JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 2 2005
Salima Mamodhoussen
In this study, we describe the psychometric properties of the Couple Therapy Alliance Scale, revised (CTAS,r) and investigates the impact of marital and psychiatric distress on alliance. Seventy-nine couples in therapy completed a French version of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and of the Psychiatric Symptoms Index at session one, and a French version of the CTAS,r at session three. Results indicate that the French version of the CTAS,r has adequate psychometric properties, although the subscales of the instrument are highly intercorrelated. Furthermore, marital adjustment predicts alliance scores, whereas psychiatric symptoms do not. Finally, male marital adjustment and female psychiatric symptoms are lower in couples where spouses have divergent perceptions of the alliance. Future research directions are discussed. [source]

SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS, SHARING OF TRAUMATIC REMINISCES, AND MARITAL QUALITY AMONG SPOUSES OF HOLOCAUST CHILD SURVIVORS

JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 4 2001
Rachel Lev-Wiesel
In this study, we examined the issue of secondary traumatic stress (STS) among spouses of Holocaust survivors who were children during the World War II. STS is defined as comprising the same components as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), except that the person evidencing the symptoms has not actually been exposed to the traumatic event(s), but has developed them as a result of caring for someone with PTSD. Participants were 90 couples who completed self-report questionnaires regarding posttraumatic symptoms, psychological distress, and marital quality. The results showed that about one-third of the spouses suffered from some degree of STS symptoms. Secondary traumatic stress symptoms and psychological distress among spouses were significantly related to hostility, anger, paranoia, and interpersonal sensitivity in the survivor, but unrelated to whether the survivor had shared his/her reminiscences with the spouse. Female spouses were found to suffer more distress than male spouses, especially when their partner suffered high levels of PTSD. The results suggest that STS is, to a large degree, related to the demands of living with a symptomatic survivor, possibly more than to the empathic element thought to be central to this syndrome. [source]

Corporate Governance and Financial Distress: evidence from Taiwan

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2004
Tsun-Siou Lee
Prior empirical evidence supports the wealth expropriation hypothesis that weak corporate governance induced by certain types of ownership structures and board composition tends to result in minority interest expropriation. This in turn reduces corporate value. However, it is still unclear whether corporate financial distress is related to these corporate governance characteristics. To answer this question, we adopt three variables to proxy for corporate governance risk, namely, the percentage of directors occupied by the controlling shareholder, the percentage the controlling shareholders shareholding pledged for bank loans (pledge ratio), and the deviation in control away from the cash flow rights. Binary logistic regressions are then fitted to generate dichotomous prediction models. Taiwanese listed firms, characterised by a high degree of ownership concentration, similar to that in most countries, are used as our empirical samples. The evidence suggests that the three variables mentioned above are positively related to the risk for financial distress in the following year. Generally speaking, firms with weak corporate governance are vulnerable to economic downturns and the probability of falling into financial distress increases. [source]

Alcohol consumption patterns and risk factors among childhood cancer survivors compared to siblings and general population peers

ADDICTION, Issue 7 2008
E. Anne Lown
ABSTRACT Aims This study describes alcohol consumption among adult survivors of pediatric cancer compared to sibling controls and a national sample of healthy peers. Risk factors for heavy drinking among survivors are described. Design, setting and participants Cross-sectional data were utilized from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study including adult survivors of pediatric cancer (n = 10 398) and a sibling cohort (n = 3034). Comparison data were drawn from the National Alcohol Survey (n = 4774). Measurement Alcohol consumption, demographic, cancer diagnosis, treatment and psychosocial factors were measured. Findings Compared to peers, survivors were slightly less likely to be risky [adjusted odds ratio (ORadj) = 0.9; confidence interval (CI) 0.8,1.0] and heavy drinkers (ORadj = 0.8; CI 0.7,0.9) and more likely to be current drinkers. Compared to siblings, survivors were less likely to be current, risky and heavy drinkers. Risk factors for survivors' heavy drinking included being age 18,21 years (ORadj = 2.0; 95% CI 1.5,2.6), male (ORadj = 2.1; 95% CI 1.8,2.6), having high school education or less (ORadj = 3.4; 95% CI 2.7,4.4) and drinking initiation before age 14 (ORadj = 6.9; 95% CI 4.4,10.8). Among survivors, symptoms of depression, anxiety or somatization, fair or poor self-assessed health, activity limitations and anxiety about cancer were associated with heavy drinking. Cognitively compromising treatment, brain tumors and older age at diagnosis were protective. Conclusions Adult survivors of childhood cancer show only a modest reduction in alcohol consumption compared to peers despite their more vulnerable health status. Distress and poorer health are associated with survivor heavy drinking. Screening for alcohol consumption should be instituted in long-term follow-up care and interventions among survivors and siblings should be established to reduce risk for early drinking. [source]

