A CONTENT ANALYSIS SPANNING 30 YEARS of MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION SCHOLARSHIP Camille Velarde
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Communication ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-1-2014 A CONTENT ANALYSIS SPANNING 30 YEARS OF MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION SCHOLARSHIP Camille Velarde Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cj_etds Recommended Citation Velarde, Camille. "A CONTENT ANALYSIS SPANNING 30 YEARS OF MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION SCHOLARSHIP." (2014). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cj_etds/83 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Camille R. Velarde Candidate Communication & Journalism Department This thesis is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication: Approved by the Thesis Committee: Dr. Tamar Ginossar, Chairperson Dr. Judith White Dr. Stephen Littlejohn ii A CONTENT ANALYSIS SPANNING 30 YEARS OF MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION SCHOLARSHIP By Camille R. Velarde B.A., Communication, University of New Mexico, 2009 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Communication The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July, 2014 iii Dedication “I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you.” ― Frida Kahlo This thesis is dedicated to my sister, Merica. iv Acknowledgements I would like to begin by expressing gratitude to the members of my committee: Dr. Tamar Ginossar, Dr. Judith White, and Dr. Stephen Littlejohn. Dr. Littlejohn thank you for your guidance in getting me back in school, your feedback, support and encouragement in writing my thesis. Dr. White thank you for your interest, support, and comprehensive feedback in this endeavor. Dr. Ginossar I am grateful that you were open to taking this thesis on, and working with me especially considering my circumstances. Your willingness to work with me, your continued encouragement and your calm uplifting nature were all factors that led to this being a positive experience. Thank you for your insight and feedback as well as your guidance. Also, thank you for giving me access to your students to use as coders. Thank you to my coders Joseph Padilla, Jennifer Chavez, Deseree Trujillo, Kristen Sanchez, Kirsten Follett, and Alyssa Mirabal. This thesis could not have been done without your help. I would also like to thank Dr. John Oetzel and Dr. Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik for their assistance and encouragement in the beginning stages of this thesis. Dr. Oetzel thank you for seeing potential in my work and for encouraging me to pursue this topic for my thesis. This thesis has become a wonderful avenue to explore my research interests and produce a piece of work that will benefit me in my future. Dr. Lutgen-Sandvik, thank you for your extensive feedback and edits in the beginning stages of this thesis. Thank you to my parents who have always supported and encouraged me to pursue my education. Thank you for these last 7 months, helping take care of Xiamara, and providing a loving, supporting environment to finish this thesis. Thank you for being my strength and teaching me the value of persistence. I love you both very much. v To Alex, thank you for your patience and for believing in me. Your support in this endeavor was integral to its completion. Thank you for pushing me, and making me see that I am stronger than I ever thought I could be. I love you. vi A CONTENT ANALYSIS SPANNING 30 YEARS OF MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION SCHOLARSHIP by Camille R. Velarde B.A., Communication, University of New Mexico, 2009 M.A., Communication, University of New Mexico, 2014 ABSTRACT Currently, the communication research concerning mental health is sporadic, unorganized, and disintegrated. Previous research has not looked at organizing the literature through content analysis. To address this gap in the literature, the purpose of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive synthesis of the current state of mental health communication research. This thesis has six key objectives: (1) systematically review the communication literature regarding mental health communication and identify current trends and future areas for research; (2) identify the aspects or topics regarding mental health communication in published research; (3) identify the theoretical underpinnings of mental health communication research; (4) identify the socio-ecological levels addressed in current research; (5) identify the methodological focus of current scholarship (6) review the key findings in narrative format. The findings are compared to past research, trends and gaps within the literature are discussed in terms of areas for future research, and a critique of the research population is presented. vii Table of Contents List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... xiii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ xiv Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 1 Thesis Objectives .......................................................................................................... 2 Significance................................................................................................................... 2 Consumers......................................................................................................... 3 Social effects of mental illness. ............................................................ 3 Economic effects of mental illness. ...................................................... 4 Physical effects of mental illness. ......................................................... 4 Practitioners. ..................................................................................................... 5 Scholars. ............................................................................................................ 6 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 6 Constructs and Their Definitions .................................................................................. 7 Communication. ................................................................................................ 7 Health. ............................................................................................................... 8 Mental health. ................................................................................................... 8 Mental illness. ................................................................................................... 8 Preview of Coming Chapters ........................................................................................ 9 Chapter 2: Research Context ............................................................................................... 10 Historical Emergence of Mental Health Communication Research ........................... 10 Issues Surrounding Key Constructs ............................................................................ 11 viii Communication. .............................................................................................. 11 Health. ............................................................................................................. 13 Biomedical perspective. ...................................................................... 13 Humanist perspective .......................................................................... 13 Economic perspective ......................................................................... 14 Critical perspective ............................................................................. 15 Mental health. ................................................................................................. 16 Euphemisms and conflating terms. ..................................................... 16 Mental health /mental illness spectrum............................................... 17 Policy implications.............................................................................. 17 Social implications. ............................................................................. 18 Critiques. ............................................................................................. 19 Social Ecology ............................................................................................................ 19 Background. .................................................................................................... 20 Framework for health promotion. ................................................................... 21 Four Core Assumptions. ................................................................................. 23 Implementation. .............................................................................................