This handbook examines state-of-the-art research and clinical findings on attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS) across the globe. It addresses symptoms, assessment methods, and treatment approaches as they differ and converge across countries and cultures. The handbook explores how the illness impairs many aspects of daily functioning, with high rates of suicide and a reduced life span. It details how early detection is critical and may greatly reduce the public health burden of the illness. Chapters describe the early identification and intervention efforts that are currently underway across the world. The book offers international findings from prominent researchers, elaborating culturally relevant illness symptoms, help-seeking behaviors, and assessment and intervention strategies. In addition, chapters illustrate wide variations in symptom expression and experience, reinforcing the necessity of culturally attuned practice in patient-centered care. The book concludes by examining the implications – challenges and opportunities – for future research and clinical practices from an international perspective.
Topics featured in the Handbook include:
Barriers to service in low-resourced countries.
The role of traditional or culturally acceptable care in developing early intervention models.
The reliability and validity of tools for assessing and identifying APS.
Possible medical diagnoses that can present with APS symptoms and how to differentiate these conditions from APS.
The Handbook of Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome Across Cultures is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, and related professionals as well as graduate students in child and school psychology, psychiatry, social work, and related disciplines.
Author Biography:
Huijun Li received her Ph.D. in School Psychology from University of Arizona in 2003. She is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and Nationally Certified Youth Mental Health First Aid trainer. Dr. Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities, Florida A&M University. She is also a Research Collaborator of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining Florida A&M University, she served as the Director of Multicultural Research of the Commonwealth Research Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Li has received federal grants and foundation grants to study psychosocial factors such as culture specific beliefs about causes of mental illness, stigma, and barriers to services related to help-seeking behaviors among individuals from diverse backgrounds. She serves on the Editorial Board of Asian Journal of Psychiatry and Editorial Advisory Board of Psychology in the Schools. She also serves as a Research Committee member of Florida Association of School Psychologists, Ethics Committee member of the International School Psychology Association, and a program reviewer of National Association of School Psychologists. Dr. Li actively contributes to local community services by providing presentations and workshops on children’s mental health. Dr. Li served as experienced professional on youth mental health on the local ABC news after the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting incident. Dr. Li is the author or co- author of peer-reviewed journal articles (30), book , book chapters, translated books, and conference presentations.
Daniel I. Shapiro received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Emory University and completed his predoctoral clinical internship in the Veterans Affairs System. He is currently the Project Director of Clinical High-Risk Research at the Commonwealth Research Center of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and holds academic appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at both the Harvard Medical and BIDMC. He is an expert in the identification and treatment of early stages of psychotic illness and currently directs the operations of a number of federally and privately funded clinical research grants aimed at better understanding the developmental trajectory and early warning signs of psychosis and other severe mental illness, as well as stigma associated with the development of mental health concerns. Within this work, he is particularly interested in the role stress and neurocognition play in the development and recovery from mental illness as well as how biological mechanisms may moderate treatment selection and response. Before joining the Commonwealth Research Center, Dr. Shapiro served as a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving advanced training in Cognitive Therapy at the Aaron T. Beck Psychopathology Research Center. He is a practicing Clinical Psychologist, holding licensure in multiple states, and maintains a strong interest in the teaching and practice of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Outside the Commonwealth Research Center, Dr. Shapiro is involved in the training of clinical psychology interns and psychiatry residents at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and is a clinician in the PREP-UP program, a clinic that aims to promote recovery in those who recently developed a first episode of psychosis.
Larry J. Seidman, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and Massachusetts General Hospital where he has conducted neuroimaging research since 1992. He is Director of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health sponsored “Center of Excellence in Clinical Neuroscience and Psychopharmacological Research” at BIDMC since 2002, and Vice Chair for Research at BIDMC Public Psychiatry Division at Massachusetts Mental Health Center since 2005. He has spent more than 30 years studying the causes of psychotic disorders and mapping the components of neurodevelopmental disorders of prefrontal cortex and executive control in schizophrenia and ADHD. He has focused primarily on cognition in schizophrenia and ADHD and studies of youth “at risk” for psychosis. He is a licensed clinical psychologist who has long worked with teenagers. He has published more than 380 peer-reviewed papers and he has been Principal Investigator of 31 grants, participating in 80 funded grants since 1978. His current focus is investigating the phase of clinical high risk for psychotic illnesses and treatment of psychosis in the early phases. He has long been involved in teaching and mentoring and has mentored more than 50 individuals with faculty appointments around the world as well as many clinicians. In the past, he was Director of Neuropsychological Training and Services at Massachusetts Mental Health Center and President of The Massachusetts Neuropsychological Society. He was recognized in August 2014 by Thompson Reuters Science Watch as one of the “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014” based on his highly cited papers.
