PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R B Flannery

Publications and source records attributed to R B Flannery.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Validating Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale.

This study empirically supported Antonovsky's predictions that a person's Sense of Coherence is implicated in coping with life stresses and psychological distress. Sense of Coherence scales accounted for as much variance in criterion measures of Life Events stressors, Depression, and Anxiety as did traditional locus of control and social support predictor measures. Sense of Coherence scales emerged as useful additions for studies of personality characteristics implicated in personal reactions to distressing life events.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

Risk factors for psychiatric inpatient assaults on staff.

The risk of psychiatric patient assaults on staff members is increasing yearly, with resultant increases in employee victim suffering, medical expense, and lost productivity. Traditionally considered a clinician responsibility, the management of patient violence also has important administrative implications. This article presents a review of the risk factors associated with violence that includes the characteristics of patients who assault but adds the characteristics of employee victims of such assaults as well as contextual variables. Additional data from a two-year study of a peer-help crisis intervention program for employee victims of patient assaults are included. The mental health administrative implications of this approach are outlined.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

A program to help staff cope with psychological sequelae of assaults by patients.

Mental hospital staff who are assaulted by patients are at risk of developing symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder. The Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP), a voluntary program, offers support to staff victims of patient assaults in a state mental hospital. ASAP team members debrief assault victims, assessing the victim's sense of control, social supports, and ability to make sense of the incident. A short-term support group is offered. During the program's first 90 days, the team responded to 67 assaults. Ten days after the assaults, many of the victims had not regained a sense of control, did not have a support network, and were unable to make sense of the incident. These factors put them at risk for PTSD symptoms. The costs of such a program are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Sense of coherence, life stress, and psychological distress: a prospective methodological inquiry.

Antonovsky (1987) has proposed the Sense of Coherence (SOC) as a global perceptual predisposition in responding to life stress. Composed of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness, this construct has been associated with more adaptive coping in previous cross-sectional studies. This prospective study (N = 95) investigated the association of SOC (assessed by Antonovsky's measure) with life stress and symptoms. SOC was correlated negatively with life stress and symptoms and appeared to mitigate the impact of life stress. SOC was not found to be a buffer variable. Implications of these findings are presented, as are methodological issues that concern Antonovsky's measure.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Self-rated defense style, life stress, and health status: an empirical assessment.

The authors compared the 14-defense and 20-defense versions of the self-report Bond Defense Style Questionnaire in a nonclinical sample of adults. Factor analyses of both versions yielded a stable factor representing immature defenses, while factors representing image-distorting, neurotic, and mature defenses were less stable. In correlational analyses, immature defenses were highly associated with higher reported levels of life stress, physical illness, and affective symptoms. Methodological issues and the possible implications of these findings are presented. The Bond questionnaire appears to be an additional helpful tool in consultation-liaison psychiatry for identifying poor copers at high risk for distress.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Major life events and daily hassles in predicting health status: methodological inquiry.

The present study (N = 97) hypothesized that both major life events and daily hassles would be associated with anxiety and depressive symptomatology. While the results partially supported the hypothesis, the inconsistent findings suggest methodological flaws in each life stress measure. These limitations are reviewed, and the use of the semi-structured interview is presented as one possible refinement.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Global vs. restricted negative measure of life change events: methodological inquiry.

The present study replicated a previous investigation that compared a global measure of life change events (the Schedule of Recent Experience) with a restricted negative measure of such events (the Life Experience Survey) in association with self-reported anxiety and depressive symptomatology (N = 84). With appropriate sampling methods and data analysis by gender, the previous finding of the superiority of the negative events measure was not supported. The pattern of inconsistent findings for both measures suggests the need for utilizing semi-structured interviews.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Passive-aggressive personality disorder. Treatment implications of a clinical typology.

Patients with passive-aggressive personality disorder or personality traits represent a very difficult group on which surprisingly little is written. The authors delineate four patterns of passive-aggressive behavior that pose different problems in learning and adaptation. These are the anxiety-inhibited, environmentally inhibited (masochistic), and resentful-vindictive patients and patients inhibited by existential choice. All four types meet the DSM-III criteria for passive-aggressive personality disorder; they may also occur as significant personality traits apart from the fully developed personality disorder. The difficulties that these patients present are the same for clinicians of every theoretical perspective. Using one treatment approach, assertiveness training, the authors offer specific suggestions in the treatment of each type of passive-aggressive patient. These suggestions should aid the clinicians in avoiding premature termination, and fostering both a positive therapeutic alliance and a successful treatment outcome.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Characteristics of assaultive psychiatric inpatients: updated review of findings, 1995-2000.

The present paper reviewed the studies of the characteristics of assaultive psychiatric inpatients from 1994 to the present. These studies partially confirmed earlier findings that assaultive patients are older persons with a diagnosis of active psychosis or other neurological abnormality and histories of violence toward others and substance-use disorder. However, the recent studies also document the profile of a second group of assaultive patients: younger females with personality disorders and histories of violence toward others, substance-use disorder, and personal victimization. Since there is a paucity of published empirical research on Alzheimer's and dementia patients for this topic, the implications from the present findings for long-term care and clinical intervention are examined.

Adult↗