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This chapter examines the role of stress and emotional well-being as critical antecedents of important outcomes in the military context. In it, we provide a framework for understanding the sources of stress among military personnel. Using this model, we review the risk factors associated with combat and deployment cycles in addition to protective factors, such as personality characteristics and social support, which mitigate the effects of stress on emotional well-being and performance. Finally, we evaluate efforts by military organizations to enhance the emotional well-being of service members through training programs designed to build resiliency.

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between marital satisfaction and sexual satisfaction, as well as other contributing factors, in the lives of older American adults.

Design/methodology/approach: Data from a restricted sample (N = 1,278) from the second wave of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) was analyzed. Regression models were used to examine associations with marital satisfaction.

Findings: Within ordinary least squares regression gender, education level, mental health, self-rated happiness, the absence of sexual quality, physical satisfaction, and emotional satisfaction were each statistically significant. Females reported higher marital satisfaction than males. Higher educated individuals expressed less satisfaction within their marriages than those with less formal education. Those that rated their mental health, happiness, and physical and emotional satisfaction high also reported higher marital satisfaction. Participants that reported an absence of sexual quality generally rated their marital satisfaction lower.

Originality/value: Most studies focus on the experiences of younger and middle-aged adults, often excluding older adults. Further, while there have been efforts to focus more research on the relationships of adults in midlife to late life, sexuality is still largely ignored.

Large numbers of women in prison report significant emotional and mental health problems, and there is evidence to suggest that the prison environment may exacerbate the incidence and severity of these issues (Armour, 2012). However, there has been limited exploration of the extent to which women’s mental health problems exist prior to incarceration, whether symptoms first occur in incarceration, and how incarceration affects this. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In-depth interviews were conducted with 43 women incarcerated in three English prisons and a thematic analysis of the data was conducted. Review of official prison records provided a form of data triangulation.

Analysis of the data revealed that while many women who experienced mental health issues in prison had experienced these issues in the past, a number of women reported first experiencing mental health and emotional problems only after entering prison. Although these problems often recede, this demonstrates the significant impact that entering prison can have upon the mental health of women. Unusually, the data highlighted many positive experiences of support within prison. However, there was some lack of consistency in the treatment and support offered to women.

The data presented here are in many ways more positive than previous research and – as opposed to much of the existing literature that simply states the prevalence women’s issues in prison – provides insight into the lived experiences of women in prison. This paper documents how prison can present an opportunity for women to engage with treatment, but there is a need for a clearer understanding of women’s needs and consistent and appropriate support.

Students with emotional and behavioral challenges are significantly impacted by mental health issues. Teachers and other school staff need mental health knowledge to work more effectively with these students. Collaboration with mental health professionals and sharing of information is essential.

This paper describes and discusses the evaluation of an innovative child and adolescent mental health project located in a large county in eastern England. The project was one of eight located in the voluntary sector and supported by the Mental Health Foundation as part of a national initiative aimed at responding in new, accessible ways to young people requiring help for emotional and mental health problems. Traditional specialist CAMH services are overwhelmed by demand while also failing to engage many young people. This study provides evidence of how new services can develop to meet the needs of troubled young people in appropriate and acceptable ways.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the consequences for older people’s mental wellbeing of understandings relating to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). The MCA seeks to maximise people’s abilities to make decisions and provides a framework for decisions to be made in a person’s best interests should they lack the mental capacity to do so themselves (Graham and Cowley, 2015). Practice varies widely amongst health and social care practitioners and little is known about the nature of interventions under the MCA or the outcomes for service users’ lives and health, especially their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

By reflecting upon existing evidence this position paper offers a narrative of how practice in applying the principles of the MCA may impact upon the mental wellbeing of older people. Drawing upon court of protection judgements and existing research the author analyses the way the MCA is understood and applied and how institutional mechanisms might hinder good practice.

There are tensions between policy imperatives and examples of practice linked to the MCA, the spirit of the MCA and tenets of good practice. Despite efforts on promoting choice, control and rights there is growing paradoxical evidence that the MCA is used as a safeguarding tool with the consequences that it constrains older people’s rights and that it may encourage risk averse practice. The consequences of this for older people are considerable and include lack of choice, autonomy and self-determination. This discussion suggests that anxiety in relation to the application of the MCA stills exists in practice and that maximising older people’s capacity and supporting decision making is central in promoting mental health and wellbeing.

