The Dynamics of Right-Wing Extremism within German Society explores the prevalence of right-wing extremist attitudes in Germany. The book provides a thorough psychosocial and sociological theory of ...general authoritarian dynamics to explain broader societal attitudes, particularly focusing on right-wing extremism. It provides a uniquely long-term perspective on the different dimensions of right-wing extremism—the affinity for dictatorial forms of government, chauvinist attitudes, the trivialisation or justification of National Socialism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and social Darwinism. The first chapter delineates the theoretical framework of authoritarian dynamics, while subsequent chapters provide an in-depth analysis of empirical findings and distinguish authoritarian and democratic typologies. The authors focus on recognition of authoritarian statehood and anti-Semitism; the relationship between religion and right-wing extremism; and support for the radical-right populist party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). The innovative theoretical approach of this book scrutinizes the theory of authoritarianism in the contemporary world. This book provides unique empirical data and will be of interest to scholars of German politics, anti-democratic attitudes and prejudices, sociology, political science, and social psychology.
Objective
Psychological distress is common in cancer patients, and awareness of its indicators is essential. We aimed to assess the prevalence of psychological distress and to identify problems ...indicative of high distress.
Methods
We used the distress thermometer (DT) and its 34‐item problem list to measure psychological distress in 3724 cancer patients (mean age 58 years; 57% women) across major tumor entities, enrolled in an epidemiological multicenter study. To identify distress‐related problems, we conducted monothetic analyses.
Results
We found high levels of psychological distress (DT ≥ 5) in 52% of patients. The most prevalent problems were fatigue (56%), sleep problems (51%), and problems getting around (47%). Sadness, fatigue, and sleep problems were most strongly associated with the presence of other problems. High distress was present in 81.4% of patients reporting all 3 of these problems (DT M = 6.4). When analyzing only the subset of physical problems, fatigue, problems getting around, and indigestion showed the strongest association with the remaining problems and 76.3% of patients with all 3 problems were highly distressed (DT M = 6.1).
Conclusions
Our results show a high prevalence of psychological distress in cancer patients, as well as a set of problems that indicate the likely presence of other problems and high distress and can help clinicians identify distressed patients even if no routine distress screening is available.
Background: To what extent is professional psychosocial care of cancer patients in acute hospitals necessary? In a previous meta-analysis, prevalence of psychological sequelae was found to be the ...same as in the general population. New studies with advanced methodology have been published since; therefore, an updated meta-analysis was needed.
Methods: We systematically reviewed studies assessing the prevalence of mental health conditions in acute care hospitals with comprehensive structured clinical interviews.
Results: Of 46 retrieved manuscripts, eight were deemed eligible for this meta-analysis. Within the studies, 1448 cancer patients had been assessed, whereby 456 were diagnosed having a mental health disorder. The prevalence rates ranged from 23% (breast cancer patients in Turkey) to 53% (elderly cancer patients in Uganda). The combined prevalence estimate is 32% (95% confidence interval 27% to 37%).
Conclusion: One-third of the cancer patients in acute care hospitals is suffering from mental health disorders and need appropriate treatment.
We examined psychological parameters in family caregivers of palliative cancer patients before and after the death of the patients. Caregivers’ data about depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and ...Depression Scale), quality‐of‐life (Short Form‐8 Health Survey), and social support (Oslo Social Support Scale) were collected at the beginning of home care (t1) and 2 months after the patient had died (t2). Regression models were employed to examine factors related to depression and anxiety in the bereaved caregivers. We interviewed 72 relatives, who were the primary caregiver of a patient. One‐third (31.9%) of caregivers had high anxiety levels and 29.2% had high depression levels (t1, cut‐off = 10). At t2, anxiety and depression had decreased significantly. There were no changes in quality‐of‐life over time. At both points of assessments, quality‐of‐life was lower than in the general population. Relevant factors for higher anxiety and depression in the bereaved caregivers were high levels of distress at t1, insufficient social support and low physical function. Bereaved caregivers were particularly depressed when they had been the spouse of the patient. Healthcare professionals should consider social isolation of caring relatives both during homecare and afterwards. Thus, it seems to be important to routinely offer support to spouses.
