Lower Levels Of Anger Research Articles

Characteristics of the social environment of small group homes for individuals with severe mental illness

As part of research into small group homes run by local authorities for those with severe mental illness the characteristics of the social environment was investigated. The ideal and real versions of the Community Oriented Program Environmental Scale (COPES) were administered to residents and staff of small group homes in a county in southern Sweden. Both these groups were also interviewed on their opinions as to the main characteristics that should exist in the social environment in small group homes. High levels of support, order and organization, and program clarity and a low level of anger and aggression distinguished the real social environment according to the residents. Differences between residents' and staff's perceptions were less pronounced than in most other studies, probably owing to a greater level of resident-staff interaction in the home-like milieu. In the interviews both the residents and staff emphasized the importance of social interaction as a major constituent in the social environment of small group homes. The COPES instrument appears to be valid for use in small group homes, although some concern can be raised about two of the subscales, Involvement and Practical Orientation. The social environment, as rated by the residents and staff, was similar to that recommended for psychotic patients and to that proposed as a suitable supportive profile together with low levels of staff control and anger and aggression.

How Young Adults Perceive Parental Divorce

Summary The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which perception of parental divorce among young adults is related to their recounting of the relationships with their parents. Interviews were held with 51 (30 female and 21 male) Israeli young adults involved in a romantic relationship and whose parents had divorced. Participants were asked to talk about how they felt about and understood the divorce currently. In addition, subjects were asked to talk about their relationships with their mothers and fathers. Analyses of young adults' recounts showed the perception of divorce to be multifaceted. They did not describe high levels of anger or current sense of loss but recalled past loss. Yet despite the recalled past loss, young adults described the divorce in an integrative manner. The quality of relationships with fathers more than with mothers was associated with how parental divorce was perceived. Quality of paternal presence during childhood as well as maturity of current relationship with the father, though lower than that with the mother, were related not only to lower levels of anger or sense of loss in the past, but also to a more integrative perception of the divorce and lower sense of current loss. The special role of fathers after divorce is discussed.

Prevalence of Psychological Symptoms Among Undergraduate Students in an Ethnically Diverse Urban Public College

The levels of psychological symptoms (anger, anxiety, and depression) among 595 college students in an ethnically diverse urban public college were surveyed. The students reported a wide range of symptoms that were quite similar to those reported by a representative sample of adults in the United States in the 1990s. Among these Asian, Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, White, and other ethnic minority students, women's levels of symptoms were higher than men's (although the differences were small). Older students reported lower levels of anger and depression (the differences were even smaller), and ethnic groups did not differ in manifestations of psychological symptoms. Some of these students, however, reported problematic levels of psychological symptoms that were similar to those reported by more traditional college and university students.

Psychopathology and Short‐term Emotion: The Balance of Affects

In this study, the relationship between short-term emotion expressions and dimensional ratings of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology was examined. Short-term emotions, defined as facial or vocal displays of emotion generally lasting less than 10 seconds and elicited by a specific and proximal event, were observed during recess in 71 children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, who were between 4 and 8 years old. Internalizing and externalizing symptomatology was assessed through parent and teacher questionnaire. Sociometric ratings were obtained from peers on children's anger and aggression. It was hypothesized following Tomkins (1979) and others that one affect becomes predominant in the emotional experience of the individual. Different operationalizations of this concept were examined. Using regression analyses, externalizing symptomatology was found to be predicted by higher levels of anger, lower levels of happiness, and lower levels of sadness. Internalizing symptomatology was found to be predicted by higher levels of sadness and lower levels of anger. It was concluded on the basis of these data that the relationship between short-term emotion and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology is best understood as the balance between different short-term emotions. Results are discussed in the context of theories of emotion and their functions.

Fairness and health care decision making: testing the group value model of procedural justice.

Considerable research has supported the notion that procedural justice is important to individuals independent of outcome considerations. Tyler and his associates (Lind and Tyler, 1988; Lind and Earley 1992; Tyler, 1989) proposed that this is so because procedural justice serves a group value function. In the present research, we explore aspects of this group value formulation in a real life health care context. Specifically, we assessed the relationship between individuals' appraisals of procedural justice following health care treatment decisions as well ass (i) expectations for different consequences to self; (ii) estimates of how they were viewed by the health care authorities; (iii) attributions about the reasons for their treatment; and (iv) ratings of emotional reactions. Results confirmed many components of the relational, group value model of procedural justice (Lind and Tyler, 1988; Lind and Earley, 1992; Tyler, 1989). Specifically, respondents who felt that they had been treated fairly expected that their status and their relationship with the health care decision maker and others in their health care group would improve; perceived that the health care decision maker would rate them positively on a variety of personality dimensions; felt that the health care decision maker's interactions with them revealed quite a lot about the decision-maker's personality characteristics; and indicated increased levels of pride and pleasure as well as lower levels of anger as a result of their treatment. Results were discussed from several frameworks including Markus and Kitayama's (1991) concept of independent and the interdependent self.

