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Elmar Brähler

Publications and source records attributed to Elmar Brähler.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Hazardous alcohol consumption and sense of coherence in emergency department patients with minor trauma.

BACKGROUND: The concept of sense of coherence (SOC) measures the extent to which people are able to cope with stressful life events. Since excessive alcohol consumption may be, in part, the result of failed coping strategies, further investigations between hazardous alcohol consumption and SOC are necessary. METHODS: Survey in an Emergency Department in an inner city university hospital. Overall, 1,833 patients were screened for hazardous alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, smoking status, socioeconomic status and sense of coherence. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 34+/-12 years and 62% were male. Overall, 23% of patients showed a pattern of hazardous alcohol consumption, 23% had abused illicit drugs and 46% were smokers. Mean SOC score was 48.9+/-8.6 points, with no difference between genders. Lower SOC-quartiles were associated with significantly higher prevalence of hazardous alcohol consumption as well as illicit drug abuse and smoking. Lower SOC-quartiles were associated with significantly lower values on socioeconomic variables (e.g. lower income, less education). The negative association between SOC and alcohol consumption was independent of age, gender, smoking, illicit drug use and all socioeconomic variables. CONCLUSION: SOC and hazardous alcohol consumption were significantly associated. Our data support Antonovsky's original concept of increased alcohol consumption as a result of failed coping strategies.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

The 'wish to have a child', childlessness and infertility in Germany.

BACKGROUND: Based on the declining birth rates in Germany, one might assume that the number of people who unintentionally are without children is growing. However, studies over recent years have documented that the number of people who deliberately have no children is growing instead. METHODS: This report focuses on attitudes and motives which influence the realization of the desire to have a child. In a representative survey, 785 women and 795 men were questioned about their current wish to have a child, their ideal number of children and the motives for or against the decision to have a child. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Emotional aspects are the most important motives in favour of having children, and financial restraints are most frequently cited as arguments against parenthood in German society. Thus, deciding in favour or against having children still appears to be an indicator of social disparity, due to the fact that every realized child wish underlines the differences between parents and childless individuals through the increasing financial burdens. As a large number of individuals and couples in Germany postpone realization of their desire to have a child, this may lead to a change from a voluntary to an involuntary childlessness in the individual decision process. Therefore, education about fertility as a resource should be promoted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[The version 2.0 of the SF-36 Health Survey: results of a population-representative study].

OBJECTIVES: The SF-36 is an internationally approved instrument to assess subjective health. In its second version the SF-36 contains modifications to version 1.0 in several item formulations and response categories. The second version is translated in German but a psychometric analysis and standardisation are still lacking. METHODS: The SF-36, version 2.0, was administered in a representative German sample (n = 2043), analysed concerning its scale structure, reliability, dissemination characteristics and differences in traits of populations and compared to version 1.0 (German health survey). RESULTS: Version 2.0 shows high reliability in subscales and has a scale structure which is comparable to that of version 1.0. The scale values in the actual population-representative sample survey are rather distributed obliquely and effects of sex, age and residence (Eastern/Western Germany) have been found in regression analyses. CONCLUSION: The psychometric comparability of both versions is given but should interpreted with caution as regards content because of the different enquiry periods. Though the expected gain in psychometric quality and discrimination of version 2.0 to version 1.0 is evident, but does not justify a preference to version 2.0.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[Screening for depression -- two questions practically oriented].

Despite the high epidemiological relevance of depressive disorders in daily clinical practice, they are insufficiently diagnosed. For screening, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force proposed two questions aiming at finding depressive core symptoms: "Over the past two weeks, have you felt down, depressed, or helpless?" and "Over the past two weeks, have you felt little interest or pleasure in doing things?". We tested comparable questions in a representative sample from the German population. The correlations between the screening and validated questionnaires for depression point towards the validity of the screener. Relevant indices are satisfying: For major depression the sensitivity is 72.6% and specificity is 87.4%.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[Is there a connection between right-wing extremism and social distancing from mentally ill people? Results from a representative survey among the adult German population].

