Religious Identity and its Relation to Health-Related Quality of Life and COVID-Related Stress of Refugee Children and Adolescents in Germany.

Research shows that religious identity is associated with health. The aim of this study was to understand the role of religious identity for refugee minors' health in greater detail. Middle Eastern refugee minors resettled in Germany and aged 8-18 years completed questionnaires at baseline (T1, n = 246) and follow-up (T2, n = 122) measurement between 2019 and 2022. Religious identity was assessed with a 4-item measure (Cronbach's α = .89). Associations of religious identity at T1 with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at T1, change in HRQoL from T1 to T2, and perceived COVID-related stress at T2, as well as the mediating role of resources were examined. The results showed a positive association between religious identity and HRQoL, which was partially mediated by integration into peer group, but not by ethnic identity, sense of coherence or religious practice. No significant associations between religious identity and change in HRQoL or COVID-related stress occurred. Therefore, cross-sectional analyses support the beneficial role of religious identity for HRQoL and the crucial mediating role of integration into peer group, suggesting the promotion of religious identity or peer group integration. However, the absence of significant effects on change in HRQoL from T1 to T2 and COVID-related stress at T2 do not allow drawing any long-term conclusions.

[Stress Prevention in Adolescence: Evaluation and Optimisation of a Setting-Based Programme]. / Stressprävention im Jugendalter: Evaluation und Optimierung eines settingbasierten Programmangebots.

The aim of the project was related to the development of a stress prevention programme for adolescents with a special focus on the use of the internet to communicate health-related topics. It could be shown that the evaluative programme effects were improved if a website was available in addition to a face-to-face training. This led to more positive results with regard to knowledge about stress and stress prevention, satisfaction with the training, symptom reduction and self-efficacy.

Pain tolerance in children and adolescents: sex differences and psychosocial influences on pain threshold and endurance.

BACKGROUND: Laboratory studies with children and adolescents revealed inconsistent findings regarding sex differences in pain tolerance, although lower pain tolerance is commonly reported for adult women. Besides biological mechanisms, several socio-cognitive variables are discussed which may influence pain tolerance in regard to sex differences. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the pain tolerance of children and adolescents using the cold pressor task (CPT) and to analyse influences of pain-coping and pain-related self-efficacy. METHODS: About 1021 children and adolescents aged 9-17 participated in the study. Pain tolerance was defined as the length of time a participant's hand remains under water during the CPT. Two phases of pain tolerance were differentiated: the time until pain is reported (pain threshold) and the time from the threshold until the pain increases to a level resulting in the hand being withdrawn (pain endurance). Pain-coping and pain-related self-efficacy were assessed by self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: We revealed an obvious effect of sex on pain threshold, which increased with age, a small effect on pain tolerance and no significant effect on endurance. Independent of sex, pain endurance was influenced by pain-related self-efficacy and positive self-instruction. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the assumption that female and male adolescents develop in different directions regarding their pain tolerance when reaching puberty. This seems mainly attributable to a decrease of pain threshold in girls. In contrast, boys and girls are able to endure pain to an equal extent influenced, however, by self-efficacy and coping variables.

Psychophysiological effects of relaxation training in children.

OBJECTIVES: This study compares the effects of progressive muscle relaxation and an imagery-based relaxation training on childrens' physiological and subjective responses in a randomized controlled trial. DESIGN: Sixty-four children aged 9 to 13 years were randomly allocated to either one of three experimental conditions: progressive muscle relaxation, imagery-based relaxation or a control condition (neutral story). There were five training sessions in each condition. METHOD: Heart rate (HR), skin conductance level (SCL), and skin temperature (ST) were measured continuously during a 5-minute baseline period, an 8-minute relaxation training period, and a 5-minute follow-up in each session. In addition, subjective ratings of mood and physical well-being were collected intermittently. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: A physiological pattern indicating relaxation was most clearly associated with the imagery-based relaxation approach (decreases in HR and SCL), although ST remained unchanged. In contrast, progressive muscle relaxation led to an increase in HR during the training. The neutral story condition showed a similar trend as the imagery-based relaxation approach (although not reaching statistical significance). Furthermore, children's ratings of positive mood and physical wellbeing increased during baseline and training periods, but there were no differences between training conditions. The results indicate psychophysiological effects of relaxation instructions which, however, are not specific for systematic relaxation training.

