Zur Epidemiologie des Drogenkonsumes in Deutschland

This review is about the epidemiology of drug-consumption in the Federal Republic of Germany including its associated medical and criminological problems referring to the latest official statistics of 2007 and 2008.     

Uniformity: The effects of organizational attire on judgments and attributions

Despite their prevalence in the marketplace, little empirical attention has been paid to how employee uniforms affect consumer reactions to service experiences. We propose that employee uniforms facilitate the shared categorization of employees and their organization in the mind of the customer, which affects many of the inferences that customers draw following service encounters. Study 1 shows that uniforms lead to greater attribution of responsibility to the company for employee behavior, especially following poor service. Studies 2 and 3 show that uniforms also lead to more assimilation of judgments across employees, increasing the impact of one employee's behavior on judgments of other employees of the same organization. Study 3 shows that employee uniforms lead to more extreme judgments of the company following service encounters. It also shows that bad (good) service from a uniformed employee makes competing companies look better (worse), indicating that uniforms can elicit contrast effects across companies. In sum, the mere presence of a uniform on an unsatisfactory service or retail employee can damage judgments of the organization and its employees and improve judgments of rival organizations compared to identical service from a nonuniformed employee. Managers seem unaware of these negative consequences. These same principles are likely to apply to a wide variety of uniformed services, including police, military, firefighters, and health-care providers.     

Regression away from the mean: Theory and examples

Using a standard repeated measures model with arbitrary true score distribution and normal error variables, we present some fundamental closed-form results which explicitly indicate the conditions under which regression effects towards (RTM) and away from the mean are expected. Specifically, we show that for skewed and bimodal distributions many or even most cases will show a regression effect that is in expectation away from the mean, or that is not just towards but actually beyond the mean. We illustrate our results in quantitative detail with typical examples from experimental and biometric applications, which exhibit a clear regression away from the mean (‘egression from the mean’) signature. We aim not to repeal cautionary advice against potential RTM effects, but to present a balanced view of regression effects, based on a clear identification of the conditions governing the form that regression effects take in repeated measures designs.     

Does internet-based prevention reduce the risk of relapse for anorexia nervosa?

Technological advancements allow new approaches to psychotherapy via electronic media. The eating disorder literature currently contains no studies on internet intervention in anorexia nervosa (AN). This study presents a RCT on an internet-based relapse prevention program (RP) over nine months after inpatient treatment for AN. The sample comprised 258 women, randomized to the RP or treatment as usual (TAU). Expert- and self-ratings were evaluated by intent-to-treat analyses. Concerning age, age at onset and comorbidity, both groups were comparable at randomization. During the RP, the intervention group gained weight while the TAU group had minimal weight loss. RP completers gained significantly more body weight than patients in the TAU condition. Group-by-time comparisons for eating-related cognitions and behaviors and general psychopathology showed a significantly more favorable course in the RP program for "sexual anxieties" and "bulimic symptoms" (interview), and "maturity fears" and "social insecurity" (EDI-2). General psychopathology showed no significant group-by-time interaction. Important factors for successful relapse prevention were adherence to the intervention protocol and increased spontaneity. Considering the unfavorable course and chronicity of anorexia nervosa (AN), internet-based relapse prevention in AN following inpatient treatment appears a promising approach. Future internet-based programs may be further improved and enhanced.     

Psychodynamische Zusammenh?nge zwischen Psychose und Lebensgeschichte

Using two cases as examples it is shown how psychotic experiences and behaviour are psychodynamically associated with the biography of affected patients and can be beneficially used in therapy. Based on the historic pioneer work of Sigmund Freud who, with his psychoanalytical interpretation of Daniel Paul Schreber??s autobiography Memoirs of my nervous illness (Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken) from 1903 shortly after his death 100 years ago, was the first to attempt to construct an association between Schreber??s delusional symptoms and his past history, this approach will be extensively discussed for patients with schizophrenia and similar psychoses. Particular attention is paid to trigger situations for the occurrence of psychotic conditions and the interpretation of certain delusional symptoms with respect to conflictual subjects from the past. In patients suffering from monopolar or bipolar affective disorders or psychoses, the symptoms are generally less exaggerated and extravagant than in schizophrenic psychoses. However, in such cases it can also be beneficial for the therapy in depressive or manic episodes to follow up the long-lasting conflicts which existed prior to the psychosis, where they either experience an escalation or describe an attempt to free themselves from previous pathogenic settings.