Expressed emotion in children: associations with sibling relationships

Objective   To investigate the reliability and validity of the expressed emotion (EE) measure, the Pre-school Five Minute Speech Sample (PFMSS), in child-to-child sibling relationships.
Method   A total of 106 boys aged 7–11 were recruited from 12 mainstream primary schools in North Wales. The children completed the PFMSS regarding their sibling and two self-report measures of sibling relationship: the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (SRQ) and a Child Visual Analogue Scale (CVAS). The parents of 60 participants completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire regarding the behavioural problems of the participating child and his younger sibling.
Results   The PFMSS demonstrated good inter-rater and code–recode reliability. The significant associations between EE dimensions such as relationship, positive comments and critical comments with various components of the SRQ and CVAS provided support for the concurrent validity of the PFMSS. Significantly higher levels of Conflict and Rivalry and significantly lower levels of Warmth/Closeness on the SRQ were reported by children with high EE, demonstrating good discriminant validity for the PFMSS. There was no significant association between the child's EE profile and the behavioural difficulties of both siblings as reported by parents.
Conclusions   The study found that the PFMSS is a valid and reliable measure of child EE. Future research is needed to clarify the concurrent validity of the warmth and initial statement components of the measure as well as the association between EE dimensions and behaviour.     

力月西干预前后臂丛神经阻滞效果的分析

目的 探讨病人的心理因素对臂从神经阻滞效果的影响。方法 对746例臂丛神经阻滞进行回顾性对比，分别对肌间沟进路、锁骨上进路、腋进路进行力月西干预前后的疼痛对比。结果 三种进路的臂丛神经阻滞在力月西干预前后的疼痛相关性非常明显，或干预前后的疼痛无明显差别。结论 病人的心理精神因素在臂丛神经阻滞过程中，对阻滞效果的影响非常小。     

An Academic Internist Looks at Euthanasia

This paper points out that to persons unfamiliar with the context and suffering of dying patients, their loved ones, and last, but by no means least, the health care team can only discuss the very concrete question of euthanasia in an abstract way unaware of the fact that this question must, in the final analysis, be differently addressed in different specific patients and under specific circumstances. This paper poses questions which must be addressed and will rarely find a good answer but at least the best among a series of unpalatable options. It again points out the important and legitimate place that emotions play in decision-making.     

The Relative Contribution of Domains of Quality of Life to Overall Quality of Life for Different Chronic Diseases

This study examined the contribution of the quality of life (QoL) domains physical, social and psychological functioning to the explanation of overall QoL. Various disorders may differentially affect QoL domains due to disease-specific factors and, consequently, the relationship between QoL domains and overall QoL may vary between diseases. We therefore studied this relationship for several diseases as well as the differential impact of these diseases on QoL. The present study had a cross-sectional design. We selected patients (aged 57 years and older) with one of the following eight chronic medical conditions: lung disorder, heart condition, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, back problems, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine, or dermatological disorders. The total group of respondents included 1457 patients and 1851 healthy subjects. Regression analyses showed that the domain of psychological functioning contributed to overall QoL for all disorders, whereas physical and social functioning contributed to overall QoL for some disorders. Differences were found between most patient groups and healthy subjects with respect to physical functioning; with respect to social and psychological functioning some groups differed from the healthy group. Explanations for the findings and implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

Pathological laughter and crying in patients with multiple system atrophy-cerebellar type.

In the cerebellar type of multiple system atrophy (MSA-C), the burden of pathological changes involves the cerebellum and its associated brainstem structures in the basis pontis and the inferior olivary nucleus, and as a result, the clinical phenotype is dominated early on by the cerebellar dysfunction. We report our clinical and post mortem findings in a patient with MSA-C who exhibited pathological laughter in the absence of any congruent changes of mood. A review of the clinical notes of 27 other patients with MSA-C revealed a problem with pathological laughter, or crying, or both in 9 more patients. Our finding of about 36% occurrence suggests that the problem of dysregulation of emotional expression is more prevalent in MSA-C than the paucity of reports in the literature suggests. Our findings are consistent with the view that the cerebellum and its interconnected structures may be involved in the regulation of emotional expression.     