Abstract Background Depression is a common co-morbidity of cancer that has a detrimental effect on quality of life, treatment adherence and potentially survival. We conducted an epidemiological ...multi-center study including a population-based random comparison sample and estimated the prevalence of depressive symptoms by cancer site, thereby identifying cancer patients with the highest prevalence of depression. Patients and methods We included 4020 adult cancer inpatients and outpatients from five distinct regions across Germany in a proportional stratified random sample based on the nationwide cancer incidence and a comparison group consisting of 5018 participants. Both groups reported depressive symptoms by filling in the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). In multivariate analyses adjusted for age and sex, we calculated the odds of being depressed. Results Out of 5818 eligible patients, 69% participated (51% women, mean age = 58 years). We estimated that one in four cancer patients (24%) is depressed (PHQ-9 ≥ 10). The odds of being depressed among cancer patients were more than five times higher than in the general population (OR, 5.4; 95% CI, 4.6–6.2). Patients with pancreatic (M = 8.0, SD = 5.0), thyroid (M = 7.8, SD = 6.3) and brain tumours (M = 7.6, SD = 4.9) showed the highest prevalence, whereas patients with prostate cancer (M = 4.3, SD = 3.8) and malignant melanoma (M = 5.3, SD = 4.3) had the lowest levels of depressive symptoms. Conclusion Our results help clinicians identify cancer patients in need of psychosocial support when navigating in the growing survivor population.
The SF-8 is a short form of the SF-36 Health Survey, which is used for generic assessment of physical and mental aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Each of the 8 dimensions of the ...SF-36 is covered by a single item in the SF-8. The aim of the study was to examine the latent model structure of the SF-8.
One-, two- and three dimensional as well as bi-factor structural models were defined and estimated adopting the ML- as well as the WLSMV-algorithm for ordinal data. The data were collected in a German general population sample (N = 2545 persons).
A two- (physical and mental health) and a three-dimensional CFA structure (in addition overall health) represent the empirical data information adequately CFI = .987/.995; SRMR = .024/.014. If a general factor is added, the resulting bi-factor models provide a further improvement in data fit CFI = .999/.998; SRMR = .001. The individual items are much more highly associated with the general HRQoL factor (loadings: .698 to .908) than with the factors physical, mental, and overall health (loadings: -.206 to .566).
In the SF-8, each item reflects mainly general HRQoL (general factor) as well as one of the three components physical, mental, and overall health. The findings suggest in particular that the evaluation of the information of the SF-8 items can be validly supplemented by a general value HRQoL.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
While work-related fatigue has become an issue of concern among European employees, the relationship between fatigue, depression and work-related stressors is far from clear. The purposes of this ...study were (1) to determine the associations of fatigue with work-related stressors, severe medical disease, health behavior and depression in the working population and (2) to determine the unique impact of work-related stressors on fatigue.
We used cross-sectional data of N = 7,930 working participants enrolled in the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) from 2007 to 2012 filled out the Personal Burnout Scale (PBS) of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ), the PHQ-9, and a list of work-related stressors.
A total of 27.5% reported increased fatigue, esp. women, younger persons with a lower social status and income, smokers, severely medically ill, previously and currently depressed participants. Fatigue was consistently associated with severe medical disease, health behavior and depression, which need to be taken into account as potential confounders when analyzing its relationship to work-related strains. Depression was consistently associated with work-related stressors. However, after statistically partialling out depression, fatigue was still significantly associated with work-related stress.