Distress, Dissociation, and Embodied Experience: Reconsidering the Pathways to Mediumship and Mental Health

ETHOS, Issue 1 2005
REBECCA SELIGMAN
This article explores the biocultural bases of spirit possession mediumship in the Afro-Brazilian religion, Candomblé. After a brief review of the literature, the article moves beyond the biomedical and social-structural explanations that have dominated the theoretical landscape, by attempting to construct an etiology of mediumship that is traced through the interface of individual characteristics with the cultural belief system that forms their context. Data were collected from a total of 71 individuals over the course of a year-long field study in Salvador, Brazil. Analyses of social ethnography, life history and semistructured interviews along with results from psychological inventories, suggest that altered states of consciousness should not be considered the central and defining element of mediumship. An alternative model is proposed, in which the combination of social conditions and somatic susceptibilities causes certain individuals to identify with the mediumship role, and predisposes them to dissociate. However in the context of Candomblé, dissociation is not a pathological experience, but rather a therapeutic mechanism, learned through religious participation, that benefits individuals with a strong tendency to somatize. [source]

Memory, Trauma, and Embodied Distress: The Management of Disruption in the Stories of Cambodians in Exile

ETHOS, Issue 3 2000
Professor Gay Becker
Embodied memories of terror and violence create new meaning and reorder the world, but in doing so they encompass the inexplicable aspects of cultural processes that have allowed the world one lives in to become an unspeakable place, hostile and death-ridden. In this article, we examine the narratives of Cambodian refugees'experiences of the Khmer Rouge regime against the backdrop of an ethnographic study of older Cambodians' lives in an inner-city neighborhood. The stories from this study of 40 Cambodians between the ages of 50 and 79 illustrate the relationship between bodily distress and memory, and between personal history and collective experience. These narratives reveal how people strive to create continuity in their lives but under certain circumstances are unable to do so. [source]

Corporate Sell-offs in the UK: Use of Proceeds, Financial Distress and Long-run Impact on Shareholder Wealth

EUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2008
Edward Lee
G34 Abstract This study examines the long-run return performance following UK corporate sell-off announcements. We observe significant negative abnormal returns up to five years subsequent to sell-off announcements. Our finding is robust to various specifications, irrespective of the intended use of proceeds. We also find a significantly positive association between long-run abnormal returns and the magnitude of cash proceeds for sellers reducing corporate debt as well as for sellers with deeper financial distress or higher growth prospects. Overall, we find that UK corporate sell-offs are associated with declines in subsequent shareholder wealth. [source]

Secured Creditor Recovery Rates from Management Buy-outs in Distress

EUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2003
David Citron
G33; G32 Buy-out literature suggests that secured creditors will recoup substantial proportions of the funds they extend to finance the initial buy-out. This paper uses a unique dataset of 42 failed MBOs to examine the extent of credit recovery by secured lenders under UK insolvency procedures and the factors that influence the extent of this recovery. On average, secured creditors recover 62 per cent of the amount owed. The percentage of secured credit recovered is increased where the distressed buy-out is sold as a going concern and where the principal reason for failure concerns managerial factors. The presence of a going concern qualification in the audit report and the size of the buy-out reduce the recovery rate by secured creditors. [source]

Distress and coping in cancer patients: feasibility of the Icelandic version of BSI 18 and the WOC-CA questionnaires

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, Issue 1 2006
E. HJÖRLEIFSDÓTTIR rnt, doctoral student
The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of two instruments within an Icelandic context, the Brief Symptom Inventory 18 (BSI 18) and the Ways of Coping Inventory , Cancer Version (WOC-CA) with specific focus on gender and type of treatment and coping techniques among cancer patients during time of treatment. The sample consisted of 40 cancer patients in three oncology outpatient clinics in Iceland, 53% were women and 47% men. The majority of the participants belonged to the age group 51,70. Cronbach alpha, means, confidence intervals and standard deviations were used for analysis as well as Mann,Whitney U -test for testing differences between genders in relation to psychological distress and coping. Anxiety was the factor causing the greatest distress, mainly reported by patients receiving chemotherapy. More women experienced depression than men, women (18.4%), men (8.3%). Distancing was the most frequently reported coping strategy, and men seemed to focus on the positive side more often than women did (P < 0.01). Although the results should be approached with caution, as the sample size was small, they do provide support for the strength of the measurements. Also the findings indicate that gender differences should be taken into account. [source]

