Loss and Psychosocial Support Among Palestinian Women in the Occupied Territories: An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the “From a Bereaved Woman to Another” Project

Many Palestinian women in the occupied territories face the risk of experiencing incidents of personal loss of their husbands, youngsters, and relatives through death, imprisonment, or deportation due to daily confrontation with the Israeli occupation. In many such incidents, the individualistic focus of psychological therapy renders it less appropriate as a technique to minimize the psychosocial consequences of loss at the population (macro) level. The current study evaluates the effectiveness of an alternative approach called “from a bereaved woman to another.” A convenience sample of 94 bereaved women (aged 31–50 years) from West Bank territories took part in this initiative. The results of the study confirmed a statistically significant increase in women's positive self-attitudes and interpersonal skills and a decrease in loss-related symptoms.     

Risques psychosociaux et capacité de travail des travailleurs âgés : validation du VOW/QFT

Work abilities are defined as a balance between worker own characteristics and the job requirements. The VOW/QFT has been developed in Belgium in order to understand older workers work ability by taking account of the risk factors related to the job strains, and in particular the psychosocial risk factors. The validation analysis of the VOW/QFT was carried out following the proposals of Churchill paradigm (Churchill, 1979; Roussel, 2005): exploratory analysis, confirmatory analysis and correlation analysis. The factorial structure of the questionnaire appeared stable; dimensions internal consistency is high. The regression analysis showed that work ability is explained to nearly 30% by the psychosocial risk factors, and mainly by the pleasure felt at work.     

An Exploration of Families' Psychosocial Well-Being in a South African Context

The aim of this study was to explore and describe aspects that contribute to the psychosocial well-being of families from diverse cultures in a South African context by analysing data obtained through narratives, drawings and interviews with families. Participant families took part voluntarily in family interviews (N=36), written narratives (N=23) and drawings (N=14). These different methods of data collection provided rich data on family psychosocial well-being in a South African context with culturally diverse families, as well as on those aspects that influence family psychosocial well-being. The findings suggest that communication, mutual support, togetherness as a family and spirituality are the most prominent contributing factors, while financial difficulties and interpersonal conflicts or arguments are the most prominent hindering factors with regard to family psychosocial well-being in this group of participants.     

The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being: Psychometric properties,demographic comparisons,and evidence of validity

The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being (QEWB) was developed to measure well-being in a manner consistent with how it is conceptualized in eudaimonist philosophy. Aspects of eudaimonic well-being assessed by the QEWB include self-discovery, perceived development of one's best potentials, a sense of purpose and meaning in life, intense involvement in activities, investment of significant effort, and enjoyment of activities as personally expressive. The QEWB was administered to two large, ethnically diverse samples of college students drawn from multiple sites across the United States. A three-part evaluation of the instrument was conducted: (1) evaluating psychometric properties, (2) comparing QEWB scores across gender, age, ethnicity, family income, and family structure, and (3) assessing the convergent, discriminant, construct, and incremental validity of the QEWB. Six hypotheses relating QEWB scores to identity formation, personality traits, and positive and negative psychological functioning were evaluated. The internal consistency of the scale was high and results of independent CFAs indicated that the QEWB items patterned onto a common factor. The distribution of scores approximated a normal curve. Demographic variables were found to predict only small proportions of QEWB score variability. Support for the hypotheses tested provides evidence for the validity of the QEWB as an instrument for assessing eudaimonic well-being. Implications for theory and future research directions are discussed.     

A systematic review of the evidence-based psychosocial risk factors for understanding of borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious personality disorder characterized by affective instability, impulsivity and interpersonal disturbance. Currently, intensive research is being conducted concerning the aetiology of BPD, including research on neurobiological, temperamental, psychosocial and cultural risk factors. This study focuses on psychosocial risk factors while other risk factors are taken into account in the discussion of the development of BPD. To our knowledge, no systematic review of the evidence-based medicine literature concerning this theme has been made thus far. However, understanding psychosocial risk factors of BPD is important in order to develop psychotherapeutic treatment models and methods. We provide a systematic review of the literature focusing on psychosocial risk factors for BPD. Utilizing this knowledge, we discuss how these data may be used when studying the development of borderline personality disorder and the treatment of borderline personality disorder.     

The Burden Left My Heart

Abstract

This paper presents psychosocial services for displaced women living in the war zones. Two study groups were formed from two cities in Croatia, Zenica and Tuzla. The services were designed to ameliorate distress and improve psychosocial functioning. A questionnaire-based evaluation indicated that highly distressed women derived greater benefit from group psychotherapy (Tuzla) than did the group who participated in occupational activities (Zenica).     

