ABSTRACT
Children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: mental health, psychosocial adjustment and parental functioningThe objective of this study is to assess the mental health and psychosocial adjustment of children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), and parental functioning compared to healthy controls. A cross-sectional study of 40 children treated for ALL (mean age 11.8 years, range 8.5-15.4) and healthy controls (n = 42) (mean age 11.8 years, range 8.11-15.0) were assessed by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The parent's own mental health was assessed by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). Children treated for ALL showed on average significantly more symptoms as measured by the CBCL Total Behaviour Score for mother's report (P = 0.005), and for father's report (P = 0.004) compared with healthy children. Fathers reported more anxiety (P = 0.03) and depression (P = 0.02) as measured by the GHQ-30 compared with healthy controls. Children in remission from ALL showed on average significantly more problems regarding mental health and psychosocial adjustment, as reported by their parents, compared with healthy controls. Adequate rehabilitation and follow-up programmes should be implemented for children in remission from ALL. The results indicate the need to pay attention to the mental health of fathers during the rehabilitation phase.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Mental Disorders/epidemiology , Parents/psychology , Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Anxiety/epidemiology , Child , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depression/epidemiology , Female , Health Status , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Norway , Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/rehabilitation , Remission Induction , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Examination of the records of first admission patients at the acute ward of a psychiatric hospital indicated that contact was established with only 4% of the patients' children. A screening for assistance to patients' children at the acute wards of 21 hospitals showed, furthermore, that only one hospital offered such assistance as a routine. It is argued that this shows a relative neglect of a group (patients' children) with well documented mental health problems, whose only contact with the health services may be their parent's hospital, and whose problems may relate directly to the parent's problems.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Psychiatry , Child Psychiatry , Child of Impaired Parents , Mental Disorders , Psychology, Adolescent , Psychology, Child , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child Health Services , Female , Hospitals, Psychiatric , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/prevention & control , Mental Disorders/therapy , Norway , Surveys and Questionnaires , WorkforceABSTRACT
Tests showed that 4- to 6-year-old children believe that people can be influenced or "controlled" both by thinking (e.g., both wishful thinking and magical behavior) and by realistic means (e.g., positive reinforcement, example, and group pressure). Belief in control by thinking did not vary by the subjects' sex or age, influence type (wishing or magical behavior), or target response (behavior, emotion, or thought). Quantitative measures, however, suggested that magical behavior was seen by subjects as being more efficient than wishing, and that emotion was considered easier to influence than thinking. Beliefs in control by thinking were not related to a measure of fantasy-reality differentiation (realism).
Subject(s)
Defense Mechanisms , Freudian Theory , Internal-External Control , Magic , Personality Development , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Personality Assessment , Projective Techniques , Reality Testing , Social EnvironmentABSTRACT
Three experiments were designed to test 4- and 6-year-old children's causal inferences in interpersonal settings where emotions (glad, angry, and sad) were effect responses. The results showed that emotion and orientation (towards or away from) were central cues, and that sex and age also were used to some extent. Cues related to regularity philosophic notions (e.g. David Hume), such as contiguity in time and space, and time order of cause and effect were little used by comparison. The results raise questions about the basic role attributed to regularity cues both by philosophers and psychologists, and suggest a multiple cue contribution rather than a basic cue generalization approach to causal cognition development.
Subject(s)
Concept Formation , Emotions , Interpersonal Relations , Personality Development , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , MaleSubject(s)
Aggression/psychology , Arousal , Personality Development , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Gender Identity , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Prevalence estimates of psychiatric disorder in 10-yr-old rural Norwegian children were based on responses to symptom checklists for parents and teachers. The parents' index showed highest validity, and was used as a basis for prevalence estimates. Properties of the index were shown to be sample specific, and a validity test should consequently always be administered to representative subsamples in psychiatric epidemiological studies based on symptom checklists. Prevalence of functional problems of a primarily psychological nature was calculated by proportional extrapolations from the validity test results. The prevalence rate for the total sample was 5%, and corrected prevalence when emigrants were excluded was 4.6%.
