Education, sense of mastery and mental health: results from a nation wide health monitoring study in Norway

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Earlier studies have shown that people with low level of education have increased rates of mental health problems. The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between level of education and psychological distress, and to explore to which extent the association is mediated by sense of mastery, and social variables like social support, negative life events, household income, employment and marital status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The data for the study were obtained from the Level of Living Survey conducted by Statistics Norway in 2002. Data on psychological distress and psychosocial variables were gathered by a self-administered questionnaire, whereas socio-demographic data were based on register statistics. Psychological distress was measured by Hopkins Symptom Checklist 25 items.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a significant association between low level of education and psychological distress in both genders, the association being strongest in women aged 55–67 years. Low level of education was also significantly associated with low sense of mastery, low social support, many negative life events (only in men), low household income and unemployment,. Sense of mastery emerged as a strong mediating variable between level of education and psychological distress, whereas the other variables played a minor role when adjusting for sense of mastery.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low sense of mastery seems to account for much of the association between low educational level and psychological distress, and should be an important target in mental health promotion for groups with low level of education.</p

The relation between childhood maltreatment and psychosis in patients with schizophrenia and non-psychiatric controls

Several lines of evidence suggest that childhood maltreatment is associated with an increased risk for both psychotic disorders and subclinical psychotic-like experiences in the general population. Few studies, however, have sought to examine whether the strength of this relationship is comparable across patient and non-patient groups. The present study sought to compare the strength of the association between childhood maltreatment and self-reported psychotic symptoms in 447 healthy adult volunteers and 184 stable outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Strong positive correlations between childhood maltreatment and self-reported symptoms were observed in both groups. Although patients scored significantly higher than controls on both history of childhood maltreatment and self-reported symptoms, the strength of the relationship did not differ between groups. These data provide strong support for etiological continuity between subclinical psychotic symptoms and psychotic disorders

Predictors of psychosis: a 50-year follow-up of the Lundby population.

Behavioural and neuropsychological vulnerability have been associated with an increased risk of psychosis. We investigated whether certain clusters of premorbid behavioural and personality-related signs and symptoms were predictors of nonaffective and/or affective psychosis and schizophrenia, respectively, in a 50-year follow-up of an unselected general community population. Total population cohorts from the same catchment area in 1947 (n = 2,503) and 1957 (n = 3,215) that had been rated for behavioural items and enduring symptoms were followed up to 1997 regarding first-incidence of DSM-IV nonaffective and/or affective psychosis. Attrition was 1-6%. The influence of the background factors, aggregated in dichotomous variables (predictors), on time to occurrence of nonaffective and/or affective psychosis was assessed by means of Cox regression models. In multivariate models the predictors nervous-tense, blunt-deteriorated, paranoid-schizotypal and tired-distracted were significantly associated with subsequent nonaffective and/or affective psychosis. In simple models, down-semidepressed, sensitive-frail and easily hurt were significantly associated with development of psychosis. When schizophrenia was analysed separately nervous-tense remained significant in the multivariate model, although blunt-deteriorated, paranoid-schizotypal and tired-distracted did not; and abnormal-antisocial reached significance. To conclude, we found some evidence for anxiety-proneness, affective/cognitive blunting, poor concentration, personality cluster-A like traits and interpersonal sensitivity to be associated with general psychosis vulnerability

Concordance between Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-10) and Pakistan Anxiety and Depression Questionnaire (PADQ), in a rural self-motivated population in Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There have been no previous studies conducted in Pakistan comparing the concordance of any well established Western anxiety/depression screening instrument with an indigenous scale, in a community based setting.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants (n = 1040) in the present study were recruited from the six villages of our interest from the district Gujarat of Pakistan, using a convenient sampling technique. Interview versions of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 10-item version (HSCL-10) and the Pakistani Anxiety and Depression Questionnaire (PADQ) were used to observe the pattern of anxiety and depression among the participants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The internal consistency of HSCL-10 and PADQ were 0.86 and 0.84 respectively. Exploratory factor analysis found evidence for both a one-dimensional (distress) and a two-dimensional (anxiety and depression) solution for the HSCL-10, but only a one-dimensional (distress) solution for the PADQ. The HSCL-10 and PADQ found to be moderately to highly correlated (r = 0.62, p < 0.0001, 0.73 after correction for attenuation).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>HSCL-10 has shown good screening abilities in a rural setting in Pakistan, and moderate to good concordance with an indigenous instrument measuring psychological distress. The HSCL-10 can therefore be used as a screening instrument, both in clinical and epidemiological settings in Pakistan, and for Pakistani immigrants living in Western societies.</p