Stability and change in longitudinal water-level task performance.

Three longitudinal samples of children (N = 481), 8 to 16 years old, were assessed 3 times at yearly intervals on 8 water-level items. The within-child change in task performance over age is viewed as a stochastic process of the child changing or remaining in 1 of 3 latent (strategy) states: (a) bottom-parallel responders, (b) random responders, or (c) accurate responders. A random-effects binomial mixture distribution is used to model performance at each age. Change over age is gauged by a stochastic transition model. Although there was improvement in task performance over age, the more general finding is that strategy stability, not change, is most typical.

Relationships between infant crying, birth complications, and maternal variables.

The aim of the study is to identify factors influencing infants' crying behaviour (total crying duration, length of crying bouts, and frequency of crying). The searching for variables explaining inter-individual differences requires a sufficient stability of the cry parameters at least over short time intervals. Thus, a second aim is to assess the intra-individual stability of the crying behaviour in an age range from 3 to 12 months. Sixty-two mother-child dyads participated in the study. The results show substantial stabilities of the crying behaviour of infants between 3 and 12 months of age. This is related to the amount of crying as well as to the pattern of crying shown by the children over a 24 h interval. The typical cry pattern is characterized by peaks at 12.00 h and early in the evening, although there are large individual differences between the children with regard to cry durations at each hour of the day. Regarding the cry durations at 3 months of age, birth complications and the perceived emotional atmosphere in the mothers' family of origin are the major contributing factors.

Intuitive parenting and infant behavior: concepts, implications, and empirical validation.

On the basis of the concept of intuitive parenting, the expectation was formulated that a mother's tendency to reflect on her parenting behavior would impede intuitive responses to infant signals. Also, a high quality of parental interactional behavior was expected to be related to fewer problems of the child (e.g., less crying, fewer reported difficulties, fewer health problems). An observational study with 62 mothers and their 3-month-old children confirmed the assumption that reflection about parenting during face-to-face interactions interferes with intuitive behavior. However, in contrast to initial expectations, a high quality of parenting was related, not to fewer, but rather to more health and behavioral problems of the child. Conceptual differentiations of the initial assumptions are discussed.

Decomposing Water-Level Responses: Field Effects as Separate Influences

A previous study on water-level task performance using binomial mixture analyses showed that subgroups of subjects could be identified which used different response rules. Some subjects used a bottom parallel rule, others used a random-like rule, and still others used the correct response rule. The present study relates the water-level task performance of these subgroups to field effect influences. Subjects were 604 children and adolescents aged 7 to 15 years who responded to eight water-level and eight rod-and-frame task items. The results show that the water-level response distribution is influenced by the frame of the vessel. These field effects are relatively small if subjects maintain a fixed response rule, and they are large if subjects use a nonfixed random rule. Both field effects and response rules contribute to the behavior of subjects responding to water-level task items.

[Prevention of sudden infant death by monitoring: effects on psychological stress of involved parents]. / Zur Prävention des plötzlichen Säuglingstods durch Monitoring: Auswirkungen auf die psychische Belastung betroffener Eltern.

Effects on the emotional distress of addicted parents. The present paper focuses on the emotional distress that parents may experience during their use of a monitor to prevent the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Since the parents are confronted with the risk of a life threatening event, it is important to know more about influential and relief factors to be able to contribute to the emotional support of parents. 229 parents of children whose siblings died of SIDS of children with an otherwise increased risk participated at the present questionnaire study. The results showed a lower emotional distress for parents with a previous SIDS experience than for parents confronted with an increased risk for other reasons. In general, the emotional distress was higher for mothers than for fathers. During the monitoring interval there are only small changes of the emotional distress experienced by the parents. The rate of false alarms leads to the highest impact on the emotional condition, while the highest relief results from a good quality of the monitoring instructions and from the knowledge thereby acquired by the parents. The significance of the results for the support of parents is evaluated and discussed.