OBJECTIVE: There are indications of a link between right-wing extremist orientation and attitudes towards people with mental illnesses. Social distance is used to investigate this. METHOD: In 2002, a representative survey was conducted among the German adult population (n = 2089). Social distance was measured using a question from the European values surveys. Right-wing extremist attitudes were measured with a scale developed by Niedermayer and Faller. RESULTS: Only a marginal link between right-wing extremism and social distance towards people with mental illnesses was found which, moreover, showed an inconsistent pattern. DISCUSSION: It would be premature to conclude from this "negative" finding that a right-wing extremist orientation has no influence on the attitude towards people with mental illnesses, especially in the light of only one form of discrimination being investigated here.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[The German short version of "Profile of Mood States" (POMS): psychometric evaluation in a representative sample].

The German short version of "Profile of Mood States" (POMS) was psychometrically tested in a representative sample (1009 subjects in Eastern Germany and 1034 subjects in Western Germany). The 35 items (7 point scale, instruction "How you have been feeling during the past 24 hours?") form the following scales: Depression/Anxiety, Fatigue, Vigor, Hostility. The POMS appears to be an internally consistent instrument (Cronbach's Alpha from 0.89 to 0.95). Replication of the postulated 4 factors was limited. There are hints for convergent validity of POMS-Scales using two questions: "1. Over the past two weeks, have you felt down, depressed, or helpless?" and "2. Over the past two weeks, have you felt little interest or pleasure in doing things?"

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[Resilience as a protective personality characteristic in the elderly].

In a sample of elderly from the general population aged 60 years and older (N = 599, 53.6 % female; mean age 69.6 years) resilience was assessed as a protective personality factor for physical well-being by means of the resilience scale (RS; Wagnild and Young, 1993). The elderly reported lower subjective body complaints, when the amount of resilience was higher. The results of a regression analysis showed that resilience was a significant predictive variable for physical well-being besides age and sex. The amount of resilience was lower in women as in men. An age-related effect could not be found.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

[The H-index].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Psychosomatic Medicine↗
PubMed2005

[Using content analysis in cross-cultural psychosomatic research].

The Gottschalk-Gleser-analysis, a content-analytical technique, measures anxious and aggressive affects. For decades this technique was primarily and widely implemented in psychosomatic research. Today, this technique is offered in numerous languages. Since this technique is time consuming in application and analysis, computer software has been developed for English (Psychiatric Content Analysis and Diagnosis, PCAD 2000) as well as for German contents (Dresdner Angstwörterbuch, DAW). This study compares the anxiety scale of both versions in order to evaluate their comparability in cross-cultural psychosomatic studies. The English and German version of 96 different abstracts of the German Journal for Psychotherapy, Psychosomatic Medicine and Medicine Psychology from 2003 and 2004 with a total of 31 000 words were compared. The scores of the Gottschalk-Gleser anxiety scales of both computer programs correlates between 0.21 and 0.59 (p < 0.05, only exception: shame anxiety). The means of the scores calculated by the PCAD and DAW significantly differ for all scales. Therefore, these two content analytical methods DAW and PCAD provide only limited use for cross-cultural comparisons in psychosomatic research.

Aggression↗
PubMed2005

Psychogenic urinary retention ('paruresis'): diagnosis and epidemiology in a representative male sample.

BACKGROUND: Although research interest in social phobias has expanded during the last decade, a special subtype of social phobia known as paruresis, which manifests in the inability to urinate in public rest rooms, is rarely mentioned. The aim of the present study was to achieve for the first time an estimation of point prevalence in a representative male sample (n = 1,105). METHOD: Due to the lack of well-established screening instruments for paruresis, the Paruresis Checklist (PCL) must be tested for reliability and validity. An empirically based cutoff score must be determined by using the subjective interference with everyday life as an external criterion. RESULTS: Reliability of the PCL seemed to be sufficient, and adequate evidence for validity was found. Using the empirically based cutoff score of the PCL, 2.8% of the sample was diagnosed as suffering from paruresis. In contrast to other forms of social phobia, paruresis is not associated with a lower educational or occupational level.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Deep impact--evaluation in the sciences.