孕期心理干预对产后情绪的影响

目的探讨孕期对孕妇及家属给予心理干预对产后抑郁、焦虑情绪的影响。方法对270名孕妇和268名孕妇家属分别进行心理干预,对照组269名孕妇接受一般教育,干预组及对照组在孕期填写一般情况调查表及SDS、SAS量表,产后1周、1个月、6个月填写SDS、SAS量表。结果干预组产后抑郁焦虑发生率较对照组明显降低(P<0.05)。结论孕期加强对孕妇及家属的心理教育有利于稳定情绪,降低产后抑郁、焦虑的发生。     

Selective attention to facial emotion and identity in schizophrenia.

The selective attention to facial emotion and identity was investigated in 12 patients with schizophrenia and 12 healthy participants. Both patients and controls were required to perform two classification tasks (according either to identity or emotion). Two separate values for identity (person A/person B) and for emotion (fear/anger) were used. When the classification task was on one dimension, the other dimension was either correlated, constant, or orthogonal (Garner WR. The Processing of Information and Structure. Potomac, MD: Erlbaum, 1974, Garner WR. Interaction of stimulus dimensions in concept and choice processes. Cognitive Psychology 1976;8:98-123). Results indicated that both patients and healthy participants had an asymmetrical pattern of performance: they were able to selectively attend to the identity of the face presented, regardless of the emotion expressed on the face, but variation in identity interfered with the classification of facial emotion. Moreover, a correlational study indicated that the identity interference on emotion classification for schizophrenic patients covaried with the severity of their negative symptoms. The selective attention competencies in schizophrenia and the independence hypothesis of emotion and face recognition are discussed in the framework of current face recognition models.     

精神病患者家属的心理分析及护理

作者采用询问交谈的方法对精神病患者家属的心理状态进行了调查分析，大多数精神病患者家属存在着焦虑、急躁、自卑、厌恶、矛盾、无能为力等心理。同时，针对性地提出了以安慰、鼓励、心理启发、支持为主的护理方法和措施。     

眼科手术病人的心理护理

目的 :本文通过对眼科手术病人进行有效的心理护理 ,提高了患者对医护人员的信任感和依从性 ,使患者能很好配合手术 ,提高了手术的成功率。方法 :参加术前病案讨论和对患者进行术前、术中和术后的心理护理 ,以及相关疾病知识宣教。结果 :经过两组对照加强心理护理能使病人术后伤口愈合良好 ,无并发症发生 ,提高了病人对手术的满意率。结论 :通过加强心理护理融洽了护患关系增进了相互理解和信任 ,提高了以患者为中心的整体护理水平。     

精神分裂症患者心理防御机制与人格特征的相关性分析

目的　探讨精神分裂症患者心理防御方式和人格特片的特点及二者的相关性。方法　分别运用防御方式问卷 (DSQ)和艾森克个性问卷 (EPQ)对 10 1名精神分裂症患者和 30例正常人群进行防御方式评定和人格测定。结果　与正常对照组相比 ,精神分裂症患者更多采用不成熟和中间型防御方式 (P <0 0 5 )。防御方式与人格特征存在着一定的关联性 (P <0 0 5 )。不成熟型防御方式和中间型防御机制与EPQ的精神质 (P)得分和神经质 (N)得分呈显著正相关 (P <0 0 1) ,成熟防御机制与内外向(E)得分呈显著正相关 (P <0 0 5 )。结论　精神分裂症患者更多地使用不成熟防御机制 ,存在病态人格 ,且者之间存在明显相关性 ,有关结果 ,对于探讨精神分裂症患者的病理心理机制和开展心理治疗有指导意义。