This position paper will identify how the MCA might be interpreted in action through consideration of existing evidence. This paper may lead to future research on how understandings of the MCA are constructed and what values underpin its application from conception to outcomes in relation to understandings of risk, risk aversion, decision making and the potential and need for emancipatory practice. Essentially, the paper will discuss how the MCA actually seeks to enhance the mental health and emotional wellbeing of older adults by offering a rather radical approach to understanding people’s wishes and feelings, but how attitudes may lead to misunderstandings and negative outcomes for the individual.

In a climate of serious case reviews identifying concerns and abuses in care it is imperative that understanding of the MCA inform good practice. However, what constitutes good practice requires unravelling and the agendas, requirements and attitudes of interventions need considering from an epistemological perspective as well as to project how the outcomes of decision-making impact upon the mental health of older adults. This paper will discursively add value to the narrative around how the MCA is applied in practice and how chosen practice often constructs the mental wellbeing of older adults.

This paper describes a survey of mental health and well‐being in the adult population served by Wandsworth Primary Care Trust. The survey was designed as a pilot to obtain benchmark data on public mental health. The findings support the argument that absence of mental ill health does not equate with mental health. More than 12% of the sample were found to have symptoms of mental illness yet reported good mental health, while just over 10% had no symptoms but reported poor mental health. Looking at predictors, the most vulnerable to mental ill health were younger, divorced or separated adults who were unemployed and had a long‐term illness or disability. Older couples in good health were among those least likely to have mental health problems. The authors conclude that more sensitive and reliable public mental health indicators are needed to demonstrate clear evidence of improved mental health and to inform future work to improve the mental health and well‐being of the local population.

If we are to help diminish some of the negative schooling experiences and behaviour often manifested in Black boys, such as frequent displays of anger, defiance to authority, low self-esteem, and their deployment of coping strategies, which further contributes to their disengagement or expulsion from school, we have to ensure that their health and emotional well-being in schools is optimised. Black boys in the UK comprise the largest proportion of young people who have been excluded from secondary schools, and they are often among one of the lowest groups of underachievers in the UK. It is against these bleak backgrounds of underachievement and disengagement from the mainstream education system that this present study posits the argument for increased targeted intervention, not only to improve academic performance but also to improve the emotional well-being in Black boys. Drawing upon case studies of targeted intervention strategies employed in schools and the community over a period of nearly two decades, by the education charity called Excell3, this chapter argues that greater levels of targeted interventions can result in higher levels of social aspiration, educational attainment, self-esteem and emotional well-being among Black boys.

This paper seeks to provide an overview of key issues involved in older men's mental health and well being and describes a service improvement project called Grouchy Old Men? that focused on older men who were isolated and at risk of depression and suicide.

Grouchy Old Men? was a two‐year project that used a “change agent” model of organisational development, which aimed to improve the mental health and well being of older men through gathering and disseminating examples of good practice and piloting a training module to raise awareness about the mental health of older men.

The project was successful in supporting and promoting a number of local initiatives and organisations, as well as a national network, seeking to develop services to better meet the needs of this group, as well as raising awareness more generally about older men's mental health.

The paper suggests ways that services for older people can develop in order to make themselves more accessible to older men with mental health needs.

The paper brings together policy, research, and practical service improvement initiatives that will be of interest and relevance to policy makers, practitioners, and anyone with an interest in the mental health of older men.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of a short-term nature-based intervention on the social-emotional well-being of women incarcerated on a mental health unit in a state prison.

This research used a mixed method approach with individual interviews, a focus group and a visual analog scale (VAS).

Qualitative results found that women appreciated the planting party and the way the plants improved the physical environment. Women were also emotionally and relationally impacted by their participation and practiced skills related to planting and working with people. Quantitative results indicate that women were happier, calmer, and more peaceful after the intervention than before.

Study limitations include sample size, self-report data and use of a scale not yet tested for reliability and validity.

Findings suggest that nature-based interventions can serve as an adjunct to traditional mental health therapies in correctional settings. Nature-based interventions can support women’s goals to improve their mental health.

Findings suggest that nature-based interventions can serve to improve relationships among incarcerated women, which may make a positive impact on the prison community. Such interventions may also assist them in developing relational and technical skills that are useful upon release.

To date, there is limited knowledge about the impact of nature-based interventions on incarcerated individuals coping with mental health concerns.