Decline In Psychological Health Research Articles

Perceived Mental Health and Quality of Life in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Armed Forces in a Tertiary Care Center of North India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose: To explore the impact on mental health and quality of life among mothers following the diagnosis of mild or moderate autism in their child.Methods: The study included 100 consecutive mothers with a defence background, each having a child aged 3 to 10 years diagnosed with mild to moderate autism. Participants were briefed about the study, and informed consent was obtained. A quantitative experimental design was employed, utilising the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) and the World Health Organisation Quality of Life Scale-Brief (WHOQOL-Brief) to assess the mothers.Results: The results indicated that mothers experienced moderate levels of anxiety (mean±standard deviation, 10±6.4) and stress (19±6.7), but lower levels of depression (11±7.7), as measured by the DASS-21 questionnaire. The WHOQOL-Brief revealed a moderate decline in psychological health (transformative [T]-score=38) and social relationships (T-score=31). However, satisfaction with their environment (T-score=75) and physical health (T-score=63) was higher, potentially due to their defence background, which may provide easier access to healthcare and improved living conditions.Conclusion: Mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder experience moderate levels of stress and anxiety, and low levels of depression. Additionally, they face a decline in their quality of life.

What's New in Musculoskeletal Infection.

What's New in Musculoskeletal Infection.

Identification of factors associated with high-cost use of inpatient care in chronic kidney disease: a registry study

ObjectiveTo explore factors behind inpatient admissions by high-cost users (HCUs) in pre-end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD).DesignRetrospective analysis of CKD.QLD Registry and hospital admissions of the Queensland Government Department of Health...

Behavioral and Psychological Correlates of Well-Being during COVID-19.

The globe is currently experiencing the immense and devastating impact of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease. College students are being uniquely impacted by the pandemic as well as the lockdown procedures that are in place. The current study utilized survey methods to investigate the impact of the pandemic on college students with a focus on changes in alcohol consumption and correlates of psychological health. Results found that participants reported a significant increase in alcohol consumption as a result of the pandemic. Furthermore, this increase in consumption related to a decline in psychological health. Exploratory analyses found that a decline in psychological health correlated with negative impacts in several life areas (financial, resource, social, and academic) and a decline in time management skills. However, spending time on leisure activities and spending time in-person with family and friends negatively correlated with psychological decline. Interestingly, news exposure to did not relate to psychological health.

Trajectories of Physical Function Decline and Psychological Functioning: The Quebec Longitudinal Study on Nutrition and Successful Aging (NuAge)

Decline of physical function with age is associated with substantial health consequences. Physical and psychological functioning is linked, but the temporal nature of this association remains unclear. Three-year follow-up data from men and women (n = 1,741), aged 68-82 years, in the longitudinal study on nutrition and successful aging (NuAge; Québec, Canada) were used. Growth curve modeling was performed to examine trajectories of a global physical performance score across time as conditioned by cognition and depression. Significant decline in physical function was observed (p < .0001). Rate of decline in physical performance score was accelerated in the older participants (>77 years; age(2): p < .01) but not affected by slight decline in cognition or depression. Yet, people with lower cognition level and more depressive symptoms show lower physical capacity throughout the entire follow-up period (p < .0001). Physical function significantly declined over 3 years, in particular in the oldest group. A subtle decline in psychological health paralleled decline in physical function but did not accelerate it.

Narcissism, identification, and longitudinal change in psychological health: Dynamic predictions

The narcissist has been described as “dependent on others to provide confirmation of the grandiose ego ideal” ( American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. ). The present study shows how the combination of dependent identification and unhealthy narcissism leads to decreasing psychological health across 42 years of adulthood. Change in psychological health is studied in 156 participants of the Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley. We predicted that longitudinal decline in psychological health, as assessed by longitudinal hierarchical linear modeling analyses of the California Personality Inventory v3 scale [Gough, H. G., & Bradley, P. (1996). California Psychological Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press], would be predicted by the joint presence in early adulthood of maladaptive narcissism [Wink, P. (1992). Three narcissism scales for the California Q-set. Journal of Personality Assessment, 58, 51–66] and defensive identification [Cramer, P. (1991a). The development of defense mechanisms: Theory, research and assessment. New York: Springer-Verlag]. In contrast, we predicted healthy narcissism would be positively related to psychological health throughout adulthood. Predictions were confirmed via regression analyses including interaction terms, and are explained by the insoluble conflict that occurs when narcissistic gratification is dependent on the admiration of others, but the tie to others interferes with independent growth and accomplishment.

