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Biomedical subjects

O S Dalgard

Publications and source records attributed to O S Dalgard.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Social support, negative life events and mental health.

BACKGROUND: In a 10-year follow-up of a survey from Oslo, 503 persons were reinterviewed using the same questionnaire. METHOD: The questionnaire includes information about social support, 'locus of control' and mental health as well as negative life events and long-lasting mental strain during the year prior to the follow-up. RESULTS: The study confirms the "buffer hypothesis", that social support protects against the development of mental disorder only when the individual is exposed to stressors, like negative life events. This buffering effect was especially strong for depression. CONCLUSIONS: The buffering effect only applies to the 'externals'--those who have personality-related feelings of powerlessness and lack of control over their own lives. The 'internals' do not have the same need for social support to cope with life stressors, and have low symptom scores even when negative life events are combined with relative weak social support.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

[Social network, alcohol drinking habits and injuries caused by violence among women and men in the county of Akershus. Results from anonymous questionnaires among persons aged 40-42 years. 1990-91].

All residents aged 40-42 in Akershus county were invited to screening for cardiovascular risk factors in 1990-91 as part of a prevention programme. Of the 13,607 attendants, 8,960 answered an anonymous questionnaire about social network, drinking habits, and injuries due to violence. Compared with data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, our material included a high percentage of persons with a higher education, a high percentage of married persons, and a low percentage of persons living alone. Results in respect of social network and drinking habits roughly agreed with those of other studies. Of the males, 15.7% had been injured at least once as a result of violence, most often assault and robbery. Of the females, the corresponding percentage was 18.1. Here the dominating forms of violence were maltreatment, threats and sexual assault. Females were more often exposed than males to repeated violence and more often suffered persisting problems as a result of maltreatment. Compared with other studies, we found a high prevalence of injuries from violence among females, suggesting underreporting of experiences of violence by females in studies based on personal interview or the hospitals' injury register.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Social network stimulation. Health promotion in a high risk group of middle-aged women.

The article focuses on presenting methods developed in a network stimulation program among a high-risk group of middle-aged women living in Oslo, Norway. The aim of the program was to initiate in the women a process of getting acquainted, and even making friends, - and thus establishing new self-sustaining social networks. In the long run we believed such new relations would increase the quality of life and improve the overall mental health of the participants. During the program period of one year different groups and social activities were established in the neighborhood. Out of 50 women in the experimental group, 26 became active participants. Evaluation of the process was made at certain stages during the entire program. After one year of group participation, the progress of the experimental group (n = 50) was compared to that of the control group (n = 50). The results show that the women participating in the intervention program have improved their social networks and increased their quality of life and self-esteem compared to the control group. As to mental symptoms, it seems that their change depends on the degree of activity in the groups: the most active participants make friends, improve their existing networks, increase quality of life, and improve mental status. The passive participants, on the contrary, do not seem to have profited from the program so far. The full effect of the program will be evaluated in a later follow-up.

Female↗
PubMed1976

[Behavioural sciences in basic medical education].

In Oslo, instruction in medical psychology and sociology is to be widened to include approximately one term's training during the first year of study, in other words about 200 hours in all. An institute for medical behavioural sciences is to be established. Group training is being planned, and attempts will be made to create clinical relevance by linking up the instruction with everyday situtations met by the doctor.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗
PubMed1975

Social mobility and psychiatric disorder: a re-evaluation and interpretation.

There has been growing interest in social mobility (that is, an individual's movement within a social system) and the problems associated with it. This paper shows that the rates of psychiatric disorder are a function of (a) social mobility, (b) direction of mobility, (c) distance moved, (d) the locus of mobility in the status hierarchy. A central concept in this discussion is the concept of "anomie."

Anomie↗
PubMed1975

Introduction of intensive milieu therapy in a traditional psychiatric unit.

In spite of a growing interest in clinical psychiatry to experiment with new treatment programs, not least in the field of milieu-therapy, the effect of these programs on the behavior of patients and staff are rarely subjected to systematic evaluation. So the progress in the field is hampered by a lack of clearly defined behavioral data which lends itself to critical analysis, and generally speaking is based on rather loose clinical impressions which make scientific verification difficult the present describes an admittedly crude attempt at systematic evaluation of what happened to staff's and patients' behavior when a relatively intensive milieu-therapy program was introduced in a traditional psychiatric unit, using relatively simple but clearly defined parameters of change in behavior over time. Certain hypotheses about what would happen in terms of group behavior if the new program worked according to its intentions were tested, and generally speaking the conclusion was that the program developed successfully as far as this could be measured by the selected parameters. Data about the patients' evaluation of the effect of the treatment program on themselves, and how this relates to attitudes towards own mental disorders and expectation towards psychiatric treatment at admission to the clinic, as well as social background and group behavior, is analysed, and wil be published in a subsequent paper. So the present paper should be considered as a preliminary report, mainly focusing on certain methodological aspects.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Epidemiology as basis for preventive intervention.

The paper describes the progress of a project starting out with an extensive psychiatric survey of the population of Oslo, and ending up with an intervention project aiming at the prevention of mental disorder in a particular high risk group. Hence the study is an example of experimental epidemiology. Lack of social support is identified as a psychiatric risk factor in the epidemiological part of the study, and stimulation of social network formation is a central part of the intervention project. Some preliminary results are given.

Adult↗