How central and connected am I in my family? Bridging and bonding social capital in family configurations of young adults with psychiatric disorders.

AIMS: This article explores the structures of relational resources that individuals with psychiatric disorders get from their family configurations using the concept of social capital. METHODS: The research is based on a sample of 54 individuals with psychiatric disorders and behavioural problems, and a comparison sample of 54 individuals without a clinical record matched to the clinical respondents for age and sex. Standard measures of social capital from social network methods are applied on family configurations of individuals from both samples. Differences are tested by variance analysis. RESULTS: Structures of family resources available to individuals with psychiatric disorders are distinct. Individuals with psychiatric disorders perceive themselves as less central in their family configurations and less connected to their family members. Their significant family members are perceived as less connected with each other. As a whole, their family configurations are smaller and do not include spouses or partners. Therefore bridging and bonding social capitals are not readily available for them. CONCLUSION: As family configurations of individuals with psychiatric disorders provide fewer relational resources than other families, they are not able to deal with social integration of individuals with psychiatric disorders on their own.

NBME Examination Part I as a predictor of clinical and ABIM certifying examination performances.

The authors studied the extent that National Board of Medical Examiners examination Part I (NBME Part I) performance was predictive of American Board of Internal Medicine examination (ABIME) scores and clinical skill ratings. Information was obtained for Jackson Memorial Hospital internal medicine residents who completed training from 1980 to 1988. There was a highly significant association (r = 0.57, p < 0.0001, n = 117) between ABIME and NBME Part I scores. Clinical evaluations and NBME Part I scores were less strongly related. The data indicate that NBME Part I scores are highly predictive of ABIME outcome. NBME Part I scores also appear to be predictive of clinical performance, but to a lesser extent.