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Biomedical subjects

Z Solomon

Publications and source records attributed to Z Solomon.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Elderly Israeli Holocaust survivors during the Persian Gulf War: a study of psychological distress.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to systematically assess the psychological effects of the Persian Gulf War on a nonclinical group of elderly Israeli civilians with and without a Holocaust background. METHOD: Sixty-one elderly Holocaust survivors and 131 elderly civilians without a Holocaust background completed questionnaires in their homes. Measures included sense of safety, symptoms of psychological distress, and levels of state and trait anxiety. RESULTS: Findings indicate that Holocaust survivors perceived higher levels of danger and reported more symptoms of acute distress than comparison subjects. In addition, they displayed higher levels of both state and trait anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Findings do not support the notion that prior experience with extreme stress has an inoculating effect that leads to greater resilience in dealing with other forms of stress. On the contrary, Holocaust experience was found to render the elderly more vulnerable rather than less. These findings of greater vulnerability among Holocaust survivors are of particular significance since they stem from a nonclinical group.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

The factor structure and criterion validity of the short form of the Eating Attitudes Test.

One of the more frequently used measures of eating disorders is the 40-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) developed by Garner and Garfinkel (1979). Although originally designed to diagnose anorexia nervosa, the test has recently been applied to nonclinical populations also. In this study, we examined psychometric and validity data for a short version of the scale, the EAT-26. Using a sample of 809 female soldiers in their late teens, results showed that the EAT-26 is reliable, the factor structure is different from that obtained in clinical groups, and the EAT-26 is significantly correlated with body image, weight, and diet.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Clinicians' assessments of suicide risk: can self-report measures replace the experts?

This study examined the possibility of using standardized self-report measures as "stand-ins" for clinicians' assessments of suicide risk. Subjects were 252 new applicants to a military mental health clinic who completed a battery of questionnaires and underwent clinical interviews. The self-report measures of psychiatric symptomatology (general and depression), personality (impulsivity, anger), and cognitions (hopelessness, attitudes toward life and death) were not highly correlated with clinicians' assessments of suicide risk and some showed a non-linear association. These findings suggest that the two methods of assessment are not interchangeable and that clinicians base their assessments of suicide risk, at least in part, on factors not assessed by the above questionnaires.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Post-traumatic stress disorder in Israel during the Gulf War.

During the Gulf War, the Unit for the Treatment of Combat Reactions within the Central Military Mental Health Center of the IDF was active in treating soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Of the 72 referrals, all but 2 were cases of a reactivation of a previous stress reaction. The implications for residual vulnerability amongst even apparently remitted cases are discussed in this essay.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

[Evaluating parachute-drop stress by measuring blood lipids].

An attempt to evaluate parachute-drop related stress by determining the blood lipid profile (cholesterol, LDL, HDL, apo-A, apo-B, and triglycerides) is reported. Measurements were made on starting the parachute course, just before the first jump, and just after the third jump. On these 3 occasions 38 combat troops answered psychological questionnaires and 30 of them gave blood samples. While there were significant fluctuations in level of all blood lipids and their apoproteins, they could not be correlated selectively with presumed levels of stress. The well-known difficulties in field studies in controlling crucial factors such as the exact timing of the measurements and food intake (specific diet or fasting) make questionable the use of biochemical markers in measuring stress under the conditions of our study. It is possible that the high rate of refusal to give blood samples biased the findings.

Apolipoproteins A↗
PubMed1991

Delayed and immediate onset posttraumatic stress disorder. I. Differential clinical characteristics.

Delayed PTSD has been the focus of numerous clinical reports. Systematic investigations of this phenomenon are practically nonexistent, however. Utilizing a unique psychiatric register developed by the Israel Defense Forces in the 1982 Lebanon War, this study compared the clinical picture of three groups of veterans: 1. PTSD casualties who sought help at least six months after their exposure to combat; 2. PTSD casualties who sought help during the Lebanon War; and 3. soldiers who emerged from the 1982 war without any diagnosable psychiatric disorder (controls). Significant differences were found in the clinical picture of the study groups. Both treated groups, the delayed and the immediate onset PTSD casualties, showed significantly more trauma-related intrusion and avoidance responses, more severe psychiatric symptomatology, more problems in social functioning, and lower perceived self efficacy in combat than non-PTSD controls. However, the psychological and social adjustment of the PTSD veterans whose treatment was delayed was found to be significantly better than that of the immediate onset PTSD veterans. Implications of these findings and recommendations for further research into the significance of time of onset are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Delayed and immediate onset posttraumatic stress disorder. II. The role of battle experiences and personal resources.

The current study examined the role battle experiences and personal resources play in the development of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For this purpose, battle experiences (battle stress, military unit environment) and personal resources (coping styles, causal attribution) were assessed two years after the 1982 Lebanon War in three groups of male Israeli frontline soldiers: 1. soldiers who sought treatment 6 months or more after the war (delayed PTSD); 2. soldiers who sought treatment during the war (immediate PTSD); and 3. control soldiers. Findings indicated that both immediate and delayed PTSD casualties reported similar and higher levels of battle stress than control subjects. In addition, delayed PTSD casualties evinced less personal resources than control subjects, and immediate PTSD casualties evinced still less personal resources than delayed PTSD casualties. The theoretical implications of the findings were discussed.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1991

Post-traumatic stress disorder: issues of co-morbidity.