Health-related quality of life, symptom distress and sense of coherence in adult survivors of allogeneic stem-cell transplantation

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER CARE, Issue 2 2001
L. Edman
This is the first Swedish study to evaluate the health-related quality of life and sense of coherence in adult survivors of allogeneic, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Twenty-five recipients completed three questionnaires 2,4 years after the transplantation. The questionnaires used were the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), the Symptom Frequency Intensity and Distress (SFID-BMT) scale and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale measuring subjective functional status, symptom distress and coping ability. Impairments in functional status were found, as compared with a population norm. The most common impairments were found in the areas of social interaction and sleep and rest. Eye problems, dry mouth, cough, sexual problems, tiredness, anxiety and changes of taste were symptoms reported by more than half of the patients. Despite impaired functioning and a high incidence of symptoms, the general health was described as quite good or excellent by 80% (n = 20) of the patients. The majority (20/22) had also been able to return to work or to attend school. No difference in the sense of coherence was seen, as compared with the population norm. Functional impairments were significantly correlated to a lower degree of sense of coherence. [source]

Maternal Distress and Parenting in the Context of Cumulative Disadvantage

FAMILY PROCESS, Issue 2 2010
JOYCE ARDITTI PH.D.
To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full-text page on Wiley InterScience (http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp). This article presents an emergent conceptual model of the features and links between cumulative disadvantage, maternal distress, and parenting practices in low-income families in which parental incarceration has occurred. The model emerged from the integration of extant conceptual and empirical research with grounded theory analysis of longitudinal ethnographic data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study. Fourteen exemplar family cases were used in the analysis. Results indicated that mothers in these families experienced life in the context of cumulative disadvantage, reporting a cascade of difficulties characterized by neighborhood worries, provider concerns, bureaucratic difficulties, violent intimate relationships, and the inability to meet children's needs. Mothers, however, also had an intense desire to protect their children, and to make up for past mistakes. Although, in response to high levels of maternal distress and disadvantage, most mothers exhibited harsh discipline of their children, some mothers transformed their distress by advocating for their children under difficult circumstances. Women's use of harsh discipline and advocacy was not necessarily an "either/or" phenomenon as half of the mothers included in our analysis exhibited both harsh discipline and care/advocacy behaviors. Maternal distress characterized by substance use, while connected to harsh disciplinary behavior, did not preclude mothers engaging in positive parenting behaviors. RESUMEN Este artículo presenta un modelo conceptual emergente de las características y las conexiones entre la desventaja acumulada, la angustia materna, y las prácticas de crianza de los hijos en familias de bajos recursos donde uno de los padres ha estado encarcelado. El modelo surgió de la integración de investigaciones conceptuales y empíricas existentes con un análisis de muestreo teórico de datos etnográficos longitudinales tomados de Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study ("Bienestar, Niños y Familias: Un estudio en tres ciudades"). En el análisis se usaron catorce casos ejemplares de familias. Los resultados indicaron que las madres de estas familias vivían la vida en el contexto de desventaja acumulada, ya que describieron una cascada de dificultades caracterizadas por preocupaciones con respecto al barrio donde viven, preocupaciones por el sustento económico, dificultades burocráticas, relaciones íntimas violentas y la incapacidad de satisfacer las necesidades de sus hijos. Sin embargo, las madres también tenían un profundo deseo de proteger a sus hijos y de subsanar errores del pasado. Aunque, en respuesta a los niveles altos de angustia materna y desventaja, la mayoría de las madres demostraron una disciplina severa hacia sus hijos, algunas madres transformaron su angustia apoyando a sus hijos en circunstancias difíciles. El uso de disciplina severa y apoyo por parte de las mujeres no fue necesariamente un fenómeno excluyente, ya que la mitad de las madres analizadas demostraron tanto el uso de una disciplina severa como comportamientos de cuidado y apoyo. Si bien la angustia materna caracterizada por el abuso de sustancias estuvo conectada con el uso de una disciplina severa, no excluyó que las madres tuvieran comportamientos positivos en relación con la crianza de sus hijos Palabras clave: desventaja acumulada, angustia materna, crianza de los hijos, encarcelamiento de uno de los padres, disciplina [source]

