A qualitative study on the role of cultural background in patients perspectives on rehabilitation

Background Low back pain (LBP) is one of the major concerns in health care. In Switzerland, musculoskeletal problems represent the third largest illness group with 9.4 million consultations per year. The return to work rate is increased by an active treatment program and saves societal costs. However, results after rehabilitation are generally poorer in patients with a Southeast European cultural background than in other patients. This qualitative research about the rehabilitation of patients with LBP and a Southeast European cultural background, therefore, explores possible barriers to successful rehabilitation. Methods We used a triangulation of methods combining three qualitative methods of data collection: 13 semi-structured in-depth interviews with patients who have a Southeast European cultural background and live in Switzerland, five semi-structured in-depth interviews and two focus groups with health professionals, and a literature review. Between June and December 2008, we recruited participants at a Rehabilitation Centre in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Results To cope with pain, patients prefer passive strategies, which are not in line with recommended coping strategies. Moreover, the families of patients tend to support passive behaviour and reduce the autonomy of patients. Health professionals and researchers propagate active strategies including activity in the presence of pain, yet patients do not consider psychological factors contributing to LBP. The views of physicians and health professionals are in line with research evidence demonstrating the importance of psychosocial factors for LBP. Treatment goals focusing on increasing daily activities and return to work are not well understood by patients partly due to communication problems, which is something that patients and health professionals are aware of. Additional barriers to returning to work are caused by poor job satisfaction and other work-related factors. Conclusions LBP rehabilitation can be improved by addressing the following points. Early management of LBP should be activity-centred instead of pain-centred. It is mandatory to implement return to work management early, including return to adapted work, to improve rehabilitation for patients. Rehabilitation has to start when patients have been off work for three months. Using interpreters more frequently would improve communication between health professionals and patients, and reduce misunderstandings about treatment procedures. Special emphasis must be put on the process of goal-formulation by spending more time with patients in order to identify barriers to goal attainment. Information on the return to work process should also include the financial aspects of unemployment and disability.

Youth at Risk: Part 1, 2012 Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar

The youth of Massachusetts are of primary concern to legislators and citizens. This briefing report features three essays by experts – Lisa Jones, Ramon Borges-Mendez, and Janis Wolak – who focus on three aspects of youth wellbeing: youth victimization and other indicators of psychological health, youth unemployment, and online sexual predators of youth. Although youth well-being is of primary concern, the worrisome stories about crimes against children that regularly fill the media have unfortunately obscured some more positive news from statistical reports on these same issues. Child victimizations of various types – i.e., child sexual abuse, witnessing domestic violence, child physical abuse, sexual assaults of teenagers, physical assaults and robberies of teenagers, and homicides of teenagers – have been declining nationwide and in Massachusetts since the early 1990s, in some cases declining dramatically.

Psychosocial aspects on the treatment of HIV-infection

Psychological and social factors have a deep impact on the treatment of HIV-infection, from the readiness to start antiretroviral therapy to treatment adherence over time. Among psychological factors, anxiety may affect HIV-infected persons in all stages of disease, from the disclosure of HIV diagnosis to the decision to start and maintain treatment. This is a lifelong challenge for both patients and doctors. Psychiatric comorbidities (depression, addiction) may enhance negative psychological effects of HIV. Among social factors, stigma and discrimination may occur in families and at work, leading to a loss of social support resulting in isolation and poverty. This may prevent HIV-positive individuals from seeking medical care. These aspects are particularly important in some groups of patients as injecting drug users and migrants. Acknowledgment and consideration of psychosocial factors are therefore essential for the long term success of antiretroviral therapy.

Psychosocial aspects in cardiac rehabilitation: From theory to practice. A position paper from the Cardiac Rehabilitation Section of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation of the European Society of Cardiology

A large body of empirical research shows that psychosocial risk factors (PSRFs) such as low socio-economic status, social isolation, stress, type-D personality, depression and anxiety increase the risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and also contribute to poorer health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and prognosis in patients with established CHD. PSRFs may also act as barriers to lifestyle changes and treatment adherence and may moderate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Furthermore, there appears to be a bidirectional interaction between PSRFs and the cardiovascular system. Stress, anxiety and depression affect the cardiovascular system through immune, neuroendocrine and behavioural pathways. In turn, CHD and its associated treatments may lead to distress in patients, including anxiety and depression. In clinical practice, PSRFs can be assessed with single-item screening questions, standardised questionnaires, or structured clinical interviews. Psychotherapy and medication can be considered to alleviate any PSRF-related symptoms and to enhance HRQoL, but the evidence for a definite beneficial effect on cardiac endpoints is inconclusive. A multimodal behavioural intervention, integrating counselling for PSRFs and coping with illness should be included within comprehensive CR. Patients with clinically significant symptoms of distress should be referred for psychological counselling or psychologically focused interventions and/or psychopharmacological treatment. To conclude, the success of CR may critically depend on the interdependence of the body and mind and this interaction needs to be reflected through the assessment and management of PSRFs in line with robust scientific evidence, by trained staff, integrated within the core CR team.