Negative mood regulation expectancies predict anger among police officers and buffer the effects of job stress.

This study investigated links between occupational stress, negative mood regulation expectancies, coping, anger, and distress. Participants were 56 police officers from two small, urban departments. They filled out the Negative Mood Regulation (NMR) Scale, as well as measures of police stress, coping, anger, and distress. Simultaneous multiple regression analyses revealed that high NMR expectancies predicted subjects' use of adaptive active coping strategies. High NMR Scale scores were also independently associated with lower levels of anger and distress, and anger significantly predicted distress. Results suggest that strong mood regulation expectancies buffer the effects of even high levels of occupational stress. Interventions directed toward raising mood regulation expectancies may help protect officers from the consequences of job stress. Results may also have implications for combat stress.

The importance of ward atmosphere in inpatient treatment of schizophrenia on short-term units.

The reorganization in 1981 of a general hospital psychiatric ward in Oslo, Norway, to achieve a more suitable treatment milieu for patients with schizophrenia resulted in a change in patients' perceptions of the ward atmosphere. Reduced group participation and increased individualized support from staff led patients to perceive of the ward as having a low level of anger and aggression and a high level of order and organization. This study examined whether the reorganization was associated with improved treatment outcome. Psychiatrists retrospectively examined the charts of all patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder who were admitted to the ward the year before and the second year after the reorganization. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine treatment outcomes for both groups. Outcome was measured indirectly by length of stay, level of functioning at discharge, and whether the patient was rehospitalized during the following seven years. Patients treated after the reorganization had significantly shorter stays with no reductions in either level of functioning at discharge or length of community tenure after discharge. Differences in demographic characteristics, illness history, or psychopharmacological treatment could not account for differences in outcome. The results supported the hypothesis that the organization and milieu of brief-stay wards influence the short-term outcome of inpatient treatment of patients with schizophrenia.

Occupational Group Therapy in a Psychiatric Day Care Unit for Long-term Mentally Ill Patients

The outcomes of 20 patients participating in occupational group therapy at a psychiatric outpatient unit were explored and related to perceptions of the ward atmosphere and the treatment process. The outcome variables—psychiatric symptoms, global mental health, quality of life and occupational functioning—were measured at admission, at discharge and 1 year after discharge. The ward atmosphere was rated twice a year and the treatment process once a month. The study used a combined within-group and between-group design. The ward atmosphere showed stability over a period of 5 years and was rated by patients and staff as beneficial for both psychotic and non-psychotic patients. Low levels of anger and aggression and staff control and high levels of support and order and organization were the most prominent features of the unit. Several characteristics of the ward atmosphere were related to outcome, e.g. an optimal level of anger and aggression as perceived by the patients initially in treatment was significantly related to improvement in global mental health and occupational functioning. The patients improved from admission to discharge on all the outcome variables except for quality of life. Contrasted with a matched comparison group, the patients' improvement was significantly higher regarding a measure of global functioning. Thirteen of the twenty patients were judged as having attained clinically significant change. With respect to the treatment process, patient ratings of a better working relationship vis à vis the main therapist compared to the other occupational therapists were significantly related to improvement in global mental health and occupational functioning, as well as to a principal component accounting for a large proportion of the variance in the outcome measures used. Furthermore, patient participation, especially in a psychological sense, was related to a better performance in everyday occupations and to the principal component reflecting outcome. In-depth analyses of three representative case studies illustrated the relationships that were established at a group level and mediated specific patient experiences. A percept-genetic test (PORT) revealed that the patients' external life situations and psychiatric problems were reflected in their internal object representations, and vice versa. A more benign picture testing at a 1–year follow-up indicated that the therapy had influenced the patients' internal object representations.