Population-Based U.S. Study of Severe Headaches in Adults: Psychological Distress and Comorbidities

HEADACHE, Issue 2 2006

Objective.,To examine the associations between severe headaches (SH), psychological distress, and comorbid conditions among U.S. adults. Background.,The lifetime prevalence of headaches is over 90% and headaches, particularly migraines, have been associated with disability, increased healthcare costs, and mood disorders. Methods.,We analyzed data obtained from adults aged 18 years or older (n = 29,828) who participated in the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, an ongoing, computer-assisted personal interview of a representative sample of the U.S. population. Results.,Approximately 15.1% of adults aged 18 years or older reported SH in the previous 3 months. Those reporting such headaches were significantly more likely, than those who did not, to report insomnia, excessive sleepiness, recurrent pain, and depressive or anxiety symptoms during the preceding 12 months. Approximately 88% of those who reported having had SH within the previous 3 months also indicated that they had at least one comorbid medical condition, relative to 67% of those without SH. Conclusion.,Despite their episodic nature, our results suggest that SH are associated with impairments in both physical and mental health. As the presence of SH may serve as an indicator of significant psychological distress and medical comorbidities, eliciting information about their occurrence during a standard medical examination appears to be warranted. [source]

Infant temperament, pleasure in parenting, and marital happiness in adoptive families,

INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 5 2001
Leslie D. Leve
Temperamental characteristics have been related to later externalizing and internalizing behavioral outcomes. To assess the relationship between temperament and the early family environment, we measured infant temperament, pleasure in parenting, and marital happiness via parent report in 99 families with a nonrelative adoptive infant. Perceptions of child temperament were assessed using two subscales of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ; Rothbart, 1981). Mothers and fathers who rated their adoptive child as showing more Distress to Limitations (on the IBQ) reported less pleasure in routine parenting activities; this effect was mediated by marital happiness for fathers. Mothers reported less pleasure in parenting with infants perceived to be more temperamentally fearful (on the IBQ). The bidirectional relationship between temperamental characteristics and pleasure in parenting is discussed. © 2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. [source]

Pathways to help-seeking in bulimia nervosa and binge eating problems: A concept mapping approach

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 6 2007
Natasha Hepworth PhD
Abstract Objective: To conduct an in-depth study, using concept mapping, of three factors related to help-seeking for bulimia nervosa and binge eating: problem recognition, barriers to help-seeking, and prompts to help-seeking. Method: Semistructured interviews were conducted to elicit information about help-seeking with 63 women (18,62 years) with past or present bulimic behaviors. Results: Using Leximancer software, factors identified as associated with problem recognition were Changes in Behavior, Interference with Life Roles, Comments about Changes and Psychological Problems. Salient barriers to help-seeking were Fear of Stigma, Low Mental Health Literacy/Perception of Need, Shame, Fear of Change and Cost. Prompts to help-seeking were increased Symptom Severity, Psychological Distress, Interference with Life Roles, Health Problems, and Desire to Get Better. Conclusion: Results highlighted the need for awareness campaigns to reduce both self and perceived stigma by others towards bulimic behaviors, and the need to enhance awareness of available interventions for people ready to engage in treatment, to increase help-seeking. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Ethical Dilemma and Moral Distress: Proposed New NANDA Diagnoses

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING TERMINOLOGIES AND CLASSIFICATION, Issue 1 2005
Beverly Kopala
purpose., To propose two NANDA diagnoses,ethical dilemma and moral distress,and to distinguish between the NANDA diagnosis decisional conflict and the proposed nursing diagnosis of ethical dilemma. sources used., Journal articles, books, and focus group research findings. data synthesis., Moral/ethical situations exist in health care. Nurses' experiences of ethical dilemmas and moral distress are extrapolated to the types and categories of ethical dilemmas and moral distress that patients experience and are used as the basis for development of two new nursing diagnoses. conclusion., The two proposed NANDA diagnoses fill a void in current standardized terminology. practice implications., It is important that nurses have the ability to diagnose ethical or moral situations in health care. Currently, NANDA does not offer a means to document this important phenomenon. The creation of two sets of nursing diagnoses, ethical dilemma and moral distress, will enable nurses to recognize and track nursing care related to ethical or moral situations. [source]