There is considerable controversy over whether or not post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) should be considered as a separate diagnostic entity. The present study utilized the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) in order to examine the degree of overlap between PTSD and the related diagnoses of anxiety, depression and obsession-compulsion in a group of Israeli Lebanon War PTSD casualties. We found that the SCL-90 was able both to identify and discriminate between the clinical groups. Multiple discriminant analysis showed that although there is overlap between PTSD and obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD is, in fact, discriminated from all the other patient groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Assessing the validity of the Plutchik Suicide Risk Scale.

One of the newer scales of suicide risk devised by Plutchik and colleagues was tested to see if it could discriminate between levels of suicide ideation and suicide attempts. A sample of 80 subjects were placed into various categories of suicide risk on the basis of a psychiatric examination. Results showed that the full scale did not adequately discriminate among groups. An explantation of the results has been proposed and a design to test this suggestion described.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The clinical picture of acute combat stress reaction among Israeli soldiers in the 1982 Lebanon War.

This study examined 100 randomly selected medical charts of Israeli psychiatric casualties of the 1982 Lebanon War in order to determine the clinical picture of combat stress reaction as recorded by clinicians on the battlefield. We found nine categories of symptoms. The most prevalent clinical picture (48% of cases) was polymorphic, followed by anxiety (13%) and labile states (11%). Only 41% of cases were mono-symptomatic and stable. Examination of the polymorphic and labile clinical pictures revealed that the most prominent symptomatology was anxiety and depression. In the labile states, the most widespread beginning symptom was anxiety and the most prevalent end state was found to be depression. These findings are discussed in light of reports from other wars.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Life-events, coping strategies, social resources, and somatic complaints among combat stress reaction casualties.

This study examined the relationships of life-events, coping strategies, and social resources on the one hand and self-report of somatic problems following the stress of combat on the other. The sample consisted of 255 Israeli soldiers who suffered a combat stress reaction episode during the 1982 Lebanon War and were followed up one and two years after their participation in combat. Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between life-events, coping, and social resources and somatic complaints. However, regression analyses found that after prior somatization and current psychiatric status were controlled for, the level of perceived social resources was the only variable that significantly contributed to somatization. Theoretical and methodological implications of the findings are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Debate reawakened: premorbid factors for soldiers with refractory posttraumatic stress disorder.

Soldiers with severe Posttraumatic Stress Disorder who did not respond favourably to the front echelon treatment units, were treated in a rear echelon treatment centre, named Combat Fitness Retraining Unit, an alternative to psychiatric hospitalization. The soldiers were given individual clinical interviews; their combat potential scores were measured to tap premorbid factors which may have contributed to the development of symptoms. Analysis indicated that (1) in the clinical interview subjects showed clear interpersonal, school, family, and army adjustment problems prior to the trauma, (2) soldiers with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder treated in the rear unit tended to come from the lower end of the military combat potential level. Ramifications of these findings were carefully elucidated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Trauma deepens trauma: the consequences of recurrent combat stress reaction.

This study examines whether a second episode of combat stress reaction (CSR) leads to more or less severe consequences than an initial episode. Two groups of Israeli veterans, all of whom took part in both the 1973 Yom Kippur war and the 1982 Lebanon war, participated in the study. Veterans in the second time CSR group (N = 24) were diagnosed with suffering combat stress reaction (CSR) during both wars; the first time CSR group (N = 39) suffered from CSR only in the second war. The second time CSR group was found to have more severe pathology and a lower level of social functioning than the first time group. Clinicians' interview ratings of the second time CSR subjects showed that their adjustment and symptomatology were significantly worse following the second war than after the first. The two groups also revealed different attitudes towards PTSD and different self-expectations regarding future wars.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

PTSD and social functioning. A three year prospective study.

This longitudinal study assessed long term social functioning among two groups of Israeli soldiers: (a) front line soldiers who had been treated for combat stress reaction (CSR) during the 1982 Lebanon war (n = 213); and (b) matched controls who were front line soldiers participating in the same battles, but did not sustain a CSR (n = 116). Subjects were screened one, two, and three years after the war for PTSD and social functioning. Results indicated that CSR and PTSD casualties reported more problems in social functioning than controls. The link between PTSD and social functioning was stronger among PTSD veterans who had suffered an antecedent CSR episode. Time had a differential effect on the social functioning of CSR and control subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The implications of life events and social integration in the course of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

This study examined the relationships of life events and social integration with combat-related Post-traumatic stress disorder. The sample consisted of 255 Israeli soldiers who suffered a combat stress reaction episode during the 1982 Lebanon War and were followed one and two years after their participation in combat. Statistical analyses yielded significant effects of positive and negative life events and social integration on the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Changes in the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder from time 1 to time 2 were associated with life events and social integration. Theoretical and methodological implications of the findings were discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Characteristic psychiatric symptomatology of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans: a three year follow-up.

This study assessed the clinical picture of two groups of Israeli veterans of the Lebanon war: (a) veterans who sustained a combat stress reaction (CSR) (N = 213), and (b) matched controls not so diagnosed (N = 116). Subjects were screened at three points--one, two, and three years after their participation in the war. The results indicated that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was correlated with a wider range of general psychiatric symptomatology, as measured by the SCL-90. Moreover, among PTSD veterans, those who suffered from an antecedent CSR reported wider and more severe symptomatology. This trend was observed at all three time points. The most salient symptoms were obsessive-compulsive tendencies and anxiety, followed by depression and hostility.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Delayed onset PTSD among Israeli veterans of the 1982 Lebanon War.

This is an exploratory study of the nature, course and rates of delayed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We reviewed 150 medical files of Israeli soldiers who sought help between 6 months and 5 years after the 1982 Lebanon War. Results indicated that only 10% of the cases were truly examples of delayed PTSD; in a large proportion of the cases, help-seeking rather than onset was delayed.

Adult↗