Fatigue as an indicator of allostatic load is consistently associated with work-related stressors such as work overload after controlling for depression. The brief Personal Burn-out Scale is suitable for assessing work-related fatigue in the general population.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background Breast cancer is linked to personal, social, and health problems. Unipolar depression, is the most prevalent psychiatric condition exhibited in breast cancer. However, no research has been ...conducted on the role of Depressive Personality Vulnerability (DPV) in breast cancer. DPV pertains to personality traits that are distinguishable from depressive symptoms, but that are said to increase the likelihood of depression's onset/exacerbation. Based on Blatt's theory, dependency and self-criticism constitute two forms of DPV. Methods We examined the role of dependency, self-criticism and efficacy in depressive symptoms experienced by breast cancer patients treated for depression. Patients (rV= 157) were randomized into either individual Short-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (STPP; N = 78) or "Treatment as Usual" (TAU; N = 79). Previous analyses revealed that STPP was superior to TAU in reducing depression at termination. The three DPV traits were assessed at baseline, termination, and follow-up using the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (Blatt et al., 1976). Depression and anxiety were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results Dependency and self-criticism predicted elevated baseline anxiety, whereas self-criticism also predicted baseline depression. Also, baseline self-criticism predicted a rank-order increase in depression and anxiety, in both termination and follow-up, under high dependency and efficacy. Finally, baseline self-criticism augmented the beneficial effect of STPP oh depression-reduction at termination. Conclusions Self-criticism emerges as a focal construct vis-a-vis depression and anxiety experienced by breast cancer patients. Whereas this construct appears to confer risk to depression and anxiety irrespective of treatment, it also augments evidence-based, psychodynamic psychotherapy for depression.
As sleep disorders have become a major concern in public health, there is strong need for a brief and sound measure for sleep problems. The purposes of the study were to 1) evaluate factor structure ...and measurement invariance, 2) validate the scale based on sociodemographic data and distress, and 3) provide norm values for the general population.
In a representative survey of the German population N = 2515 participants (14 to 95 years) filled in the 4-item Jenkins Sleep Scale (JSS-4), sociodemographic questions and the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (anxiety, depression, somatic symptom load). The JSS-4 was analyzed by principal component analysis, confirmatory and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. A multiple-indicator-multiple-cause model was tested to investigate the relationship of the JSS-4 to distress and sociodemographic variables.
The one-factor structure of JSS-4 was confirmed. Given the heterogeneity of facets of sleep problems captured in the four items, internal consistency of the JSS-4 was remarkably high. The JSS-4 was strictly invariant across both sexes, and partially strictly invariant across income groups and individuals living with or without a partner. With regard to the full age range, it showed partial scalar invariance.
Female sex, higher age, living without a partner, lower education, lower income and increased distress were associated with more sleep problems. Calculated normative data of sleep problems allow comparisons of JSS-4 scores stratified by sex and age.
•The JSS-4 proved to be a psychometrically reliable and valid brief scale for sleep problems•Normative data of the JSS-4 are now available over the full adult age range stratified by sex and age•Increased distress, female sex, old age, living without a partner, lower education & income were linked with sleep problems
Child maltreatment (CM) is a major risk factor across the lifespan. While research on CM and its consequences has risen strongly during the last decades, research is mainly focused on the prevalence ...of types of CM incidents. As valid prevalence rates on timing and chronicity of CM are lacking to date, we aimed to assess the timing of experienced CM by describing the age of onset, duration, and prevalence at each year of age for each CM subtype in a population-based sample.
Cross-sectional, observational study in a representative sample.
Using different sampling steps including a random route procedure, a probability sample of the German population above the age of 16, encompassing 2514 persons (50.6% female, mean age: 50.08 years) was generated. Participants were asked about sociodemographic information in a face-to-face interview, CM was assessed using the ICAST-R questionnaire.
The earliest mean age of onset was seen in neglect with 8.07 (±3.07) years for boys and 7.90 (±2.96) years for girls, while the mean age of onset for sexual abuse was in adolescence with 13.65 (±3.86) years for boys and 13.91(±3.17) years for girls. The overall duration of CM was lowest for sexual abuse with 2.12 (±2.01) years for boys and 2.35 (±1.73) years for girls, the highest duration was seen for emotional abuse with 4.00 (±3.54) years for boys and 4.21 (±3.77) years for girls.
Our novel results provide important epidemiological information for prevention efforts.
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