Demographic,health-related and psychosocial predictors of changes in depressive symptoms and anxiety in late middle-aged and older persons with fall-related injuries

Research on anxiety and depression after fall-related injuries to the extremities and its pre-fall determinants is scarce. The present study sought to examine change between pre-fall and post-fall anxiety and depression and its (pre-fall) predictors. Data were obtained from 181 Dutch persons, aged 57 and older, who sustained fall-related injuries between 1993 and 1997. Demographic (e.g. socio-economic status), health-related (e.g. number of chronic conditions), and psychosocial (e.g. social support, neuroticism) factors were determined in 1993 (prior to the fall). Depressive symptoms and anxiety were determined prior to the fall, and two, five and twelve months after the fall. Taking into account pre-fall anxiety and depression, pre-fall neuroticism was the most consistent, independent predictor of adverse changes in anxiety and depression. Other factors, including severity of the fall and age were not related to changes in anxiety and depression. Our prospective findings may be interpreted as support for the importance of personality for mental health outcomes in persons who have sustained fall-related injuries.     

Pediatric Neuropsychological Reports: Do They Really Have To Be So Long?

This article offers a proposal to keep reports on pediatric neuropsychological assessments succinct and specific. A format is recommended that emphasizes interpretation and implications of assessment data, as opposed to detailed review of numeric test results. Practical applications and ramifications are discussed and are illustrated with case examples.     

Validity of a short form of the WISC-III in children with traumatic head injury

The concurrent, construct, and criterion validities of Donders' (in press) short form of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Third Edition (WISC-III) were evaluated in a sample of 171 children with traumatic head injury (THI). Correlations between the short-form deviation quotients and their full-length counterparts were statistically significant. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a four-factor model (composed of Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Freedom from Distractibility, and Processing Speed) fit the data relatively well. The short-form deviation quotients also had statistically significant correlations with length of coma. It is concluded that this short form is an accurate and valid alternative to the full-length WISC-III in children with THI.     

A Group of Black South Africans' Experience of Telling their Untold Stories about the Apartheid Era

The aim of this research was to explore a group of black South Africans' experiences of telling their untold stories of survival about the apartheid era. The expectation was that if they did become more aware of these alternative stories, it could have a far-reaching effect on their lives. A qualitative study was conducted with a group of seven black South African survivors of the apartheid era, ranging in age from 42–62 years (males =5, females =2). These participants formed part of an earlier study investigating their perceptions regarding factors that helped them to survive the apartheid era. For the present study, unstructured interviews were conducted focusing on their subjective experiences after the initial study. Analysis of the data yielded seven prevalent themes, namely a positive experience that made a difference, gaining of a positive attitude, not all white people are bad, transgressing the past and moving on, awareness of personal strengths, forgiveness and starting to talk to family and friends. The participants became aware of their untold stories of survival and experienced a positive change within themselves, towards others, the past and the future.     

Isolement et solitude au travail : l’exemple des agents d’accueil de parcs urbains. Des effets pathogènes aux processus de régulation et de dégagement

Through action-research case study in the area of “Parks and Gardens”, this paper focused on the relations between “aloneness”, “loneliness” and “solitude” at work and their necessary distinctions. The Socio-Clinical work psychology approach used during the intervention helped to highlight some key elements. While aloneness characterizes a stretched between the subject and its external environment link, loneliness and solitude are defined as intra-subjective process mainly emotional psycho. These last notions remain in any case a test for physical and psychological occupational health. It seems that the outcomes depend largely on the ability of the subject to convert aloneness to solitude. In our case study three valences of aloneness with different level of risk for health, were underline: solitude, as creative aloneness; defensive aloneness; and loneliness. The advantages of this new approach for prevention are discussed in the positioning relative to other work on the subject.     

Life Events may Contribute to Family Communication About Cancer Risk Following BRCA1/2 Testing

We assessed whether certain life events contributed to the communication about cancer risk within families who have undergone BRCA1/2 testing. We also explored what type of resources participants would have valued to help in supporting family communication about genetic information. Two hundred and forty-six individuals (218 women, 28 men) who received a BRCA1/2 genetic test result 3 to 10 years earlier (mean of 6.4 years) participated in a telephone interview. Participants were asked about the occurrence of a number of life events (cancer diagnosis, death, uptake of prophylactic surgery, and providing care to a family member with cancer) in their family since their BRCA1/2 test result disclosure and, for each occurrence, whether it fostered family communication about cancer risk. A total of 182 participants (74 %) reported that they or one of their relatives received a cancer diagnosis, 176 (72 %) reported that someone died in their family, and 73 (30 %) stated that they or one of their relatives undertook a prophylactic surgery. During this period, 109 participants (44 %) also provided care for a family member who had cancer. Among participants who reported these life events, family communication was fostered by these events in proportions varying from 50 % (death) to 69 % (cancer diagnosis). Our results indicate that life events may contribute to family communication about cancer risk. Further research is needed to determine whether these events provide a “window of opportunity” to reach family members, address their needs and concerns about cancer, update family cancer history, and introduce genetic counseling and risk assessment.     

Collective dimensions of reliability: Some lines of research

Abstract

System reliability depends on the quality of the coupling between the human and technical components of the system, hence the term “sociotechnical reliability”. The present article is more particularly devoted to the collective dimensions of sociotechnical reliability, and especially the role played by collective activity. Essentially, the aim is to propose a general model of analysis of some of the major features of this role. This model makes explicit the notion of coupling and the regulation loops which accompany the implementation of the activity. The role played by task characteristics (type of task, allocation of tasks within the group, means of co-ordination), group characteristics (composition, collective bias), and coupling characteristics (task versus group structure, contingency model, computer-assisted groups) are examined in turn. Finally, the characteristics of the collective activity itself are discussed: relations to prescribed task, common collective field of reference, communications, self-management of reliability, etc. The model allows collection and organization of knowledge on the themes discussed and, at the same time, supplies a grid for a first analysis of collective activity for the study of reliability.