The “Long-arm” of chronic conditions in childhood: Evidence from Canada using linked survey-administrative data

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between health conditions in childhood (ages 4–11), and health and socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood (ages 21–33). This study takes advantage of a new linkage between the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and administrative tax data from the T1 Family File (T1FF) from Statistics Canada. The NLSCY includes rich longitudinal information on child development, while the T1FF includes administrative tax information on each child in adulthood (e.g., income, social assistance). The primary measures of child health relate to the diagnosis of a chronic condition, affecting the child’s physical or mental/developmental health. The results suggest that mental/developmental health conditions in childhood more negatively influence adult health and socioeconomic conditions, compared to physical health conditions. Interaction models reveal modest heterogenous effects; for example, there is some evidence of a cushioning effect from higher household income in childhood, as well as an exacerbating negative effect from lower birth weight for mental/developmental health conditions. Using a covariate decomposition approach to explore underlying pathways, the results reveal that associations between health in early life and outcomes in adulthood are partially explained by differences in cognitive skills (i.e., mathematics test scores) in adolescence (ages 16–17). Results may encourage policy investments to mitigate the occurrence of health conditions in childhood and to ensure timely access to educational supports and health services for children with chronic conditions.     

Height in mid childhood and psychosocial competencies in late childhood: Evidence from four developing countries

We use longitudinal data from children growing up in four developing countries (Peru, India, Vietnam, Ethiopia) to study the relationship between height at the age of 7–8 and a set of psychosocial competencies measured at the age of 11–12 that are known to be correlated with earnings during adulthood: self-efficacy, self-esteem and aspirations. Results show that a one standard deviation increase in height-for-age tends to increase self-efficacy, self-esteem and aspirations by 10.4%, 6.4% and 5.1%, respectively. We argue that these findings are likely to be informing of an underlying relationship between undernutrition and the formation of non-cognitive skills.     

陆军青年军人心理素质与人格、心理健康的相关研究

目的：探讨陆军青年军人心理素质与人格、心理健康的关系。方法：整群抽取陆军青年官兵881名,采用军人心理素质量袁、艾森克人格问卷（EPQ）、症状自评量表（SCL-90）进行测评,进行方差分析和相关分析。结果：（1）陆军青年军人心理素质各因子分及总分与EPQ人格问卷中的E分呈显著正相关（p〈0．01）;与N分、P分呈显著负相关（p〈0．01）。高、中、低心理素质水平军人E、P、N得分比较有显著差异（p〈0．05）,表现为在E量表得分上高心理素质组〉中等心理素质组〉低心理素质组;而在P、N量表得分上则反之。（2）陆军青年军人心理素质各因子分及总分均与SCL-90各因子分和总均分呈显著负相关（p〈0．01）。高、中、低心理素质水平军人SCL-90各因子得分比较有显著差异（p〈0．05）,表现为低心理素质组〉中等心理素质组〉高心理素质组。结论：陆军青年军人心理素质与心理健康密切相关,心理素质越高,其心理健康水平也越高。     

离退休老干部心理健康调查

目的：了解离退休老干部的心理健康情况,解决离退休老干部心理疾病,提高老干部生活质量,为更好的老干部保健提供依据。方法：采用症状自评量表（SCL-90）对海军某干休所146名离退休老干部心理健康情况进行调查评估,并进行统计学分析。结果：与中国成人常模比较,离退休老干部的总体心理健康水平偏低（P〈0．05）。离退休老干部躯体化、强迫、抑郁和焦虑因子明显高于全国常模,其他因子之间无统计学差异。离退休男干部的躯体化、强迫、抑郁和焦虑因子得分低于离退休女干部。结论：离退休老干部存在着不同的心理问题,需要重视其心理健康。我们可以采取心理教育和疏导、丰富老干部日常生活以及药物治疗、心理治疗等多种措施．预防和治疗老干部心理问题。     

精神病患者家属心理健康状况调查研究

目的:探讨精神病患者家属的心理健康状况,并找出相关的影响因素.方法:对中山市91位住院以及门诊精神科病人家属进行问卷调查和访谈,采用的是症状自评量(SCL-90)和家庭疾病负担量表(Family Burden Scale of Disease).结果:家属心理健康状况与患者给家庭带来的负担存在明显的相关,患者患病对配偶的心理健康的影响明显大于对其他亲人或者朋友的影响(F=5.358,P＜0.001),15-30岁年龄段的SCL-90的得分要明显的高于其他年龄段(F=1.436,P＜0.01),而精神分裂症患者的家属SCL-90的得分也要明显高于其他疾病家属的得分.结论:影响家属心理健康的因素有多个方面,应该有针对性的采取家庭护理措施并加强家庭健康教育.     

The Patient’s View: Issues of Theory and Practice

Almost all the knowledge now produced about psychiatry includes what is called “the patient’s or client’s perspective.” This paper analyzes how this notion has been framed in the discourses on mental health over the last two decades, particularly in mental health research and in anthropology. The very concept of the “patient’s perspective” is a social and historical construct. Despite its remarkable prevalence, the notion remains vague. Mental health research pictures it as a stable attribute of the individual. Anthropologists integrate the contextual nature of the patient view; but they still largely envision the psychiatric patient as a rational actor producing narratives based on common sense. However, in psychiatric practice, the client’s perspective is not something the patient individually produces; it is rather shaped by and in a context. To explore this process, my research investigated interactions between staff and patients in a French community mental health center, and showed that the client’s perspective is the result of a collective process. Further analysis demonstrates that eliciting or producing the patient’s view is sometimes considered a therapeutic goal in itself, since being granted the status of a rational and narrative actor gives access to the most valued model of care, one that is based on partnership. Being an outcome that is negotiated between patients and care providers, the “patient’s view” then becomes a new resource in mental health settings.