Anxiogenic Patterns in Mother-Child Interactions

ABSTRACT

The current study examined psychosocial variables associated with the development of anxiety in children. While previous literature has established parental affectionless control as an important contributor to the development of anxiety in children, few have examined this construct within the dynamic context of parent-child interaction. In the current study, the affect and behavior of anxious mothers and their children (ages 6 to 12 years) were examined during two mildly stressful tasks, with a total of 64 mother-child dyads participating in the study. Analyses supported the hypothesis that maternal affectionless control mediates the relationship between child anxiety and child disengagement/withdrawal from difficult tasks. Results are discussed in terms of implications for psychosocial mechanisms of the familial transmission of anxiety.     

Epidemiology of Insomnia in College Students: Relationship With Mental Health,Quality of Life,and Substance Use Difficulties

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and correlates of insomnia using rigorous diagnostic criteria and a comprehensive assessment battery. In a large sample (N = 1,074) of college students (mean age 20.39 years), participants were asked to complete a week-long sleep diary and comprehensive questionnaire packet assessing recommended daytime functioning domains (i.e., fatigue, quality of life, depression, anxiety, stress, academic performance, substance use) during the academic year. A significant portion of this sample of college students met proposed DSM-5 criteria for chronic insomnia (9.5%). The chronic insomnia group reported significantly worse sleep, fatigue, depression, anxiety, stress, and quality of life, and greater hypnotic and stimulant use for sleep problems. There were no differences between groups on excessive daytime sleepiness, academic performance, or substance use. This was a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of the prevalence and psychosocial correlates of insomnia. Insomnia is a significant problem in college students and should be regularly assessed. More research is also needed to guide treatment in this population.     

Experiences and psychosocial adjustment of Darfuri female students affected by war: An exploratory study

This paper presents the personal accounts of Darfuri students studying at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman, Sudan. Their war‐related exposure, current ongoing life challenges, emotional distress, and coping strategies were explored using a semistructured interview protocol with a sample of 20 students. Through interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the Darfuri students’ stories illustrated that they were exposed to an array of traumatic war events, including personal experiences of parental separation, injury and death of family members, and shortages of essential life‐sustaining supplies in internally displaced camps. Also, they were confronted with myriad current life hassles and urban‐cultural challenges, including being physically distant from their families, and losing the shelter of parents, the encouragement of extended family members, and their rich and familiar social support networks. Urban‐cultural challenges and lack of environmental mastery applied to most Darfuri participants as they relocated to Omdurman city, which included negotiating an unfamiliar transport system, learning the routes and directions to important city landmarks, and insufficient funds for basic hygienic essentials. Emotional distress reactions were coded by forming two distinct lists: directly mentioned by the participant; and observations of emotional manifestation during the interview. Patterns emerged that may be similar to symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders; for example, the DSM‐IV criteria for symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder and major depression. Strong religious practices and beliefs (such as praying and reading the Quran), ability to form interpersonal relationships, availability of social support networks, and a positive future outlook seemed to augment their ability to cope with their subsequent emotional distress owing to war‐related exposures, current ongoing life hassles and urban‐cultural challenges.     

Personality and health habits

Abstract

Four hundred and fifty-five males and 523 females from a community sample participated in a study on the relationship between seven health practices (sleeping; breakfasting; snacking; being at good weight; smoking; alcohol consumption and physical activity) and seven personality factors (Neuroticism; Social Inadequacy; Rigidity; Hostility; Self-sufficiency; Dominance and Self-esteem).

It was found that the seven health habits did not constitute a homogeneous operationalization of a construct “positive lifestyle.” The intercorrelations between the different health practices were typically low. The results of MANOVAs and subsequent ANOVAs revealed small, but statistically significant differences between subjects reporting positive and those reporting poor health habits. The failure to find significant interactions with sex indicated that the results for males and females were generally similar. Neuroticism and hostility discriminated best between the groups with poor or good health behaviors. This held for sleeping, exercising, breakfasting daily and smoking. In addition, sporting people scored lower on social inadequacy and higher on self-esteem. Further, individuals who do not have a daily breakfast were more self-sufficient. Snacking individuals were generally less rigid and less dominant, but more hostile. In conclusion, most negative health habits were found to be associated with personality attributes which are intimately related to symptom reporting (neuroticism, hostility). Given the generally weak associations, it is concluded that, in order to obtain a more complete picture of the individual's psychosocial risk profile, lifestyle data should be collected together with information on the person's stress and his or her coping qualities.