Reducing policing in mental health crises: A vision for university campuses

University campuses could become leaders in developing alternatives to policing for managing public health and safety, yet, nearly all campuses rely on campus or local police to respond to mental health emergencies. Herein, we present the available evidence for campus mobile crisis intervention teams (MCITs) as an alternative to policing, consider what colleges and universities can learn from existing community MCIT models, and propose initial steps for the development and implementation of a campus MCIT.

Prosocial behavior reliably reduces loneliness: An investigation across two studies

Prosocial behavior, any behavior with the goal of benefiting another person, has been shown to improve mood and boost overall well-being for the individual performing the action as well as the recipient. The purpose of this study was to assess whether prosocial behavior could also reduce state loneliness. To examine this, we conducted two experimental studies to evaluate the effect of different prosocial behaviors on loneliness and associated cognitive and affective measures. In Study 1, we operationalized prosocial behavior as gift giving, and participants (n = 286) were randomly assigned to complete either a gift giving, gift keeping, or neutral control task. In Study 2, prosocial behavior was operationalized as writing a note of appreciation to a close other, and participants (n = 288) were randomly assigned to complete a written note of appreciation to a close other, a written reflection of a time when they received social support in the past, or a neutral control task. Across both studies, prosocial behavior reliably reduced state loneliness and improved mood but was less effective at reducing negative automatic thoughts about the self. Depressive and social anxiety symptoms were explored as possible moderators of the effects of prosocial behavior on outcome measures and were found to be significant moderators in Study 2, but not Study 1. Future directions and implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluating social skill in individuals with schizophrenia with the brief impression questionnaire (BIQ)

Current social skill assessments for individuals with schizophrenia require extensive administration times, training, and coding procedures, thus limiting their clinical utility. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Brief Impression Questionnaire (BIQ), a novel measure designed to utilize immediate impression formation in the assessment of social skill in schizophrenia. An exploratory factor analysis of the BIQ was conducted, and relationships between the extracted factors and measures of social cognition and functioning were assessed. Additionally, we assessed differences on the BIQ between individuals with schizophrenia and control participants. Twenty-two research assistants at three sites rated participants using the BIQ (154 control participants and 218 individuals with schizophrenia). The results revealed identical one-factor structures for both participant groups. For both groups, the BIQ total score was positively associated with performance on social cognitive and everyday functioning assessments. Further, control participants were rated more positively on all BIQ items and received higher BIQ total scores. In the schizophrenia sample, BIQ scores predicted performance on social functioning assessments while controlling for symptom severity. These results indicate that impression formation may be a viable and efficient tool to measure aspects of social cognition and functioning in people with schizophrenia.