Community in Distress: Mental Health Needs and Help-seekingin the Tamil Community in Toronto

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 5 2003
Morton Beiser
First page of article [source]

Using Distraction to Reduce Reported Pain, Fear, and Behavioral Distress in Children and Adolescents: A Multisite Study

JOURNAL FOR SPECIALISTS IN PEDIATRIC NURSING, Issue 2 2000
Karen L. Carlson
ISSUES AND PURPOSE. Distraction during painful procedures has been shown to be effective in previous studies, yet this simple intervention is not used routinely. This study examined the effectiveness and feasibility of distraction in reducing behavioral distress, pain, and fear during venipuncture or intravenous insertion. DESIGN AND METHODS. A two-group randomized design with 384 children in 13 children's hospitals. RESULTS. Age was a significant factor in observed behavioral distress, reports of fear, and self-reported pain. The use of a kaleidoscope, however, did not significantly reduce pain or distress during venipuncture or IV insertion. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. Failure of the distraction intervention to reach statistical significance in this study is puzzling, given anecdotal reports of clinical efficacy. Methodological issues may have obscured actual differences between experimental and control groups. [source]

Healing through self-reflection

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 5 2001
Karran Thorpe PhD RN
Healing through self-reflection Background.,Today, women have an enlightened view towards their life cycles, which is evidence of their healing potential. Women need to share their insights about their healing potential gained through self-reflective processes. Their voices must be heard so that we can benefit from their collective wisdom. The process of healing through self-reflection has begun as a group of nurses share their insights. Documenting the perspectives of these nurses provides the opportunity for other women to learn from and apply this knowledge to their lives. Method.,Through purposive sampling, eight registered nurses, all women, were selected to participate in in-depth, personal, semi-structured interviews. The purposes in this paper are to describe a three-stage (i.e. awareness, critical analysis, and new perspective) reflective-thinking model and discuss the application of this model to women's expressed inner knowledge and wisdom across personal and professional life cycles. Results.,Three themes, signifying their ability to heal themselves, were labelled: Spirituality, Be-ing Versus Do-ing, and Eustress Versus Distress. Conclusions.,Essentially, self-reflection results from both personal and professional stimuli and signifies the need for change so that healing can begin. Recommendations are offered for nurse educators and researchers. [source]

Urinary Incontinence and Psychological Distress in Community-Dwelling Older African Americans and Whites

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 11 2004
Hillary R. Bogner MD
Objectives: To compare the association between urinary incontinence (UI) and psychological distress in older African Americans and whites. Design: A population-based longitudinal survey. Setting: Continuing participants in a study of community-dwelling adults who were initially living in East Baltimore in 1981. Participants: African Americans and whites aged 50 and older at follow-up interviews performed between 1993 and 1996 for whom complete data were available (n=747). Measurements: Participants were classified as incontinent if any uncontrolled urine loss within the 12 months before the interview was reported. Psychological distress was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Results: African Americans with UI were more likely to experience psychological distress as measured using the GHQ than were African Americans without UI (unadjusted odds ratio=4.22, 95% confidence interval=1.72,10.39). In multivariate models that controlled for age, sex, education, functional status, cognitive status, and chronic medical conditions, this association remained statistically significant. The association between UI and psychological distress did not achieve statistical significance in whites. Conclusion: The effect of UI on emotional well-being may be greater for African Americans than for whites. [source]

Organ Sales and Moral Distress

JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2006
EDUARDO RIVERA-LÓPEZ
abstract The possibility that organ sales by living adults might be made legal is morally distressing to many of us. However, powerful arguments have been provided recently supporting legalisation (I consider two of those arguments: the Consequentialist Argument and the Autonomy Argument). Is our instinctive reaction against a market of organs irrational then? The aim of this paper is not to prove that legalization would be immoral, all things considered, but rather to show, first, that there are some kinds of arguments, offered in favour of legalisation, that are, in an important sense, illegitimate, and second, that even if legalisation might not be wrong all things considered, there are good reasons for our negative moral intuitions. Moreover, identifying these reasons will help highlight some features of moral decisions in non-ideal situations, which in turn might be relevant to some other moral or policy choices. [source]

Levels of Psychological Distress Experienced by Family Carers of Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities in an Urban Conurbation

JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 2 2004
Eric Emerson
Background The aim of the present study was to identify factors associated with the level of psychological distress reported by family carers of children with intellectual disability living in a large urban conurbation. Method Information was collected by postal questionnaire (or interview for family carers who did not have English as their first language) from the family carers of 408 children with intellectual disability (31% of all children within the area administratively identified as having an intellectual disability). Results Results indicated that 47% of primary carers scored above the threshold for psychological distress on the GHQ and that scoring above the threshold was strongly related to the emotional and behavioural needs of the index child and South-Asian ethnicity and moderately associated with the severity of the child's delay in communication. Conclusions The rates of psychological distress (47% overall, 70% among South-Asian carers) were markedly higher than that found in previous studies of carers supporting a child with intellectual disabilities. It is suggested that these elevated rates of psychological distress may be mediated by socio-economic deprivation. [source]

Heart rate variability does not tap putative efficacy of Thought Field Therapy

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 10 2001
John P. Kline
Callahan (2001) has offered a series of case reports in an effort to validate the rationale and methods of Thought Field Therapy (TFT). These case reports employ subjective ratings, that is, the Subjective Units of Distress (SUD) rating scale as well as a gross measure of heart rate variability (HRV). My criticisms center around (a) inappropriately strong inferences given exclusive reliance on case reports, a potentially biased sample, and lack of appropriate controls; (b) misinterpretation of statistical artifact as systematic effect; (c) lack of systematic evaluation of HRV changes; and (d) erroneous interpretation of HRV. Callahan's article provides no evidence for the efficacy of TFT nor does it provide evidence for the credibility of TFT's rationale. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 57: 1187,1192, 2001. [source]

Pathways Among Marital Distress, Parental Symptomatology, and Child Adjustment

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 2 2004
Lauren M. Papp
A community sample of 295 mothers, fathers, and children (M age = 11.14 years, SD = 2.32 years) rated marital distress, maternal and paternal psychological symptoms, and child adjustment. The predicted direct relations between these family and child variables were demonstrated for both fathers and mothers. Tests of pathways among these variables were conducted for separate but complementary mediation models. Maternal and paternal symptoms mediated the association between marital distress and child adjustment. Marital distress mediated the link between fathers' symptoms and child adjustment, but the direct pathway between mothers' symptoms and child adjustment remained. Pubertal status was modestly related to higher levels of family stressors. Joint implications of marital distress and parental symptoms for child adjustment are discussed. [source]

Factors Associated with Distress in Urban Residential Fire Survivors

JOURNAL OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIP, Issue 1 2002
Anne Keane
Purpose: To identify factors associated with recovery in a sample of urban residential fire survivors. Design and Methods: 440 survivors of residential fires were interviewed at approximately 3, 6, and 13 months after the fire to measure psychological distress. A set of factors was identified that correlated with survivors' ability to recover from the fire event. Potential predictors of increased distress were identified. Hypotheses were that participants who were lower in socioeconomic status, who were minority members, who had less social support, who engaged in attributional thinking, and had greater concurrent life stresses would have greater psychological distress in response to a residential fire and would be less able to recover from the fire event. Findings: Distress after fire was high at 3 months and decreased for the majority of participants, although one-third of survivors had higher distress at 13 months than at 3 months. Loss of control and attributional variables had the strongest influence on psychological distress over time. Conclusions: The findings are consistent with stress-response tendencies expected after a stressful event. A set of predictor variables was identified to help clinicians target survivors at high risk for psychological distress after a residential fire. [source]

The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Yoga During Pregnancy on Maternal Psychological and Physical Distress

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 3 2009
Amy E. Beddoe
ABSTRACT Objective: To examine the feasibility and level of acceptability of a mindful yoga intervention provided during pregnancy and to gather preliminary data on the efficacy of the intervention in reducing distress. Design: Baseline and post-treatment measures examined state and trait anxiety, perceived stress, pain, and morning salivary cortisol in a single treatment group. Postintervention data also included participant evaluation of the intervention. Setting: The 7 weeks mindfulness-based yoga group intervention combined elements of Iyengar yoga and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Participants: Sixteen healthy pregnant nulliparous women with singleton pregnancies between 12 and 32 weeks gestation at the time of enrollment. Methods: Outcomes were evaluated from pre- to postintervention and between second and third trimesters with repeated measures analysis of variance and post hoc nonparametric tests. Results: Women practicing mindful yoga in their second trimester reported significant reductions in physical pain from baseline to postintervention compared with women in the third trimester whose pain increased. Women in their third trimester showed greater reductions in perceived stress and trait anxiety. Conclusions: Preliminary evidence supports yoga's potential efficacy in these areas, particularly if started early in the pregnancy. [source]

