Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Personality features, caring burden and mental health of cohabitants of partners with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or dementia
- Authors:
- NORDTUG Bente, KROKSTAD Steinar, HOLEN Are
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 15(3), April 2011, pp.318-326.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The aim of this study was to investigate the interplay between personality, mental health and type of disease in explaining caring burden of caregivers of partners with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or dementia. A cross-sectional study included 206 participants, 105 cohabitants of partners with COPD and 101 cohabitants of partners with dementia. Neuroticism was assessed by Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and externality by Locus of Control of Behaviour. The Relative Stress Scale evaluated caring burden. Mental health was determined by the General Health Quality (GHQ-28) questionnaire. The results found that neuroticism and type of illness played a major role in explaining caring burden and mental health. Many of the carers were above the cut-off point for psychiatric caseness on the GHQ; 30.5% for the COPD group, and 58.4% for the dementia group. Both groups had low scores for depression and high scores for social dysfunction, anxiety, insomnia and somatisation. Compared to the dementia group, the COPD group had lower scores and fairly stable levels on all subscales of the GHQ. Females had higher scores on somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia; they also reported higher scores on neuroticism and externality. The article concludes that differences in personality and illness explained both caring burden and mental health among caregivers.
Caring for children of parents with mental health problems - a venture into historical and cultural processes in Europe
- Authors:
- SOLANTAUS Tytti, PURAS Dainius
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 12(4), November 2010, pp.27-36.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This article discusses the European initiative Work Package 5 (WP5), a part of the CAMHEE programme, which was designed to bring children and families with parental mental illness onto the European agenda. Parental mental health problems are a major risk for children’s adverse development. Intergenerational mental health issues often leads to social marginalisation and exclusion, which constitutes a serious social problem. WP5 participants included Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Lithuania, Norway and Romania. The WP5 emphasised that it is important for every country to learn what the legal, human rights, and service and life situation is for these children and families and to take preventive and promotion action. The paper suggests that, to avoid further stigmatisation, awareness campaigns and training of professionals should capitalise on resilience and support for children and parenting rather than on risks. Psychiatric services for adults should respond to the needs for care and support of the patients' children. Finally, changes in society are needed, including redirecting legislation from restrictive measures towards promotion and prevention.
The social capital and mental health of long-term social assistance recipients in Norway
- Author:
- MALMBERG-HEIMONEN Ira
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Social Work, 13(1), March 2010, pp.91-107.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This cross-sectional survey analysed the mental health benefits of individual-level bonding and individual-level bridging social capital for 551 Norwegian longer-term social assistance recipients. Data were collected during 2005 and participants were recruited form 14 rural and urban municipalities nationwide. Subjects had been recipients of social assistance for at least six continuous months during the past year. The analyses showed that recipients generally had high levels of bonding social capital, whereas they had less bridging social capital. The findings demonstrated that bonding social capital i.e. contacts with friends and access to social resources are positively associated with mental health. Of the variables in the study that related to bridging social capital, social trust and trust towards the social worker particularly showed significant associations for mental health. The author concludes that it is important that the mental health benefits of various forms of bonding and bridging social capital are acknowledged within social work practices and that social work practitioners actively aim to increase social trust in longer-term social assistance recipients.
The experience of loneliness: main and interactive effects of interpersonal stress, social support and positive affect
- Authors:
- AANES Mette M., MITTELMARK Maurice B., HETLAND Jorn
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 11(4), November 2009, pp.25-33.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Loneliness is a mediating factor between the relationship of chronic interpersonal stress and psychological distress. Alleviating loneliness could reduce psychological distress even in the face of chronic interpersonal stress, and it is plausible that positive affect and social support may moderate chronic interpersonal stress-loneliness, as well as having a direct effect on loneliness. In a community based sample of 3733 Norwegian adults, direct and moderating effects of positive affect and social support were explored. Adding to a body of evidence suggesting a need for mental health promotion intervention research aimed at simultaneously reducing interpersonal stress and increasing social support, this study showed significant interrelations between interpersonal stress, loneliness, positive affect and social support, thus confirming stress, affect and social support are strong predictors of loneliness. The authors conclude that interventions to increase positive affect and social support may decrease loneliness due to direct affects, but cannot be expected to moderate the chronic interpersonal stress-loneliness relationship.
The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) is associated with informant stress
- Authors:
- NYGAARD Harald A., NAIK Mala, GEITUNG John T.
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(11), November 2009, pp.1085-1191.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study aimed to assess the association between informant stress and appraisal of patients’ cognitive functioning as reported by the IQCODE, which is designed to measure cognitive changes over time as perceived by an informant. Routinely collected data from a geriatric outpatient department during the period 1995 to 1998 were analysed, and the relationship between IQCODE and categorised Relative Stress Scale (RSS), an instrument to detect stress in caregivers, and informant groups and patient age was studied. The study concluded that IQCODE is associated with informant stress and that categorisation of RSS score into groups of low, intermediate and high risk or psychiatric morbidity can be a valuable contribution to a more meaningful application of RSS in general practice.
