[Psychosocial follow up after parasuicide at hospital departments in Norway]. / Psykososial oppfølging etter parasuicid ved medisinske sykehusavdelinger i Norge.

BACKGROUND: Routines and standards of care for parasuicide patients in general hospitals in Norway were reviewed in relation to international and national recommendations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted with personnel at all Norwegian general hospitals with emergency units. 55 of a total of 58 hospitals participated (95%). RESULTS: Two thirds of the hospitals reported that most parasuicide patients were routinely psychiatrically evaluated and then referred to psychiatric or community aftercare. At almost half of the hospitals (46%) the staff had not received any specific training in clinical management of parasuicide patients during the last three years. Structured collaboration with external aftercare providers was non-existent in 43% of the hospitals. Hospitals with projects aimed at psychosocial follow up of parasuicide patients or hospitals with a team or a person responsible for the follow-up, had, however, routines more in accordance with the recommendations than hospitals without projects or teams. INTERPRETATION: The study shows great variations between Norwegian general hospitals in their routines and standards of care for psychosocial follow-up of parasuicide patients. Increasing the staff's competence, developing written routines and establishing mutually binding co-operation between the hospital and external caregivers are important areas for further development.

Life stress, social support and psychological distress in late adolescence: a longitudinal study.

Questionnaire data from 211 adolescents and follow-up data recorded 18 months later were employed to test main effects and stress-buffering effects of negative life events, on-going stressors and social support from family and friends on mental health. Negative life events, change from baseline level of on-going adversities and social support all contributed significantly to subsequent symptom scores, although negative life events only reached borderline significance among boys. There was evidence in favour of the buffer hypothesis for boys: negative life events had a significantly stronger effect when social support from peers was low, and long-lasting adversities had a significantly stronger effect when social support from parents was low. Both these two-way interaction effects among boys were significantly different from the corresponding trends among girls. Since the scores on both the independent and dependent variables are based on subjective self-reports, the results may have been affected by various types of response bias. The probabilities of such bias effects are discussed.

Life stress, social support and psychological distress in late adolescence.

Psychological distress in high-school students was examined in relation to negative life events, long-lasting adversities and perceived social support from the family, friends and the school class. Academic problems increased the symptom levels of psychological distress, and social support from family and social support from friends reduced the symptoms among males and females. For females, social support from school class-mates and problems with parents and friends also had direct independent effects on symptom levels. An effect of the total number of long-lasting adversities was significantly stronger for females than males. The buffer hypothesis was supported: both an increase in social support from parents and social support from peers reduced the effect of negative life events.