interventions is recommended, as is additional research.

A novel network for mentoring family physicians on mental health issues using E-mail.

ObjectiveFamily practitioners are significant providers of mental health care and routinely report difficulty acquiring timely support in this area. The Collaborative Mental Health Care Network assembled groups of family practitioners and provided them with mental health practitioner mentors. This article addresses communication in the Network, its effect on family practitioners, and the role e-mail plays.MethodsThis descriptive study utilizes two sources of data: a quality assurance survey administered to family practitioners in the Network and a sampling of e-mail correspondence between family practitioners and mental health and addiction mentors, examined qualitatively.ResultsFamily practitioners in the Network requested consultation on pharmacotherapy (53%), psychotherapy (34%), treatment review (27%), and diagnosis (24%). Satisfaction with the Network was high, with 88% of family practitioners reporting an improvement in ability to provide mental health care. E-mail analysis suggests that mentors convey information directly and indirectly and that a knowledge hierarchy, but not a power hierarchy develops. The trusted relationship between the mentee and mentor is an important context for effective education.ConclusionThis model of mentoring is highly satisfactory to family practitioners and correlates with increased confidence in caring for patients with mental health issues. E-mail is a promising strategy for effective feedback and support between family practitioners and specialists.

Responsiveness to change to change due to supportive-expressive group therapy, improvement in mood and disease progression in women with metastatic breast cancer

ObjectiveTo compare the responsiveness of six questionnaires using three hypotheses of change: (i) change due to supportive-expressive group therapy (SEGT), (ii) improved mood defined as a small effect size (.2) on Profile of Mood States (POMS) Total Mood Disturbance score and (iii) progression of disease.MethodData from the “Breast Expressive-Supportive Therapy” study, a multicentre randomized controlled trial of change due to SEGT versus standard of care in women with metastatic breast cancer were used. Questionnaires studied were: POMS, Impact of Event Scale, Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS), EORTC QLQ-C30, Mental Adjustment to Cancer and a Pain visual analog scale (VAS). Responsiveness to change was evaluated using the standardized response mean. POMS was used as the standard.ResultsPOMS was the most responsive questionnaire to change due to SEGT. Questionnaires measuring psychosocial attributes were responsive to improvement in mood. EORTC QLQ-C30, PAIS, PAIN VAS and MAC were the most responsive to disease progression. More responsive questionnaires were associated with the smallest sample size required to detect an effect.ConclusionsResponsiveness to change is context specific. The POMS was the most responsive questionnaire to psychosocial therapy.

Mental health follow-up after deliberate self-harm and risk for repeat self-harm and death

Morbidity and mortality after deliberate self-harm (DSH) are high, so mental health care shortly after DSH is recommended. Using population-level health data we determined the association between a mental health visit and risk for repeat DSH with or without intensive care unit (ICU) admission or all-cause death. Over two years, 23,140 individuals had emergency department treatment for DSH. Within 30 days, 10.7% had a family physician mental health visit, 17.1% visited a psychiatrist, 3.6% visited both and 68.6% neither. Individuals who received mental health follow-up had more chronic and severe mental illness and higher acuity DSH. Over five years, repeat DSH occurred in 4792 (20.7%). Repeat DSH was more common in those who had a mental health visit within 30 days. Adjusting for baseline characteristics attenuated these differences. Similar results were found for DSH with ICU admission (5.0%) and death (7.6%). More frequent follow-up was not associated with better outcome. Timely access to mental health care after DSH was poor at 31%. Follow-up care had virtually no association with subsequent risk, so treatment as usual is insufficient. Post-DSH care augmented with evidence-based interventions is required.

Childhood Adversities and Physical and Mental Health Outcomes in Adults Living with HIV: Findings from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study

We sought to estimate the prevalence of childhood adversity and examine its relationship with health outcomes among people living with HIV. Study participants included 1409 adults living with HIV and receiving care in Toronto, Canada. Data on childhood adversity, health behaviors, HIV outcome measures, depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were collected through face-to-face interviews and medical records. Statistical analyses included multivariable linear and logistic regression modeling. The prevalence of any childhood adversity was 71% (individual types ranged from 11% to 44%) and higher prevalence was associated with younger age, Indigenous or African/Caribbean/Black ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status, and higher rates of cigarette smoking and nonmedicinal drug use. Greater number of childhood adversities was associated with greater odds of depression and decreasing mental HRQOL. HIV care providers need to screen for childhood adversities and address childhood trauma within the context of HIV care.