A growing body of literature on correctional populations from the past two decades indicates that a significant proportion of prison inmates report experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) during childhood. Extant literature also suggests that women suffer disproportionate victimization at all life stages. The current study examines the prevalence and magnitude of the associations between ACEs, social support, and negative emotional states (that is, anxiety, depression, and stress) among a sample of incarcerated women—a small but growing correctional population. Data were obtained from a survey of women incarcerated in two prisons in Spain (N = 174); survey questions elicited information on these women’s emotional, physical, and sexual victimization during childhood in addition to their self-reported levels of social support and mental health. A series of analyses indicated that female inmates who reported ACEs similarly reported lower levels of social support and higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress as compared with nonvictimized women inmates. The findings reported here underscore the importance of attaining a fuller understanding of female inmates’ histories of ACEs so that we can more accurately identify and, ideally, provide necessary services to those women at highest risk of mental health–related problems during incarceration.

Mental health providers may stigmatize persons with mental illness through derogatory behaviors and negative beliefs. Provider stigma may negatively influence the perspectives of persons with mental illness on their own recovery process. It is unclear whether providers’ self-assessed stigma is associated with their perception of the quality of care they provide or how self-assessed stigma relates to providers’ own expectations for client recovery. The current study identifies the associations between provider stigma, perceived quality of care, and recovery expectations. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from a sample of primarily female (73.68%), White (73.68%), and master’s-level (56.58%) service providers and clinical supervisors at 2 community mental health agencies serving persons with serious mental illness (N = 76). Linear regression analysis was conducted to explore the relationship of discordant quality of care, concordant quality of care, and expectations for recovery to provider stigma and to test the interaction of recovery orientation with concordant and discordant care. Higher quality concordant care was moderately associated with lower stigma, whereas discordant care was strongly associated with greater stigma. The inverse relationship between recovery expectations and stigma was small and not statistically significant; however, the interaction of concordant care with recovery expectations accounted for additional variance in stigma scores. This study suggests that provider stigma and provider expectations for recovery are distinct constructs. Additionally, greater provider-reported mental health stigma may be associated with providers’ own negative perceptions of the quality of care they provide.

The objective of this study was to identify the relationship of emotional reactivity with depression and anxiety symptoms among adults diagnosed with a serious mental illness (SMI) and to explore gender differences in these relationships. Cross-sectional data were collected from intensive case management services recipients (N = 150). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to identify the associations of self-reported positive emotions, fear, sadness, and anger to depression and anxiety, while testing the interaction of gender with emotional response. Compared with men, women reported significantly higher depressive and anxiety symptoms and greater reactivity to sadness and fear. Emotional response variables explained 35.5% of the variance in depression and 38.7% in anxiety. Gender did not moderate the relationship between emotional response and depression; however, gender did moderate the relationship between reactivity to positive emotions and anxiety. Self-reported emotional response may provide clinicians with insight into the severity and presentation of co-occurring anxiety and depressive symptoms among adults with SMI. Increasing the experience of positive emotions among women with SMI may contribute to reduced anxiety symptoms. Therapists and rehabilitation counselors may consider the interplay between mood and anxiety symptoms and emotional response styles to reduce the burden of psychiatric distress among people with SMI.

This cross-sectional study examines the relationships of loneliness and depressive symptoms to thoughts of self-harm among a clinical sample (n = 150) of older adults (M = 58.42 years, SD = 5.86 years; male, 55.3%; African American, 61.3%) with serious mental illness (SMI) receiving publicly funded, community-based psychiatric rehabilitation services. Participants completed the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Patient Health Questionnaire 9, and Geriatric Depression Scale–Short Form. Mediation analyses tested the association of loneliness with thoughts of self-harm through depressive symptoms and were adjusted for social support and demographic variables. The direct association of loneliness with thoughts of self-harm was mediated by depressive symptoms; indirect associations of overall and emotional loneliness to thoughts of self-harm were significant. Findings suggest the need for clinicians to reduce feelings of loneliness among older adults with SMI as a means of partially ameliorating depressive symptoms and thoughts of self-harm.

Incarcerated women are at high risk of exposure to traumatic events with subsequent development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study builds on prior research by adding new findings from Spain on the association between childhood and prison victimization, and negative emotional states with PTSD symptoms during incarceration among women. The study sample ( N = 174) included female prison inmates enrolled from two prisons located in Southeast Spain. Participants completed self-report questionnaires including demographic and criminal variables, childhood and prison victimization (including emotional, physical and sexual victimization), negative emotional states (including depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms) and PTSD symptoms. Logistic regression analysis revealed that women screening positive for trauma had significantly greater odds for the assortment of childhood victimization, prison victimization (specifically physical victimization) and depression, anxiety, and stress. Current findings suggest a need to include these construct assessments in the screening and identification of PTSD among incarcerated women in Spain.