Social science & medicine. Part E, Medical psychology最新文献

Three propositions about attitudes to mental illness derived from Nunnally [36] were examined with the semantic differential technique in the manner of Olmsted and Ordway [37] and Olmsted and Durham [38]. The examination was conducted in a population of 215 New Zealand University students. The outcome, in the same direction as some earlier studies, gave no confidence to those who considered that the community was ready, willing and able to play a major role in the care, treatment and rehabilitation of the mentally ill. As a consequence, it was considered that some prevailing social attitudes will need to be changed before professional care is transferred to the community.

A study of 70 reported deaths during dangerous autoerotic practice revealed that while 21 were accurately initially classified as accidental deaths. 19 were first misclassified as suicide, 7 as murder and 23 as undetermined cause. Five criteria for death during dangerous autoerotic practice includes evidence of: apparatus to alter physiological status coexisting with a self-rescue mechanism; solo sexual activity or intent; sexual fantasy aids; prior dangerous autoerotic practice; and no apparent suicidal intent. Findings suggest education regarding this type of death to determine more reliable statistics and further study regarding child and adolescent males as high risk for this practice and the relationship of this practice to gender and developmental sequence.

This research arose out of the desire of the surgeon involved to find out more about his patients. Consequently, thirty-five elderly ischaemic amputees were interviewed to discover their feelings about their operation and life after the operation. Although the survey is a small one, based on the Bradford area, it provides a considerable amount of data on a subject which has only infrequently been researched before, and suggests a number of avenues in which the medical and social services might be improved in order to help patients adjust to life without a limb.

The study examines the potential of fear-moderating and fear-neutral health information for arousing latent fears and consequently for generating a defensive response similar to that of manifest fear-arousing communications. It was hypothesized that messages may have such a potential when they relate to a type of undesirable behavior (e.g. smoking) which is commonly believed to be linked with some incurable, frequently fatal consequences (e.g. cancer). The hypothesis gained support from an investiation carried out among a representative sample of Israeli Jewish adults, following televised antismoking and cancer screening campaigns. The data indicate (a) that a latent (not broadcast) feararousing content (“Smoking causes cancer”) constitutes a central underlying factor of all manifest (broadcast) fear-moderating and fear-neutral content items; (b) that, in general, the salience of the latent content is greater than that of manifest items. However (c) the salience of both the latent and manifest contents decreases with the increase in health hazardous (undesirable) behavior (volume of smoking). Inferentially, data conform to conclusions from previous studies, which indicated that the arousal of distress due to the threat of a disease may generate a defensive rather than a coping response unless accompanied by a perception of feasible and efficacious ways of coping. Due to the underlying centrality of a latent threatening perceived reality, any message relating to the undesirable behavior may arouse latent fears, even if the formulations are in neutral or reassuring terms. Thus a message may result in a defensive response, independent of its formulation, unless it is efficacious in disproving latent, commonly shared threatening beliefs.

During a two year period the problems presented by 500 boys and girls referred to a psychiatric service for adolescents were examined. Their problems were multiple and complicated, and the contribution that could be made by a primarily psychiatric team varied considerably and in some cases was minimal. There was a tendency for the most urgent, pressing requests for admission to be on behalf of young people in long standing social difficulties for whom immediate admission to a psychiatric unit was least appropriate. It was concluded that while there is undoubtedly a core of adolescents with complex personal problems who are best helped in a psychiatric unit, this group is of uncertain size and perhaps smaller than is sometimes thought. What was in less doubt was our impression that for a substantial number of those referred for admission, alternatives to psychiatric care were more appropriate and would be available if non-clinical resources were more effectively organised, staffed and supported. Implications for the development of services for adolescents are discussed.