Biomedical subjects

F J Van Zuuren

Publications and source records attributed to F J Van Zuuren.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

A cross-case comparison of two independent analyses of intake workers' descriptions of the process of assessment for psychotherapy.

This study compares the analyses by two clinical psychologists of material gathered during research interviews held with 18 intake workers employed by four different institutes for psychotherapy. Each intake worker responded to questions regarding their experiences with two clients during intake interviews for psychotherapy. During the research interviews, the intake workers described their impressions regarding the clients as persons, the course of the encounter with these clients as well as motives for proposing a particular type of treatment. Comparison of the two psychologists' analyses of the original material revealed remarkably similar descriptions of the structure of the intake workers' experiences and of that of their motivation for proposing several types of treatment. In line with contemporary qualitative research practices, the current comparative study may be seen as a form of interpreter triangulation.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Experiences of parents of childhood cancer survivors: a qualitative analysis.

As the prognosis of childhood cancer improves, so does concern for the quality of survival. Because childhood cancer affects the entire family, insight is needed into the late consequences for parents and how they cope with it. For this purpose, a qualitative research method was used because this method enables a description of what it is like to live through childhood cancer in all its aspects. Parents whose child survived cancer were interviewed in depth about the late consequences of the disease. To maximize contrast in parental experience and in coping with the disease, variational sampling was used. Results indicated that parents experienced changes of a definitive and long-lasting nature as a result of cancer in their child. In spite of the child's survival, feelings of loss and perseveration of problems prevailed. To cope with late sequelae, characteristic strategies were identified including the position parents adopt a life or death perspective on the final outcome of the disease, the extent to which they express emotions, and the use of family planning and parenting behavior. Coping strategies used had not only an effect on the individual parent but also on the other family members. Parents who used coping strategies in a non-extreme way appeared to be functioning well. Implications for patient care and research are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Clinical decision making in intake interviews for psychotherapy: a qualitative study.

The present paper is based on a study, carried out in an institute for psychotherapy, of intake workers' appraisals of encounters with their clients during intake interviews for psychotherapy. The main purpose of the study was to gain insight into the factors determining intake workers' perceptions of encounters with their clients. The presumed relationship between the perception of clients and the formulation of specific proposals for treatment by intake workers was an additional point of interest. Four intake workers were interviewed by the first author. Each intake worker described his or her encounter during the intake with two separate clients. A semi-structured qualitative interview format and a qualitative method of response analysis were used. A consistent relationship was found between the client's mode of selfpresentation as perceived by the intake worker and the formulation of a specific proposal for treatment. The most conspicuous distinction found was that between the proposal of either deep insight-oriented therapy or supportive therapy and the client's perceived ability or relative inability to be genuinely open emotionally, and get to the core of his or her problems as presented. Further research will be necessary to corroborate the findings described.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Cognitive correlates of dental anxiety.

This study examined cognitive correlates of dental anxiety among 24 highly anxious patients and 17 low-anxious patients. In both groups, anxiety expectations, dental trait anxiety, and state anxiety (in the waiting room and in the dental chair) were rated. Negative cognitions and cognitive control were also assessed. It was found that dentally high-anxious patients claimed to experience more negative thoughts than those with low anxiety (p < 0.001). None of the highly anxious patients reported relatively few negative cognitions, and none of the patients in the low-anxiety group reported relatively numerous negative cognitions. While patients from both groups reported that cognitive control declined with the imminence of treatment, highly anxious patients were found to have less control over their negative thoughts (p < 0.001). A series of stepwise regression analyses revealed that both the number of negative cognitions and perceived cognitive control accounted for 75% of the variance in dental trait anxiety. The results of the present study suggest that cognitive activities, such as negative thinking (catastrophizing) and cognitive control, are important moderators of dental anxiety.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

The fear questionnaire. Some data on validity, reliability and layout.

In order to assess some psychometric properties of Marks & Mathews' (1979) short Fear Questionnaire, a Dutch translation of this form was administered to 143 phobic outpatients: 100 women and 43 men. There was a special interest in assessing validity by comparing the scores of agoraphobics, social phobics and simple phobics. The findings were that all scales have sufficient internal consistency, although the Total Phobia scale does not seem to add meaningful information to its subscales. Most scales are significantly related to neuroticism, and the Social Phobia subscale is strongly related to social anxiety. The Agoraphobia and Social Phobia subscales discriminate between categories of phobics in the expected way. For the Blood/Injury subscale the relevant comparisons could not be made. The data presented in this study can be used to develop FQ norms for phobic patients.

Adolescent↗