The developmental and evolutionary origins of psychological essentialism lie in sortal object individuation

Cimpian & Salomon (C&S) present promising steps towards understanding the cognitive underpinnings of adult essentialism. However, their approach is less convincing regarding ontogenetic and evolutionary aspects. In contrast to C&S's claim, the so-called inherence heuristic, though perhaps vital in adult reasoning, seems an implausible candidate for the developmental and evolutionary foundations of psychological essentialism. A more plausible candidate is kind-based object individuation that already embodies essentialist modes of thinking and that is present in infants and nonhuman primates.

The Psychological Outcome of Religious Coping with Stressful Life Events in a Swiss Sample of Church Attendees

Background: Recent research suggested thatreligious coping, based on dispositional religiousness and spirituality (R/S), is an important modulating factor in the process of dealing with adversity. In contrast to the United States, the effect of R/S on psychological adjustment to stress is a widely unexplored area in Europe. Methods: We examined a Swiss sample of 328 church attendees in the aftermath of stressful life events to explore associations of positive or negative religious coping with the psychological outcome. Applying a cross-sectional design, we used Huber’s Centrality Scale to specify religiousness and Pargament’s measure of religious coping (RCOPE) for the assessment of positive and negative religious coping. Depressive symptoms and anxiety as outcome variables were examined by the Brief Symptom Inventory. The Stress-Related Growth Scale and the Marburg questionnaire for the assessment of well-being were used to assess positive outcome aspects. We conducted Mann-Whitney tests for group comparisons and cumulative logit analysis for the assessmentof associations of religious coping with our outcome variables. Results: Both forms of religious coping were positively associated with stress-related growth (p < 0.01). However, negative religious coping additionally reduced well-being (p = 0.05, β = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.27–0.99) and increased anxiety (p = 0.02, β = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.10–3.39) and depressive symptoms (p = 0.01, β = 2.27, 95% CI = 1.27–4.06). Conclusions: The effects of religious coping on the psychological adjustment to stressful life events seem relevant. These findings should be confirmed in prospective studies.

Intelligence and the psychological refractory period: A lateralized readiness potential study

The psychological refractory period (PRP) refers to a delay of response times (RT) to the second of two stimuli when these stimuli are presented in rapid succession. If this limitation of rapidly processing the second stimulus contributes to the well-known differences in speed of information processing between individuals with higher and lower mental ability, individuals with lower mental ability should exhibit a more pronounced PRP effect than individuals with higher mental ability. Previous studies on this question, however, yielded inconsistent results. In the present study, we assessed mental ability-related differences in the PRP by measuring lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs) to separate premotor and motor aspects of speed of information processing in 95 individuals with higher and 95 individuals with lower mental ability. Although individuals with higher mental ability processed information faster than individuals with lower mental ability as indicated by shorter RTs and shorter premotor LRP latencies, the PRP effect was equally pronounced in both groups. These findings suggest that the processes underlying the PRP effect do not contribute to mental ability-related differences in speed of information processing. Rather, these differences seem to occur at an earlier stage of information processing such as stimulus encoding, stimulus analysis, or stimulus evaluation.

Differential effects of biological sex and relationship status on aspects of sociosexuality

Individuals differ in their orientation toward uncommitted sexual encounters. While previous research has given much emphasis on biological sex as important factor of influence, social determinants, such as relationship status, have been rather ignored. In the present study, the effects of biological sex and relationship status were investigated in a sample of 501 heterosexual adults (mean age: 28.1 years; 71.7 % female). Two-way analyses of variance yielded main effects of biological sex on Sociosexual Attitude and Desire implying men to be more permissive than women with regard to both facets. Relationship status had a main effect on Sociosexual Desire with singles having more permissive motivations than partnered individuals. Concerning Sociosexual Behavior, an interaction between biological sex and relationship status emerged indicating men to be more permissive than women among partnered individuals, but not among singles. Our results complement earlier research by highlighting the differential influence of biological sex and relationship status on aspects of sociosexuality.