The ward atmosphere of a psychiatric day care unit on the basis of occupational therapy: Characteristics and development during a 5-year period

As part of a process-outcome study the development of the ward atmosphere over 5 years in a psychiatric day care unit on the basis of occupational therapy was investigated. The Community Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES) was administered to patients -about equal numbers of psychotic and non-psychotic—and staff on ten occasions, covering three phases. The ward atmosphere was distinguished by high levels of involvement, support, order and organization, and program clarity and by low levels of anger and aggression and staff control. In phase one the ward atmosphere was mainly in accordance with recommendations for psychotic patients, but during phases two and three there was a development towards more optimal factors for non-psychotic patients, probably reflecting changing needs of the patients. The patient and staff ratings were more in accordance than in most other studies, probably due to high patient-staff interaction. (Less)

Features of the Ward Atmosphere in a Psychiatric Day Care Unit Based on Occupational Therapy – a Comparative Study

As part of a process-outcome study the specific occupational therapy features of the ward atmosphere in a psychiatric day care unit were investigated. The Community-Oriented Programs Environment Scale (COPES) was used to investigate the patients' perceptions of the ward atmosphere in a psychiatric occupational therapy unit as compared to a sample of eight other psychiatric units. The results pointed to high levels of support and order and organisation, and low levels of anger and aggression and staff control as the most prominent features of the ward atmosphere in the investigated unit, indicating occupational therapy specific traits. Furthermore, the ward atmosphere in the unit showed a good balance between supportive and explorative factors and seemed to provide optimal levels for both psychosis and non-psychosis patients.

Dimensions of the shadow: Children of six nations respond to the nuclear threat

Abstract This study was designed to assess reaction to the nuclear threat on the part of students in six countries using a common instrument, the Nuclear Threat Index (NTI). The NTI is designed to report on three aspects of reactions: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. The study showed that children in each of the six nations reported accurate, realistic knowledge about the effects of nuclear war and that many children reported experiencing negative emotional reactions when they thought about nuclear war. Few students in any country have discussed nuclear war often, engaged often in preventative or preparatory behaviors, or experienced upset stomachs or nightmares. Among the age and sex differences found that support earlier studies were the following: Younger students reported higher levels of general negative affect, more concern about powerlessness and security, more affective behavior, more preparation/prevention behavior, less cognitive behavior, and less school and church behavior than did older students. Females reported higher levels of general negative affect, lower levels of anger, lower frequencies of cognitive behavior, and higher frequencies of church and school behavior than did males. Comparative results by country are reported in four tables.

Characteristics of a good ward atmosphere.

Thirty-five short term wards were evaluated with the WAS and a good milieu index. The results indicated that psychotic and non-psychotic patients need different types of atmosphere. Psychotic patients seem to benefit primarily from a milieu with a high level of Support, Practical orientation and Order and organization, and a low level of Anger and aggression, whereas non-psychotic patients seem to benefit mostly from a milieu with a high level of all subscales except for two: the level of Staff control ought to be low and the level of Anger and aggression ought probably to be intermediate.

Hva kjennetegner et terapeutisk miljø for psykotiske pasienter? Omarbeidet etter foredrag holdt i Norsk Psykiatrisk Forening

The milieu is of therapeutic importance. This has been self-evident for decades. Nevertheless there has been considerable disagreement concerning characteristics of a therapeutic milieu.I wanted to investigate patient opinions about beneficial milieus. Using the Ward Atmosphere Scale and a Good Milieu index, I found that patients on »psychosis wards« (more than 2/3 of the patients were psychotic) preferred a ward atmosphere with a high level of Support, Practical orientation, and Order and organization, and a low level of Anger and aggression. These results are in line with recent theory and empirical investigations, which indicate that psychotic patients on the whole need small, accepting, supporting and practically oriented wards with a high level of structure and predictability.

Internal vs external control and magnitude of aggression toward self and others.

Ss measuring high or low on the Rotter (1966) I-E Scale were given or denied information about outcome and then asked to aggress against themselves or another unknown S. It was reasoned that the Self for internals and Others for externals (i.e., the perceived locus of control) would be regarded as appropriate aggression targets. Results indicated that internals treated themselves much as externals treated Others (appropriate targets). When the target was inappropriate, internals and externals again reacted similarly but in a very different manner from their reactions to appropriate targets. If success or failure information was provided, aggression against appropriate targets was low and apparently inhibited since these Ss reported high levels of anger following the opportunity to aggress. In the absence of outcome information, appropriate targets received high levels of aggression which apparently drained off some hostility since these Ss reported low levels of anger following aggression. In the case of inappropriate targets, both manifest aggression and reported anger fell between the above extremes irrespective of the information provided Ss.