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Mental health

About: Mental health is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 183794 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4340463 citations. The topic is also known as: mental wellbeing.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Perceptions of neighborhood characteristics and measures of social support and social integration entered as interactions with neighborhood perceptions did not buffer the effect of neighborhood perceptions, and the need for structural intervention was suggested.
Abstract: Quantitative and qualitative research suggests that urban disadvantaged environments may be highly stressful to their inhabitants. Social disorganization may be deleterious to both physical and mental health. The relationships among perceptions of one's neighborhood, measures of social support and social integration, and level of subsequent depressive symptoms was examined with a community sample of 818 individuals screened for an HIV prevention intervention, most of whom were current or former drug users. After adjusting for baseline levels of depressive symptoms, perceptions of neighborhood characteristics (vandalism, litter or trash, vacant housing, teenagers hanging out, burglary, drug selling, and robbery) predicted depressive symptoms at a 9-month follow-up interview. Measures of social support and social integration, entered as interactions with neighborhood perceptions, did not buffer the effect of neighborhood perceptions. However, CES-D scores at follow-up for frequent church attendees were lower. The data support theories of social disorganization and social stress and suggest the need for structural intervention.

684 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The high prevalence rate and significant impairment associated with a diagnosis of mental disorder suggests that treatment resources need to target the young adult sector of the population, and primary prevention and etiological research efforts need totarget children and adolescents.
Abstract: Mental health data were gathered at ages 11, 13, 15, 18, and 21 in an epidemiological sample using standardized diagnostic assessments. Prevalence of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed. revised; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) mental disorders increased longitudinally from late childhood (18%) through mid-(22%) to late-adolescence (41%) and young adulthood (40%). Nearly half of age-21 cases had comorbid diagnoses; and comorbidity was associated with severity of impairment. The incidence of cases with adult onset was only 10.6%: 73.8% of adults diagnosed at age 21 had a developmental history of mental disorder. Relative to new cases, those with developmental histories were more severely impaired and more likely to have comorbid diagnoses. The high prevalence rate and significant impairment associated with a diagnosis of mental disorder suggests that treatment resources need to target the young adult sector of the population. The low new-case incidence in young adulthood, however, suggests that primary prevention and etiological research efforts need to target children and adolescents.

683 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Among community-dwelling older adults, inadequate health literacy was independently associated with poorer physical and mental health.
Abstract: Background Individuals with limited health literacy have less health knowledge, worse self-management skills, lower use of preventive services, and higher hospitalization rates. We evaluated the association between health literacy, self-reported physical and mental health functioning, and health-related activity limitations among new Medicare managed care enrollees. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 2923 enrollees was conducted in Cleveland, Ohio; Houston, Tex; Tampa, Fla; and Fort Lauderdale–Miami, Fla. Health literacy was measured using the short form of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. We used outcome measures that included scores on the physical and mental health functioning subscales of the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living and activities of daily living, and limitations because of physical health and pain. Results After adjusting for the prevalence of chronic conditions, health risk behaviors, and sociodemographic characteristics, individuals with inadequate health literacy had worse physical function (67.7 vs 78.0, P P Conclusion Among community-dwelling older adults, inadequate health literacy was independently associated with poorer physical and mental health.

682 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore potential mechanisms linking pleasant feelings and good health, including direct effects of positive affect on physiology, especially the immune system, the information value of emotional experiences, the psychological resources engendered by positive feeling states, and the ways in which mood can motivate health-relevant behaviors, and elicitation of social support.
Abstract: Positive emotional states may promote healthy perceptions, beliefs, and physical well-being itself. To explore potential mechanisms linking pleasant feelings and good health, the authors consider several lines of research, including (a) direct effects of positive affect on physiology, especially the immune system, (b) the information value of emotional experiences, (c) the psychological resources engendered by positive feeling states, (d) the ways in which mood can motivate health-relevant behaviors, and (e) the elicitation of social support. As anticipated by the Greek physician Hippocrates, positive emotions and healthy outcomes may be linked through multiple pathways.

682 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
21 May 2013-BMJ
TL;DR: The gap in their life expectancy compared with the general population has widened since 1985 and public efforts should be directed towards improving physical health to reduce mortality in people with mental illness, in addition to ongoing efforts to prevent suicide.
Abstract: Objective To examine the mortality experience of psychiatric patients in Western Australia compared with the general population. Design Population based study. Setting Western Australia, 1985-2005. Participants Psychiatric patients (292 585) registered with mental health services in Western Australia. Main outcome measures Trends in life expectancy for psychiatric patients compared with the Western Australian population and causes of excess mortality, including physical health conditions and unnatural causes of death. Results When using active prevalence of disorder (contact with services in previous five years), the life expectancy gap increased from 13.5 to 15.9 years for males and from 10.4 to 12.0 years for females between 1985 and 2005. Additionally, 77.7% of excess deaths were attributed to physical health conditions, including cardiovascular disease (29.9%) and cancer (13.5%). Suicide was the cause of 13.9% of excess deaths. Conclusions Despite knowledge about excess mortality in people with mental illness, the gap in their life expectancy compared with the general population has widened since 1985. With most excess deaths being due to physical health conditions, public efforts should be directed towards improving physical health to reduce mortality in people with mental illness, in addition to ongoing efforts to prevent suicide.

681 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20251
20244
202314,684
202229,980
202117,571
202014,764