The Role of Friendship in the Lives of Male and Female Adolescents: Does Diabetes Make a Difference?

Purpose We examined differences in the nature of friendship between adolescents with diabetes and healthy adolescents. We also examined whether friend support and negative relations with friends were related to health for both groups. Method We interviewed 127 adolescents with diabetes and 129 healthy adolescents on two occasions, separated by one year. We measured aspects of friendship and psychological health among both groups as well as self-care behavior and metabolic control among adolescents with diabetes. We used logistic regression analysis to predict the presence of friends, repeated measures analysis of covariance to predict changes in friendship over time, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis to examine the relations of friendship to psychological health, self-care behavior, and metabolic control. Results Both groups of adolescents were equally likely to have a best friend and boyfriend/girlfriend, but healthy adolescents were more likely to have an other-gender friend. Adolescents with diabetes and healthy adolescents reported similar levels of friend support, but support increased over the year for healthy girls only. Boys with diabetes had the lowest levels of friend support. Negative relations with friends were inversely related to psychological health and predicted a decline in psychological health over time. Negative relations also predicted poor metabolic control and a deterioration of metabolic control over time. Conclusion There are similarities and differences in the nature of friendship for adolescents with diabetes compared with healthy adolescents. Friendship serves a protective function for psychological health for both groups and has implications for physical health among those with diabetes.

A COMPUTER‐BASED INTERVENTION FOR THE EDUCATION AND THERAPY OF INSTITUTIONALIZED OLDER ADULTS

Institutionalization often presents an unstimulating environment, in addition to requiring a surrender of autonomy. Research has shown that people quickly come to respond to the world in a limited and rigid fashion when their choices and activities are limited. This decline is frequently associated with a corresponding decline in psychological health and, consequently, an increase in depression. According to Seligman (1981), changing depressed individuals’ environment for the better and enhancing their sense of control should serve as an antidepressive. Thus the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a psychoeducational model making use of computer interaction for the therapy, education, and recreation of a group of institutionalized older adults. The results indicated that the computer interaction was an effective tool for increasing these older adults’ cognitive abilities and daily living skills and decreasing their levels of depression.

SEX, SOCIAL CLASS AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPECTATIONS OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL‐BEING OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN ENGLAND

Summary. Studies of the harmful psychological effects of unemployment on young people have typically paid little attention to their psychological well‐being during their final years at school. In particular, there has been little research into the relationship between school pupils' well‐being and their expectations and views about the possibility of becoming unemployed after leaving school. It is possible that those pupils who anticipate unemployment may have lower levels of well‐being, and may thus experience less of a decline in psychological health at the onset of unemployment.The study described here set out to measure two indices of well‐being, psychological distress and anxiety, among fifth and sixth year secondary school pupils. Also measured were their expectations of becoming unemployed, their concern about this, the amount of difficulty they expected to encounter finding a job, and their employment commitment. Comparisons on these variables were made between males and females, middle class and working class pupils, and white, Asian and Afro‐Caribbean pupils. Differences between these demographic categories are reported, along with the associations observed between the well‐being variables and views about future employment and unemployment. Levels of psychological distress and anxiety were found to be as high as those observed in unemployed samples, though were not related to expectations and concern about the possibility of becoming unemployed. A number of possible influences on the psychological health of school pupils are suggested.

Factors influencing the psychological impact of prolonged unemployment and of re-employment.

Six hundred and twenty-nine unemployed men were re-interviewed 9 months after initial measurement of their psychological health and commitment to the labour market. For those men remaining continuously unemployed between interviews, no further decrement was observed in mean General Health Questionnaire scores after 3 months without a job, but a significant deterioration was recorded for the sub-sample initially unemployed for less than 3 months. Small but significant declines were observed after 3 months on a single-item measure of reported health and on an 8-item index of commitment to the labour market. For those regaining paid work, all measures of health showed large improvements, and employment commitment was unchanged. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine factors associated with magnitude of changes during continuous unemployment, yielding a systematic pattern of significant relationships. For example, higher employment commitment at initial interview was significantly associated with a greater subsequent decline in psychological health, but not in physical health; reporting a chronic health impairment at initial interview was significantly associated with a greater subsequent decrement in physical health, but not in psychological health.