Women and addiction (alcohol and opiates): comparative analysis of psychosocial aspects.

INTRODUCTION: Nowadays women constitute one third of all addicts. In the last decade, there has been a remarkable growth in scientific interest in biochemical and psychosocial aspects of women's addiction. Many researches point out the specific character of women's addiction. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess and compare psychosocial aspects, including the sociodemographic characteristics as well as the specific aspects of functioning of family and interpersonal relationships of the subjects addicted to opiates and alcohol. METHODS: There were two substance addict groups (32 and 30 subjects addicted to drugs and alcohol, respectively) and the control group, consisting of 30 subjects (no substance addiction). A socio-demographic data questionnaire and semi-structured Addiction Severity Index (ASI) interview were used. RESULTS: The results of the research indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the compared groups in respect to the age of the subjects, family history of addiction disorders, education, parenthood, employment work status, and marital status. The subjects addicted to opiates differed significantly in respect to manifestation of aggressive, delinquent behaviour, infectious diseases, presence of addicts-partnerships, but there were no significant differences in relation to physical abuse, sexual abuse and self-assessment of depression. CONCLUSION: The results of this research suggest that subjects addicted to opiates differed largely from the subjects addicted to alcohol in terms of the age of the subjects, education level, family relationships, partnerships and social relationships, which all have to be taken into consideration when designing a therapy protocol and planning activities for prevention.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy in psychiatry: the missing link?

Polarization of biological and psychosocial aspects of psychiatry determines the artificial division of the "biological" psychiatrists and psychiatrists "psychotherapists". This division resulted from a certain dose of mystification of the psychotherapeutic work of those practicing, and fear of psychological determinism of the functioning, of those who are looking for answers in the biological substrate. The gap of polarization is now described as a form of Cartesian dualism, the division of the mind and the brain. The integration of psychotherapy in psychiatry is the trend in psychiatric specialization, virtually erasing this dualism. This paper describes novelties related to psychotherapy training, as defined by the Section of Psychiatry within the European Union of Medical Specialities and the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee in the U.S.that provided guidelines for the psychotherapeutic competences of future psychiatrists. We are also describing the situation in Serbia, where there was a formal specialization in psychotherapy at the Medical Faculty in Belgrade, for over thirty years, and education in psychodynamics of adults, at the Mental Health Institute, from 1978 to 2007. In addition, there are a number of other schools of psychotherapy, providing training for psychiatrists. This framework allows the authors, based on their experience and previous research, to present their views concerning the future of training in psychodynamic psychotherapy in psychiatric education.

Development and evaluation of the nurse quality of communication with patient questionnaire.

INTRODUCTION: Nurse/patient relationship as a complex interrelation or as an interaction of the factor patient and factor nurse has been a subject of a number of studies during the past ten years. Nurse/patient communication is a special entity, usually observed within a framework of the wider nurse/patient relationship. In that regard, we wanted to develop a standardized questionnaire that could reliably measure the quality of communication between nurse and patient, and be used by nurses. OBJECTIVES: The main goal of this study was to develop and evaluate construct validity of the Nurse Quality of Communication with Patient Questionnaire (NQCPQ), as well as to evaluate its reliability. The goal was also to establish a measure of inter-raters reliability, using two repeated measurements of results by items and scores of the NQCPQ, on the same observed units by two assessors. METHODS: The starting NQCPQ that consists of 25 items, was filled in by two groups of nurses. Each nurse was questioned during morning and afternoon shifts, in order to evaluate their communication with hospitalized patients, using marks from 1 to 6. To evaluate construct validity, we used the analysis of main components, while reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient and Cronbach-alpha coefficient. To evaluate interraters reliability, we used Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Using a group of 118 patients, we explained 86% of the unknown, regarding the investigated phenomenon (communication nurse/patient), using one component by which we separated 6 items of the questionnaire. Inter-item correlation (alpha) in this component was 0.96. Pearson correlation coefficient was highly significant, value 0.7 by item, and correlation coefficient for scores at repeated measurements was 0.84. CONCLUSION: NQCPQ is 6-item instrument with high construct validity. It can be used to measure quality of nurse/patient communication in a simple, fast and reliable way. It could contribute to more adequate research and defining of this problem, and as such could be used in studies of interaction of psychometric, clinical, biochemical, socio-cultural, demographic and other parameters as well.

Predicting transitory mood from physical activity level among people with severe mental illness in two cultures.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have indicated that physical activity (PA) is positively related to health-related quality of life and well-being among people with severe mental illness (SMI). Physical activity is broadly defined in this research as any skeletal muscle movement resulting in energy expenditure, including common daily activities such as housework and gardening, as well as walking for transportation and formal exercise. Although the physical health benefits of PA are well documented, evidence suggests that PA provides psychological benefits as well. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to identify if PA level was associated with transitory mood in the everyday lives of people with SMI across two cultures. METHODS: Subjects were drawn through mental health centres in Serbia (n = 12) and the USA (n = 11). Data were collected using both experience sampling methodology and accelerometry. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modelling. RESULTS: Subjects demonstrated low levels of PA, which did not differ significantly between groups. Hierarchical analysis indicated that PA remained significantly positively associated with mood after accounting for individual variation, and this was consistent across groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study reinforces previous findings that people with SMI demonstrate low PA levels generally. It also supports the consideration of physical activity interventions as a regular part of psychiatric rehabilitation. It appears that increased PA may have the potential to affect both physical health and mood among people with SMI.

Excessive internet use and depressive disorders.

Recent studies of Internet influence on behavioural disorders of its users, have created quite a polarised ambience. On the one hand, there are those who believe that the Internet is a new better medium for enabling various patterns of communication and social relations. On the other hand, others maintain that Internet use can lead to social isolation and other forms of psychological disorders, for an example depression. The aim of this work is a review of research attempts to confirm a connection between increased Internet use and psychological disorders, in the first place, depression. The number of studies on this subject is not very great thus far. This is mainly because depression and similar disorders are serious distorsions in basic psychological processes; this suggests how difficult it may be to work with such examinees, and how complex it may appear to distinguish etiological factors. These facts do not lessen the importance of the aim itself, i.e. defining potential consequences of excessive Internet use when it comes to psychological wellbeing, since the Internet is expected to become a basic form of social interaction in the near future, and consequently one of the major factors of socialisation and constitution of one's psychological identity. Due to that fact, the aim of this work is to indicate methodological and conceptual flaws of the studies which have attempted to make a connection between mood disorders and the Internet, so as to establish the base for future studies of the psychological consequences of Internet development.