[Development and evaluation of a program for preventing sexual abuse in the preschool age]. / Entwicklung und Evaluation eines Präventionsprogramms zum sexuellen Missbrauch im Vorschulalter.

The present study reports on the development and evaluation of an intervention program to prevent sexual abuse in the preschool age. The main aim of the program is to increase the social competencies of preschool children. Starting from critiques at existing prevention programs an intervention adapted at the cognitive abilities of preschool children was developed. The central themes of the program are the abilities to deal with feelings, touches, secrets, saying no, and getting support. The program effects were tested by an experimental study. Subjects were 80 preschool children aged 4 to 6 years. Forty children participated at the program while the other children served as control group. The results show clear increases of knowledge on all program dimensions which were stable over an interval of at least two months. The implications of the results for the use of prevention programs for sexual abuse in the preschool age are evaluated and discussed.

[Illness concepts of children: an overview of current research]. / Krankheitskonzepte von Kindern: Ein Uberblick zur Forschungslage.

The present paper tries to summarize the main research topics on concepts of children about health and illness. The present research in this area is allocated to two theoretical positions: (a) cognitive-structural and (b) knowledge related research orientations. After describing the theoretical positions the paper turns to consequences of illness-related conceptions for the experiencing and behaviour of children. The main topics are interactions between illness-related conceptions and emotional experiences and relations of illness-related conceptions to behaviour (compliance, coping and preventive behaviour). The final sections are related to consequences of the present research results for dealing with children.

Modeling growth and individual differences in spatial tasks.

The goal of the present research is to understand individual differences and growth of children's and adolescents' performance on two spatial tasks through a formal model framework. In Study 1, 579 subjects aged 7-16 years old drew lines to represent their water-level task predictions for eight tilted rectangular vessels. In the verticality task, called the "van task," subjects drew lines representing their predictions concerning the orientation of a plumb line suspended from the ceiling of a van parked on eight different inclines. In Study 2, 185 subjects aged 9-16 years were presented with video displays on a computer monitor and were instructed to adjust lines on the screen to indicate their predictions for the same stimuli used in Study 1. Later, they responded to a multiple-choice verbal analogies test and answered interview questions concerning their task performance strategies for the van and water-level tasks. In both studies, responses on the van and water-level tasks were scored as correct or incorrect on the basis of empirically derived scoring criteria that varied with age. The number of correct responses for each subject on the van and water-level tasks was modeled as a binomial random variable. Individual differences, growth differences, and sex differences in task performance were modeled as mixtures of binomial distributions, a model that may be viewed as a latent class model. Data for Study 1 subjects 11 years and older were combined so that the joint structure of the water-level and van tasks could be studied. This structure was modeled as a mixture of bivariate binomial distributions. On the basis of their task performance, subjects in Study 1 were assigned to their corresponding latent classes. Once classified, the original response distributions of subjects within each latent class were explored in an effort to understand their various response strategies. Additionally, the correspondence between verbal explanations and van and water-level task performance was investigated in Study 2. Results include the following: 1. A two-component binomial mixture distribution fit well the van and water-level task data for each age and sex group; each binomial component may be viewed as a different latent class. Variance accounted for under the model often exceeded 90%. One binomial component (latent class) modeled the poor performers with poor task success rates, and the second component modeled the remaining good performers who consistently performed well.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Reliability and clinical concepts underlying global judgments in dementia: implications for clinical research.

The Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) is a recognized rating scale for global clinical judgments comprising scores for disease severity, change of disease conditions, and a so-called "efficacy index." In this report, the authors subject the CGI to a methodological analysis. Thirty-seven physicians working in psychogeriatric wards were interviewed on 12 patients each with a DSM-III diagnosis of a dementia syndrome. After the physicians made global judgments on the patients with the CGI, "personal" assessment criteria were elicited. The CGI data were correlated in the statistical analysis with the physicians' assessments of the patients on their personal criteria and on "recognized" assessment criteria obtained from DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for dementia syndrome. Interrater reliabilities between physicians and nursing staff as well as retest reliabilities for the CGI criteria were also measured. While the CGI-severity reflects primarily the cognitive aspects of dementia, the CGI global assessment of change of the disease condition was poorly correlated with the assessments based on "personal" or the recognized DSM-III-R criteria. This was also indicated by the result that the reliability scores for CGI-severity were high and did not vary greatly, whereas the reliability scores for CGI change showed wide confidence intervals.

[Psychological correlates of self-help group membership in patients with rheumatic diseases]. / Psychologische Korrelate der Selbsthilfegruppenzugehörigkeit bei Erkrankungen des rheumatischen Formenkreises.

This study focuses on the significance of psychological correlates of membership in self-help groups for rheumatic diseases. 138 patients suffering from rheumatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and arthrosis participated in the study. Self-help group members show specific control beliefs which differ from the non-self-help group members. They view the disease as more controllable by themselves (internal locus of control) and as less dependent on health professionals (powerful others health locus of control) and on fate or chance (chance locus of control). Further, self-help group members show more compliance and engagement in their treatment than non-self-help group members. In addition, they search for more information, for more sources of information and show better knowledge about the disease and about treatment which may also be a result of higher frequencies of conversations about the disease and about treatment reported by members of self-help groups. Self-help group members do not only speak more frequently about these topics, but such conversations are also more important in their estimation. Results further suggest a relation between self-help group membership and emotional variables.

Information integration by children: the identification of rules by an alternative method.

Two empirical studies were conducted with 136 preschool children, aged 5 to 6, and 89 adults. Using rectangles of varying sizes, a paired-comparisons procedure revealed two integration rules that determined the children's responses: a multiplying rule and a centration rule characterized by a preference for the maximum of height and width. The adults applied the multiplying rule, but if this rule failed, they used rules similar to those applied by the children. In none of the age groups was there evidence for an adding rule. In a second study, these results were replicated for two other types of response scales, rank ordering and rating, indicating that the results of the first study were not due to the use of the paired-comparison procedure. The present results differed from results of previous studies that used different techniques for the analysis of integration rules.

[Control beliefs and patient compliance: an empirical study exemplified by adolescents with diabetes mellitus, bronchial asthma and alopecia areata]. / Kontrollüberzeugungen und Patienten-Compliance: Eine empirische Untersuchung am Beispiel von Jugendlichen mit Diabetes mellitus, Asthma bronchiale und Alopecia areata.

The present paper focuses on the relation between control beliefs and the compliance of adolescents suffering from chronical diseases. It is assumed that the compliance will be high when the own behavior is regarded as most important for the improvement during illness (internal locus of control). A high compliance is also expected when the own state of health is seen as dependent from other persons, who are engaged in the therapeutic process (powerful others locus of control). Little compliance is expected when the state of health is regarded as dependent from fate or chance influences (chance locus of control). Thereover, it is assumed that the control beliefs are influenced by the specific disease of a patient, since diseases are controllable by the patients in different degrees and therefore should result in specific control beliefs. The theoretical assumptions were proved in an empirical study with 80 patients suffering from different diseases (Diabetes mellitus, Asthma bronchiale, Alopecia areata) and 366 healthy adolescents and adults. The results show a clear dependency of the control beliefs from the kind of disease of the patients. However, the relations between control beliefs and compliance are discrepant to the expectations which is shown mainly by null or negative correlations between internality and compliance. The empirical relations are explained by the self-reliant behavior of the internal patients which perhaps shows little compatibility to traditional concepts of compliance. The implications of the present results for the enhancement of compliance and for the definition of the compliance-concept are elaborated and discussed.