The increasing role of career guidance at the turn of the centuries

At the beginning this paper sketches trends of the rapid changes of nearly all life issues, especially in society, work behaviours, labour environment and demands for adjustment under new social values. As main factors which influence worldwide the economic development and the labour market are elaborated the globalization and liberalization process and the labour market aspects of feminization, ageing labour force, migration, unemployment as a global phenomenon and general changes in labour demand by occupations and skill level. A well-developed and highly qualified career guidance service is seen as one of the most effective instruments in solving these problems which are raised by the described developements. The personal and psychological effects of uncertainty and dislocation of people and the new requirements of the expected qualification standard make career guidance an important cornerstone to cope with these social aspects. Thus, the nature and structure of guidance and counselling are described under the new challenges. The international co-operation in the guidance sector has accompanied this process in delivering two important documents. The Mission Statement and the Ethical Standards of IAEVG, adopted by the General Assembly of IAEVG in 1995, show in what direction guidance services have to be developed.

The increasing role of career guidance at the turn of the centuries

At the beginning this paper sketches trends of the rapid changes of nearly all life issues, especially in society, work behaviours, labour environment and demands for adjustment under new social values. As main factors which influence worldwide the economic development and the labour market are elaborated the globalization and liberalization process and the labour market aspects of feminization, ageing labour force, migration, unemployment as a global phenomenon and general changes in labour demand by occupations and skill level. A well-developed and highly qualified career guidance service is seen as one of the most effective instruments in solving these problems which are raised by the described developements. The personal and psychological effects of uncertainty and dislocation of people and the new requirements of the expected qualification standard make career guidance an important cornerstone to cope with these social aspects. Thus, the nature and structure of guidance and counselling are described under the new challenges. The international co-operation in the guidance sector has accompanied this process in delivering two important documents. The Mission Statement and the Ethical Standards of IAEVG, adopted by the General Assembly of IAEVG in 1995, show in what direction guidance services have to be developed.

The increasing role of career guidance at the turn of the centuries

At the beginning this paper sketches trends of the rapid changes of nearly all life issues, especially in society, work behaviours, labour environment and demands for adjustment under new social values. As main factors which influence worldwide the economic development and the labour market are elaborated the globalization and liberalization process and the labour market aspects of feminization, ageing labour force, migration, unemployment as a global phenomenon and general changes in labour demand by occupations and skill level. A well-developed and highly qualified career guidance service is seen as one of the most effective instruments in solving these problems which are raised by the described developements. The personal and psychological effects of uncertainty and dislocation of people and the new requirements of the expected qualification standard make career guidance an important cornerstone to cope with these social aspects. Thus, the nature and structure of guidance and counselling are described under the new challenges. The international co-operation in the guidance sector has accompanied this process in delivering two important documents. The Mission Statement and the Ethical Standards of IAEVG, adopted by the General Assembly of IAEVG in 1995, show in what direction guidance services have to be developed.

Consequences of adolescent's evening preference on psychological functioning: a review

This review provides an overview of the role of circadian preference in psychological functioning of adolescents taking into account their shift to eveningness during this stage of life. After a brief explanation about morningness/eveningness and other terms related, an overview of the changes that occur on three of the most important areas in the adolescent‟s life is presented: school performance, personality styles, and health. Consequences of evening preference on school achievement are considered from the analysis of the relevance of sleep debt and time-of-day in cognition and mood aspects. In general, students who are able to choose activity times coinciding with their preferred times may have a greater opportunity to optimize their performance. The personality styles and health of morning and evening types are also important factors related to school and family adaptation. At last, some recommendations and conclusions in order to promote a healthy psychological functioning are described.

La Direttiva 2008/104/CE relativa al lavoro tramite agenzia interinale: aspetti problematici e modelli di implementazione = Directive 2008/104/EC relating to temporary agency work: problematic aspects and implementation models. WP C.S.D.L.E. “Massimo D’Antona”.INT – 101/2013

The problematic gestation of the Directive on temporary agency work shows the presence of several criticalities that there are also in the national transposition in relation to the principle of equal treatment and to the mechanisms for preventing abuse during successive assignments. From a first analysis it can be said that in some EU Member States only the derogations have been implemented and not the general principle of equal treatment. At the same time, the obligation of the Member States, contained in the Directive on temporary agency work, to establish mechanisms for preventing abuse during successive assignments is crucial, especially in the light of the recent case law of the EU Court of Justice in which the Court does not apply to the temporary agency workers the protective rules of the Directive on fixed-term contracts (see C-290/12 , Della Rocca).

Economic tendencies in the United States; aspects of pre-war and post-war changes,

"A publication of the National Bureau of Economic Research, inc., in cooperation with the Committee on Recent Economic Changes."