Including student narratives in teaching
- Author:
- SKUMSNES Anne M.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 27(3/4), 2007, pp.185-197.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Further education in mental health involves creating a learning environment in which psychological theories can become personalised and thus used when students encounter psychological phenomena in practice. This study involves mature social work students (aged 28-60) in a class exploring reaction to crises, and discusses the contribution made by their own short and anonymised narratives of an experience (direct or indirect) of violence. At the end of the session in which the narratives were written, the participants completed anonymous questionnaires and they also analysed narratives in small groups. Six out of ten students felt their own narratives had contributed to their understanding of the theoretical aspects of crisis reactions, and 70% had learned something from the narratives of others. Smaller numbers felt that they had learned something about themselves. None believed that the method should not be used because it was too emotionally intense. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
The Better Life Program: effects of group skills training for persons with severe mental illness and substance use disorders
- Authors:
- GRAWE Rolf W., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 16(5), October 2007, pp.635-634.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Despite the widespread use of group interventions for treating dual disorders, few standardized programs have been empirically validated. This study evaluated a manualized group skills training intervention for clients with dual disorders, the Better Life Program, in order to determine its feasibility and changes in substance abuse and mental health outcomes. Patients with dual disorders at nine centres in Norway participated in a pilot study using a within-subjects pre- and post test design. The program required an average of 37 sessions to complete and was provided as a supplement to standard mental health care. The aim of the program is to reduce substance misuse through providing information, motivational enhancement, skills training to develop rewarding relationships, relapse prevention, and establishing healthy leisure activities. Among the 82 patients who began treatment, 63 (83%) completed it. Treatment completers showed significant reductions in substance misuse and improvement in global functioning, but did not change in general symptom distress. This pilot study supports the feasibility of the Better Life Program, and suggests that it may improve substance misuse and mental health outcomes. Further research is warranted to evaluate the effects of this program using controlled research designs.
The negotiation of identity among people with mental illness in rural communities
- Authors:
- ELELAND Tor-Johan, BERGEM Randi
- Journal article citation:
- Community Mental Health Journal, 42(3), June 2006, pp.225-232.
- Publisher:
- Springer
Integration and normalization are goals within the community-based care of people with mental illness. The implementation of this care policy has led to increased contact between people with mental illness and so-called normal people and society at large. But we know little about how this change affects the former patients’ identity and experience of stigma and stereotyping. This study is based on qualitative interviews with people with mental illness (N=15) living in rural communities in four different municipalities in West Norway. The focus in the study is on the informants’ subjective experiences and the results show that they adapt in different ways, depending on how they negotiate their identity. Those who accept their role as “mental patients” seem to have easier access to services, they experience less stigmatization and fewer conflicts with their surroundings than those who oppose the patient role. Seem from our informants’ perspectives there seems to be a simple definition of integration: Being integrated is feeling accepted as yourself. Some implications for policy and mental health services are discussed.
The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI): the state scale in detecting mental disorders in geriatric patients
- Authors:
- KVAAL Kari, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(7), July 2005, pp.629-634.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
In geriatric psychiatry assessment scales are often used in clinical praxis in the diagnostic work-up of mental disorders. This study aimed to assess whether the state part of the STAI is useful as a case-finding instrument of mental disorders. Data came from 70 non demented geriatric in-patients in stable clinical condition. Mean age was 83.3 years (range 64-96), and 74.3% were women. The 20-item STAI state instrument was used to measure current anxiety symptoms. Without knowledge of the score on STAI state a psychiatrist examined all patients and set diagnosis according to DSM-IV-TR criteria, but hierarchical rules were not used. Sensitivity, specificity, Likelihood ratio and accuracy were calculated for different cut-points of the mean sumscore on the STAI state. The mean STAI sumscore in this group was 56.3 compared with 39.2 in the 59 patients without any psychiatric diagnosis. The authors concluded that the STAI state scale is a useful instrument for detecting a variety of mental disorders in older people and recommend that further studies should be carried out in different populations.
Childhood maltreatment among Norwegian drug abusers in treatment
- Authors:
- RAVNDAL Edle, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 10(2), April 2001, pp.142-147.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article reports on the investigation of the correlation between the European Addiction Severity Index and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire among 102 Norwegian drug abusers admitted to treatment. The aim of the study is to explore how different types and levels of childhood trauma and social and psychiatric factors, medical situation and experienced family history are interrelated. Concludes that more research, and especially prospective studies, is needed to clarify the importance of parents' substance abuse and psychiatric problems in childhood/adolescence compared with trauma in the client's childhood and the client's current psychiatric status.