Longitudinal profiling of health care units based on continuous and discrete patient outcomes

Monitoring health care quality involves combining continuous and discrete outcomes measured on subjects across health care units over time. This article describes a Bayesian approach to jointly modeling multilevel multidimensional continuous and discrete outcomes with serial dependence. The overall goal is to characterize trajectories of traits of each unit. Underlying normal regression models for each outcome are used and dependence among different outcomes is induced through latent variables. Serial dependence is accommodated through modeling the pairwise correlations of the latent variables. Methods are illustrated to assess trends in quality of health care units using continuous and discrete outcomes from a sample of adult veterans discharged from 1 of 22 Veterans Integrated Service Networks with a psychiatric diagnosis between 1993 and 1998.     

The Construction of “Cultural Difference” and Its Therapeutic Significance in Immigrant Mental Health Services in France

Since the early 1970s, the French public health system has been accorded considerable responsibility for immigrants identified by the educational, judicial or social service authorities as psychologically distressed or socially disruptive. In this paper we discuss three models of healing embedded in constructs of “cultural difference” and addressed at specialized mental health-care centers catering to immigrants in Paris: “cultural mediation,” transcultural psychiatry/ethnopsychiatry and clinical medical anthropology. Based on observations and interviews at three specialized mental health centers in Paris, we explore how these clinical approaches address migrant wellbeing and seek to resolve crises in migrant families, especially those of West African origin. We suggest that the prevalent approaches to therapy creatively blend concepts and practices of anthropology, psychiatry and psychology but, at the same time, confront challenges inherent in the use of a generic “African” healing modality. Cases studies demonstrate that in order for such interventions to be perceived as effective by patients, “cultural difference” must be acknowledged but also situated in broader social, political and economic contexts.

高校心理健康教育的问题及对策思考

当前,高校心理健康教育基本上已进入一个快速发展之后的平台期。虽然高校心理健康教育取得了显著的成绩,但还存在着一定的问题。其根源在于学生认同度不高、全员参与性不够、课堂渗透不多和师资队伍不强,这些使高校心理健康教育工作陷于困境,严重制约高校心理健康教育深入开展。本文提出了走出高校心理健康教育困境的四项对策。     

某军校新生人格特征分析及建议

目的:调查某军校大一新生的人格特征及心理健康状况,为开展军校学员心理健康教育提供科学依据。方法:采用卡特尔16种个性因素测验(16PF)对1224名大一学员进行测试。结果:除乐群性和世故性外,在剩余14个因素上,新学员的结果与全国成年人常模均存在显著差异;其中,来自城市的学员与农村学员在乐群性、兴奋性、敢为性、敏感性、怀疑性、幻想性和世故性因子有显著差异;独生子女与非独生子女在兴奋性、怀疑性、实验性和独立性上,表现出显著差异。结论:该校大一学员整体心理健康状况良好,但在恃强性、兴奋性、敢为性、幻想性因子得分偏高,应进行系统教育和调控;同时,也要注重城市学员与农村学员、独生子女与非独生子女之间的心理差距,因材施教,共同提高。     

围手术麻醉期患者睡眠质量与心理健康状态的相关性分析

目的：了解围手术麻醉期患者的睡眠质量与心理健康状态的关系。方法：对50例备行手术麻醉患者（试验组）及40名正常人（对照组）行匹兹堡睡眠质量指数问卷（PSQI）评定、抑郁自评量表（SDS）及焦虑自评量（SAS）评定,对上述量表结果进行分析。结果：试验组睡眠紊乱率、焦虑及抑郁发生率分别为：26％、24％及56％,两组PSQI、SAS及SDS评分异常率比较P〈0．05,差异有统计学意义。两组患者的PSQI总分、PSQI子项目睡眠效率及睡眠障碍、SDS标准分、SDS4个子项目精神性情感症状、躯体性障碍、精神运动性障碍、抑郁的心理障碍和SAS标准分比较P〈0．05,差异有统计学意义。相关性分析显示睡眠质量评分与心理健康状态评分呈负性相关。结论：围手术麻醉期患者存在焦虑抑郁躯体化情绪心理障碍及睡眠紊乱。围手术麻醉期患者睡眠质量评分与心理健康状态评分有关。     

某部入伍新兵心理卫生服务状况及需求调查

目的：调查入伍新兵心理卫生服务状况及对心理卫生服务的需求。方法：采用质性研究和量性研究相结合的方法,对42名入伍新兵作半结构性访谈,编制《部队心理卫生服务状况和需求》调查表,采用调查表对1609名新兵进行调查。结果：9．4％的新兵心理健康知识比较了解;接近半数新兵（43．5％）对心理健康知识很感兴趣;新兵获取心理知识的途径依次为网络、心理知识讲座、报刊杂志、广播电视、面对面咨询;新兵最期望获得的心理知识依次为如何调节自己的情绪、如何建立良好的人际关系、如何塑造自己的个性和常见的心理障碍表现;新兵认为最有帮助的心理服务形式依次为一对一心理咨询、心理知识讲座、心理测验和团体心理活动;只有7．7％的新兵接受过心理卫生服务。结论：新兵对心理健康知识感兴趣,但认知度和利用度均较低,应通过网络、心理知识讲座等方式普及新兵需要的心理健康知识。