The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the impact factor as an assessment procedure. Detailed criteria regarding theoretical underpinnings, test administration, scoring and interpretation are applied. The impact factor appears to be of limited use for deciding which journals to subscribe. It is not suitable for evaluating achievements of individual scientists and research groups. The impact factor contains serious sources of errors and flaws resulting in strong biases against culture- and language-bound medical subspecialties and non-Anglo-American countries. Possible alternatives are discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed2004

Two-year experience with the german-translated version of the NIH-CPSI in patients with CP/CPPS.

OBJECTIVES: To examine, after psychometric evaluation and validation of the translated National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI), the practical value of this questionnaire in a routine diagnostic prostatitis setup for patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). The NIH-CPSI is a well-accepted tool for the symptomatic evaluation of patients with CP/CPPS. The recently translated German version has not yet been validated in detail. METHODS: A total of 137 consecutive patients attending a prostatitis outpatient department were classified according to the internationally accepted NIH consensus classification into CP/CPPS NIH type IIIA (n = 53; mean age 43.2 years) and IIIB (n = 84; mean age 43.4 years). For psychometric analysis, the overall type III group was evaluated for reliability and validity of the German NIH-CPSI. The psychometric properties of the translated NIH-CPSI were compared with those of the original English version. In addition, the total scores of all men and separately for CP/CPPS NIH types IIIA and IIIB were evaluated. RESULTS: The German NIH-CPSI was reliable, with an alpha coefficient for the overall index and its subscales of between 0.60 and 0.74. However, the internal consistency of the pain subdomain was lower in our translated version (alpha 0.60) compared with the original English version (alpha 0.86). In this cohort, men with NIH type IIIB CP/CPPS were significantly (P = 0.03) more symptomatic in the total index compared with men with NIH type IIIA CP/CPPS. CONCLUSIONS: The German version of the NIH-CPSI has a relatively high reliability and face and construct validity overall. A validated translated NIH-CPSI is suggested as a standardized tool to quantify chronic pelvic pain symptoms for different countries and languages.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

On raising the international dissemination of German research: Does changing publication language to English attract foreign authors to publish in a German basic psychology research journal?

It has been proposed that German basic psychology journals should change publication language to English in order to facilitate access to research from German-speaking countries. However, to truly increase the dissemination of German research, it seems crucial to progress towards an internationalization of authors and readers. We applied bibliometric analysis to investigate the impact of the transition to English on the rate of foreign authors publishing in Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie/Experimental Psychology, as well as possible associated changes in citation patterns. There was an increase in the rate of articles published by foreign authors from 14.6 and 8.7 per cent, respectively, for the last biannual periods as German-language journal, to 52.7 per cent in the first biannual period as English-language journal. Regarding citations patterns, the clearest changes emerged for domestic authors. The results illustrate possible consequences of a transition to English as publication language, and reveal that Experimental Psychology has successfully established certain prerequisites for an increase of the international dissemination of German psychology research.

Bibliometrics↗
PubMed2004

[Symptom Checklist SCL-27].

The Symptom-Checklist-27 (SCL-27) forms a modification of the widely used Symptom-Checklist-90-R, with the latter demonstrating considerable shortcomings in psychometric properties. The SCL-27 is designed to screen for psychiatric symptoms in patients presenting somatic complaints. It contains the six subscales depressive, dysthymic, vegetative, agoraphobic, sociophobic symptoms and symptoms of mistrust. Additionally, a global severity index (GSI-27), similar to the GSI in the SCL-90-R is available. The subscales are short, the number of items varies between four and six. Psychometric properties and reference values based on a representative German sample of more than 2000 subjects are presented for the various subscales. All subscales show sufficient internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha > or = 0.70 and for the GSI-27 alpha is = 0.93. The correlation between GSI-27 and GSI is r = 0.93. Sex-specific cut-offs are presented to identify those patients, who need further examination.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

[Funded research in psychosomatic medicine, medical psychology, and psychotherapy].

This paper, summarizing the activities of the research task force of the German College of Psychosomatic Medicine (DKPM), reviews how research in psychosomatic medicine, medical psychology and psychotherapy has been funded by different institutions. The review reveals that psychosocial research has received considerable grants especially by the German Research Council and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research but also from other funding institutions. Besides an overview of potential sources for funding in the psychosocial disciplines, recommendations are formulated that might be helpful for raising research funds in the future.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