Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch Minderj?hriger durch Kleriker, Ordensleute und andere Mitarbeiter

The guidelines of the Catholic Church from 2010 have picked up on new findings and experiences which have arisen since the first guidelines from 2002. The necessity of a forensic psychiatric assessment of the prognosis or the credibility has been emphasized for the first time. The disjuncture of therapy and control will be considered as well as the basic obligation to report sexual abuse to the authorities if there are strong indications for a suspicion, except when there is a complete denial by the assumed victim. The history of guidelines in connection with the changing scientific, social and clerical judgement of pedosexual contacts will be discussed.     

Regular and problematic leisure-time Internet use in the community: results from a German population-based survey

In our study, we attempted to identify systematically the use of Internet applications in the German population in order to derive risk factors for problematic use. In a representative survey of the German population, we queried 1,401 women and 1,111 men between the ages of 14 and 94 years by specific questions and standardized questionnaires on depression, anxiety (HADS), and depersonalization (CDS-2). The majority of the German population (55%) used the Internet in their leisure time. Users were younger and had a higher socioeconomic status (education, employment, income). Leisure-time use included e-mail and information search, as well as shopping. Chatting, online communities, games and sex were domains of young, mostly male adults. Overall, 9.3% reported at least one negative consequence of Internet use, especially neglect of recreational activities and problems with family/partner, work or education, and health. Problematic use was associated with longer average daily online times, avoidance of negative emotions, preference for certain applications (gaming, gambling, online sex) and an increased rate of depersonalization. The extent of Internet use per se is not sufficient as an addiction criterion and other negative consequences; rather, specific adverse consequences need to be identified. If the Internet is used excessively to cope with negative affect states and alternative means of coping (e.g., social support, health-promoting behavior) are diminished, a vicious cycle may ensue with increasing stress and reliance on the reinforcing properties of certain online activities that may finally lead to addictive behavior.     

Familienplanung junger onkologischer Patienten

Cancer patients in young adulthood are affected by the cancer diagnosis in a period of life where future parenthood or fulfilling of a potential wish to have children plays an important role. To perform fertility preserving treatment, patients should be fully informed before any treatment is carried out. The following review broaches the issue of whether and how fertility concerns are discussed in the medical consultation. Therefore, relevant papers were identified by a database search between the years 2000 and 2010. A total of 21 studies were included which focussed on physician-patient communication from the point of view of the patients or healthcare professionals. Oncologists do not routinely speak to patients about fertility issues. Both oncologists and patients expressed communication difficulties. An improvement of the medical interview concerning family planning could be achieved by provision of guidelines, training for healthcare professionals, cooperation between oncologists and reproductive medicine and the provision of educational patient material.     

Oppositional Children Differ from Healthy Children in Frontal Brain Activation

An atypical EEG pattern of frontal brain activation, which has been found in children and adults with emotional disorders, also is hypothesized to be present in disruptive behavior disorders. One hundred nineteen children (4 $\frac{1}{2}$ and 8 years of age) were examined with regard to the following questions: (1) Do children who are diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) exhibit an atypical pattern of frontal brain activation? (2) Can this pattern be demonstrated in preschool children (4 $\frac{1}{2}$ years of age) as well as in school children (8 years)? (3) Are there gender differences in these patterns similar to those that have been demonstrated in adults? Spontaneous EEG activity was subjected to power spectral analysis. In oppositional preschool and elementary school girls, the well-known pattern of lower left frontal than right frontal activation emerged that has been found previously in emotionally disordered children. Healthy girls showed no frontal brain asymmetry at 4 $\frac{1}{2}$ years of age, and left frontal activation at 8 years. In contrast, healthy boys demonstrated a greater right than left frontal activation, whereas ODD boys did not display any frontal brain asymmetry. Thus, the pattern of frontal brain activation seems to be gender-specific. The atypical activation pattern in oppositional children is hypothesized to be a biological substrate of negative affective style.     

Loneliness predicts suicidal ideation and anxiety symptoms in long-term childhood cancer survivors

Background/ObjectiveLong-term childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at risk for adverse late effects. However, not all of them are well understood. The present study addressed loneliness, a previously under-researched mental health risk in cancer survivor populations. We assessed the prevalence of loneliness and its impact on psychological symptoms over time. Method: A registry-based sample of N = 633 adult long-term CCS underwent medical and psychological assessments and took part in a follow-up survey 2.5 years later. Psychological symptoms (somatic, anxiety, depression symptoms, and suicidal ideation) were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire. We calculated linear regression models of symptoms at follow-up to investigate the impact of loneliness over time (controlling for symptoms at baseline and relevant confounders). Results: Loneliness was reported by 17.70% of CCS. In multivariate linear regression analyses, loneliness was still predictive of more severe anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation over two years later. Loneliness did not predict somatic and depression symptoms at follow-up (which increased with age). Conclusions: Loneliness affected a significant number of CCS and was a risk factor for persistent anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation. The extent to which young cancer patients’ re-integration into society is successful could thus have important implications for well-being in adulthood.     

LAC-Depressionsstudie

The study on long-term therapy of chronic depression (LAC depression study) is one of the first prospective studies to compare psychoanalytic with cognitive behavioral long-term treatment and also investigates the impact of patient assignment by randomization and preference. This comprehensive multicenter study combines a naturalistic and a randomized controlled approach. The long-term follow-up is based on a broad spectrum of quantitative and qualitative research methods and is expected to contribute to the further development of psychotherapeutic treatment methods in this hard to treat patient group as well as to research on the effectiveness of long-term treatment. The background, design and current state of the assessment are presented. A total of 402 patients with chronic depression were included in the trial and the 1 and 2?year follow-up results are currently being analyzed.     

Contextualized self-representations in adulthood

Theorizing has focused on individuals' self-representations as a psychological resource for coping with life stress and developmental challenges in adulthood. Many of the prominent theories have conceptualized self-representations with regard to specific social contexts (e.g., role-specific self-representations) and have examined specific structural organizations of the self-concept with regard to psychological adjustment. This article describes research on the associations between self-concept structures and psychological well-being in adulthood. Specific emphasis is given to the feature of self-concept differentiation (SCD). Most research suggests that a high level of SCD tends to indicate self-fragmentation and tends to be associated with poorer adjustment and psychological well-being. Findings from a daily diary study with adults of all ages are reported showing that different levels of SCD were in a consistent and meaningful way related to the daily endorsement of positive and negative self-attributes. Daily self-representations, in turn, were significantly related to individuals' level of daily negative affect and to intra-individual variation in negative affect. These findings suggest that SCD may exert its effect on adjustment and psychological well-being through specific ways of processing self-related information.