Unmitigated Communion, Social Constraints, and Psychological Distress Among Women With Rheumatoid Arthritis

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 1 2004
Sharon Danoff-Burg
This longitudinal study is the first to examine the influence of unmitigated communion on adaptation to a chronic illness that affects a much greater proportion of women to men. Women with rheumatoid arthritis completed measures of unmitigated communion, social constraints, and psychological distress at study entry and repeated the distress measure one year later. As expected, unmitigated communion was associated with psychological distress. Cross-sectional moderation analyses indicated that low social constraints buffered the negative effects of unmitigated communion. [source]

Suppression, Repressive-Defensiveness, Restraint, and Distress in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Separable or Inseparable Constructs?

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 3 2001
Janine Giese-Davis
A longstanding hypothesis links affective and behavioral inhibition with cancer incidence and progression though it does not clarify psychometric distinctions among related constructs. We hypothesized that repressive defensiveness, suppression, restraint, and distress would be separable factors in our sample of metastatic breast cancer patients. Our results support the discriminant validity of these constructs in our total sample, and the stability over 1 year in our control group. Using factor analysis, we found 4 separate factors at our prerandomization baseline corresponding closely to hypothesized constructs. Additionally, associations in a multi-trait, multi-occasion (baseline and 1 year) matrix met each of the 3 Campbell and Fiske (1959) criteria of convergent and discriminant validity. Future research testing the links between psychological, physiological, and survival outcomes with affective inhibition in cancer patients will be clearer when informed by these distinctions. [source]

A Multilevel Analysis of Gender Differences in Psychological Distress Over Time

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2009
Amanda L. Botticello
Females have higher rates of depression than males, a disparity that emerges in adolescence and persists into adulthood. This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to assess the effects of school context on gender differences in depressive symptoms among adolescents based on two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N=9,709 teens, 127 schools). Analysis indicates significant school-level variation in both overall symptom levels and the average gender gap in depression net of prior symptoms and individual-level covariates. Aggregate levels of depressive symptomatology were positively associated with contextual-level socioeconomic status (SES) disadvantage. A cross-level contingency emerged for the relationship between gender and depressive symptoms with school SES and aggregate perceived community safety such that the gender "gap" was most apparent in contexts characterized by low SES disadvantage and high levels of perceived safety. These results highlight the importance of context to understanding the development of mental health disparities. [source]

Peer Crowd Affiliation and Internalizing Distress in Childhood and Adolescence: A Longitudinal Follow-Back Study

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 3 2002
Mitchell J. Prinstein
Concurrent and longitudinal associations between peer crowd affiliation and internalized distress were examined in a sample of 246 youth (148 girls, 98 boys). Children completed measures of depression, social anxiety, loneliness, and self-esteem when they were in grades 4 to 6 (Time 1), and again 6 years later during adolescence (grades 10 , 12; Time 2). At Time 2, adolescents also reported their self-concept and their identification with reputation-based peer crowds, including Populars, Jocks, Brains, Burnouts, Non-Conformists, and None/Average crowds. Results indicated that adolescents' report of peer crowd affiliation was concurrently associated with self-concept and levels of internalizing distress. Follow-back analyses of internalizing trajectories revealed that Populars/Jocks had experienced significant declines in internalizing distress across development, whereas Brains exhibited some increases in internalizing distress between childhood and adolescence. [source]

The Relation between Puberty and Psychological Distress in Adolescent Boys

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 1 2001
Xiaojia Ge
This longitudinal study examined the relation between puberty, as measured by both pubertal status and timing, and adjustment problems, as measured by externalized hostile feelings and internalized distress symptoms, among adolescent males in grades 7 through 10. The results showed that boys who were physically more developed in grade 7, compared with their less physically developed peers, manifested more externalized hostile feelings and internalized distress symptoms in grades 8 through 10. Pubertal timing was significantly related to both internalized distress and externalized hostile feelings. This relation remained statistically significant, even after controlling for grade 7 maladjustment symptoms and concurrent stressful life events. Several significant interaction effects emerged between pubertal timing and concurrent stressful life events. The significant long-term effect of the pubertal transition, independent of stressful life experiences and symptom continuity, suggests that the past undifferentiated view of the favorable influence of early maturation on males needs to be modified. [source]