摘要:

The worst peacetime disaster in United States Army history occurred on December 12, 1985 in Gander, Newfoundland. A charter airline carrying 248 soldiers home from peacekeeping duties in the Sinai Desert crashed after a refueling stop, killing all on board. After the crash, Army family assistance workers were appointed to help the surviving family members of each dead soldier. While substantial attention has been paid to the impact of sudden disasters on survivors and bereaved relatives, little is known about the health risks to those who perform helper roles. This study aimed to: a) identify the major stress areas for disaster family assistance workers; b) examine the relation between degree of exposure to these stressors and health; and c) locate risk factors, or resistance resources that might modulate any ill effects of exposure. A survey instrument assessed duration and intensity of family-helping activities and psychological well-being, psychiatric symptoms, major illness indicators, and social and personality variables at 6 months after the crash and again at the 1-year point for 131 family assistance officers. Results indicate a dose-response effect between exposure measured at time 1 and well-being, symptoms, and illness at time 2. Analysis of covariance findings also show that social supports (work supervisors, family, and friends) modulate the effects of exposure on symptoms and well-being. Social supports and the personality style of hardiness (or dispositional resilience) interact to modulate the effects of exposure on illness. These results demonstrate: a) a delayed negative impact of helper stress on family assistance workers, and b) a protective function of social supports and personality hardiness. Further research in this area should thus consider the potential influence of social/situational variables and personality dispositions in coping with disaster helper stress.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Prior studies have shown that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam veterans is associated with various aspects of war stressors and that other diagnoses often co-occur with PTSD in this population. The present report examines the prediction of other diagnoses, in combination with PTSD, from a variety of war stressor experiences in a broad sample of veterans recruited from clinical and nonclinical sources. The results show that PTSD with panic disorder is better explained by war stressors than other diagnostic combinations and that high-risk assignments and exposure to grotesque deaths were more salient than other stressor experiences in accounting for different diagnostic combinations. Implications of the findings for PTSD's placement in the DSM-III-R and for psychological and pharmacological treatments were discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The DSM-III criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were operationally defined for use in a structured interview. Acceptable interrater and test-retest reliabilities were shown; diagnostic validity was demonstrated relative to a standard diagnostic interview procedure; construct validity was shown in relation to a PTSD self-rating scale and to degree of combat exposure; the structured interview score correlated significantly with observer symptom scales for depression and anxiety.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The long-term psychological sequelae of combat were assessed employing the Impact of Event Scale (IES) 1, 2, and 3 years after the 1982 Lebanon War. The following groups of Israeli veterans participated: combat stress reaction casualties (N=213) and comparable controls (N=116). For the purpose of the study, the subjects in each group were screened and further divided according to whether they did or did not suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results showed that elevated rates of distress were reported by both combat stress reaction and PTSD casualties at all three points in time. In both study groups the level of distress declined with time. Theoretical and methodological implications were discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Responses of 142 Vietnam veterans on two frequently employed measures of combat stress were factor analyzed. Four factors emerged, each of which represented an aspect of participation in activities within the Vietnam war zone. One factor in particular, abusive violence, was significantly related to postservice problems of adjustment and was the most powerful predictor of a diagnosis of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Our data suggest that unidimensional models of war zone stress that focus exclusively on exposure to life threat in combat situations are inadequate for characterizing important features of the Vietnam theater that are related to subsequent psychopathology.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Serum free thyroxine (FT4) and total thyroxine (TT4) levels were measured at 2-week intervals during the course of hospitalization in 29 male inpatients in the following four diagnostic groups: paranoid schizophrenia (PS); undifferentiated schizophrenia; bipolar I disorder, manic; and major depressive disorder, endogenous type. The most striking finding was a difference in the direction of both TT4and FT4change during clinical recovery in the PS group compared with the other three groups. Analysis of the delta values, representing the change between admission and discharge values, revealed significant differences between the mean rise in the PS group vs. the mean decreases in the other three groups for both TT4(p<.0003) and FT4(p<.003). For TT4, 75% of the PS group showed a rise during recovery in contrast to 4% of the remaining groups; for FT4, 50% of the PS group showed a rise compared with 14% of the other groups. A significant difference was also observed between the FT4levels of bipolar I, manic vs. PS patients at the time of hospital admission, which may have potential usefulness in the differential diagnosis of these two disorders. This study emphasizes the importance of exploring more fully the psychiatric significance of thyroxine levels within the endocrinological normal range and of doing longitudinal assessments of thyroxine and symptom changes during clinical recovery in psychiatric disorders.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This is the first empirical report suggesting a menstrual-linked artifact in determining rates of depression. We investigated the effects of perceived menstrual cycle phase, and premenstrual and postmenstrual timing in the cycle, on scores for a self-report measure of depression that is widely used in epidemiological studies, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The first study used a cross-sectional design and the second used a follow-up design with repeated measures across the menstrual cycle. Both studies assessed a community-based sample of regularly menstruating women. In the second study, testing was also done at 2-week intervals in men for comparison purposes. Both studies supported the hypothesis of a significant menstrual cycle-related effect on CES-D scores. The menstrual-linked effect is greater than the test-retest variability observed in men, such that women more often tend to meet the cut-off criteria for depression on the CES-D premenstrually, as compared with postmenstrually. Thus it is possible that cyclic variations in ratings on the CES-D may elevate epidemiological estimates of depression, as defined by RDC criteria, for menstruating women. Further longitudinal assessment in randomly selected samples will be needed in order to clarify whether a menstrual-linked effect is substantial and specific enough to require correction, or documentation of cycle phase, in epidemiological studies of depression.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

In the last 2 years, researchers have revised personality instruments to encompass the DSM-III-R criteria for personality disorders. More recent, innovative instruments undergoing validity work include a self-report instrument that rederives DSM-III personality categories from dimensional measures, a self-report designed to be used in conjunction with a diagnostic interview, an interview designed to be given by trained lay people, and a family history measure of the DSM-III personality disorder clusters. The modifications of older instruments and those instruments more recently developed are described. Clearly instruments require additional validity testing and better test-retest reliability. Discrepancies between different measurement instruments also need to be addressed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1989

数据来源: OVID