Risk factors for childhood burn injuries: a case-control study from Greece.

During a 12-month period 239 children who presented with a burn injury at the Emergency Department of a teaching children's hospital in Athens, with city-wide coverage, and 239 gender- and age-matched controls with minor non-injury ailments were interviewed. The questionnaire covered sociodemographic characteristics of the children and their families, information allowing the construction of a burn avoidance index in their homes and items from the Achenback scale that were synthesized into a child activity score. The data were analyzed through conditional logistic regression. In general, socio-demographic variables were not of overwhelming importance, although some of the findings indicate that supervision lapses and barefoot walking of gypsy children increase the risk of burn injuries. The kitchen in an inherently high risk place for injuries and the powerful inverse association of the burn avoidance index with burn injury risk points towards steps that could be easily taken and impart substantial protection. There was no evidence in this study of burn injury proneness or that hyperactivity of the child increased the risk of burn injury; indeed, the results point in the opposite direction. Our results strongly support the view that childhood burn injuries are largely environmentally conditioned and, accordingly, easily preventable.

Juvenile delinquents' perceptions of childhood parental rearing patterns.

This study compared individuals who have been identified as engaging in delinquent behavior, but who perceive their childhood differently. It examined the differentiating family and social characteristics between delinquents who were maltreated in childhood (based on self-report data) and delinquents who were not maltreated. The sample consisted of the entire population of juvenile delinquents (N = 287) in all institutions and prisons in Greece. Childhood abuse and neglect were defined on the basis of perceived parental rearing patterns as assessed by the EMBU questionnaire, and groups of abused/nonabused and neglected/non-neglected delinquents were formed. Perceived parental abuse and/or psychological neglect (paternal and/or maternal) were found to be associated with various family and social characteristics. Specific parameters connected to the Greek societal and cultural context have also been identified.

A needs survey among patients in Leros asylum.

The recent exposure of the plight of inmates living in poor conditions at the state asylum on the Greek island of Leros has caused public and professional outrage. If Greece is to avoid mistakes made by other countries, the plans for rehabilitating the patients and closing the hospital should from the outset include identification of the precise needs of patients for support and care. The survey of the patients' characteristics and needs for care found that most patients had no outside friends or relatives, and most were unable to perform basic daily skills. They shared many basic characteristics, however, with a large sample of the long-stay population in the UK, and 25% were thought to be able to live independently.

Psychotic patients' attributions for mental illness.

The study examined the attributions concerning mental illness of young psychotic out-patients participating in a rehabilitation programme. The sample consisted of 50 men and 33 women (mean age 26 yrs) diagnosed by their treating psychiatrist as psychotic, with main symptoms: hallucinations (59 per cent), depression (12 per cent), non-specific (29 per cent). Subjects replied to a personally administered questionnaire, designed to obtain ratings of importance for several causes of mental illness, and a measure of how optimistic they felt about their future psychological health. Factor analysis of the subjects' ratings revealed three factors: 'Family - Relationships', 'Personal Inadequacy' and 'Chance', accounting for 48 per cent of the variance. Except for gender, demographic variables (age, educational level, social class) and variables specific to the sample in question (type of symptoms, length of participation in the programme) did not differentiate significantly subjects' beliefs about their illness. However, the findings suggest that lower ratings of personal inadequacy may be associated with increased optimism about subjects' future mental health.

Evaluation of psychiatric morbidity following an earthquake.

Greece has been characterized by high earthquake activity in comparison not only with Mediterranean countries, but also with many parts of Eurasia. In the present study an assessment of the psychiatric morbidity was carried out in the city of Kalamata, Greece, two weeks after the earthquake in September, 1986. A random sample of residents divided into three categories was assessed. The participating groups consisted of 205 adults, 172 high school students and 69 adult outpatients who suffered from minor pathological problems or proceeded for a check-up without being necessarily ill. The Langner and CES-D scales were administered for the population assessment. Detailed statistical analysis revealed that the earthquake had significant psychological effects and caused a considerable degree of depression in all groups. According to the Langner Scale, 31.3% of the general population, 11.6% of the students and 40.6% of the patients exhibited 10 or more symptoms on the Langner scale indicating severe disturbance. Also 50.9% of the whole sample exhibited 6 or more symptoms indicating serious disturbance. In the CES-D scale, 79% of the general population, 69.2% of students and 75% of the outpatients exhibited 16 or more symptoms, or 74.6% of the whole sample. The observed difference between general population and students is significant on Langner scale (p less than 0.001) and on CES-D scale (p less than 0.025). The major symptoms in all groups were prevalence of severe psychiatric symptomatology, anxiety, psychosomatic disorders and depression.