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Biomedical subjects

D Offer

Publications and source records attributed to D Offer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

The altering of reported experiences.

OBJECTIVES: The unreliability of human memory is well documented in the literature, yet psychiatrists and other mental health care professionals rely on patient self-report in history-taking. This study provides new evidence from a longitudinal study of autobiographical memory and discusses implications for the development and implementation of appropriate treatment plans and goals. METHOD: Seventy-three mentally healthy 14-year-old males were studied in 1962. Sixty-seven of these subjects were reinterviewed face-to-face at age 48. Questions concerning areas of family relationships, home environment, dating, sexuality, religion, parental discipline, and general activities were asked in both interviews. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between adult memories of adolescence and what was actually reported during adolescence. Accurate memory was generally no better than expected by chance. CONCLUSIONS: If the accurate memory of one's past is not better than chance in the mentally healthy individual, even more care probably should be taken in obtaining accurate historical information in the medically, psychologically, or otherwise health-compromised individual. It would be more constructive to treat recollections as existential reconstructions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Reckless driving in adolescence: 'state' and 'trait' factors.

Reckless driving practices were studied among 139 high school students aged 17-18. A majority of both boys and girls reported driving at high speeds, and a majority of boys reported racing in a car and passing in a no-passing zone. About one-quarter of boys and girls reported driving while intoxicated. Sensation seeking and aggressiveness were found to be related to reckless driving practices. Fifty-nine of the students kept a log of their driving episodes over a 10-day period. Analysis of these data indicated that the participants drove faster when in an angry mood than when in any other mood. Also, they drove faster when alone or with friends than when their parents were present.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Gender differences, but no racial group differences, in self-reported psychiatric symptoms in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To study gender differences in psychiatric symptoms and their relationship to minor delinquent behavior in high school seniors. METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study of symptoms experienced during the past 2 weeks and the past year. Male (n = 249) and female (n = 248) high school seniors attending an inner-city and two suburban high schools rated themselves on a 46-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist and a 19-item Delinquency questionnaire. RESULTS: Female adolescents, regardless of race, reported significantly higher levels of emotional distress, in particular depressed mood and anxiety, than did male adolescents. A separate factor analysis of male and female students generated anger-tension, school problems, and sadness-irritation, lethargy, respectively, as the first two factors. Trouble paying attention in school and marijuana, alcohol, and other drug use were associated with significantly higher levels of psychiatric symptoms. Black and white adolescents were similar in psychological adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: This survey confirms sex differences in the level of psychiatric symptoms for 16- to 18-year-old adolescents, suggests gender-related qualitative differences in negative emotions, and emphasizes the importance of controlling for education when studying adolescents from different ethnic or racial backgrounds.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Comparison of the self-image of teenagers in Finland, the United States, and Germany.

In this research, the self-image of Finnish adolescents was compared with the self-images of American and West German adolescents. Results show that there are statistically significant differences between Finnish adolescents and American adolescents in five areas. Finnish adolescents are emotionally healthier than American adolescents, and their mood is better. American adolescents have higher vocational and educational goals than Finnish adolescents, and their adaptation skills to immediate environment and their coping skills are better. Differences between Finnish and West German adolescents are found in four scales. The affective harmony of the psychic structure of Finnish adolescents and their object relationships and friendships are better developed than those of West German adolescents. West German adolescents have higher vocational and educational goals than Finnish adolescents and their coping skills with themselves, other people, and their own world are better. Emotional tone (mood) is an area where Finnish adolescents scored higher than the American and the West German adolescents. Vocational and educational goals and adjustment skills are well developed in adolescents from the United States and West Germany. Adolescents in these three countries are alike in Impulse Control, Body Image, Sexual Attitudes, and Family Relations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Debunking the myths of adolescence: findings from recent research.

This review summarizes some of the important research findings on adolescence that have accumulated during the past two decades. Current understanding of the adolescent age-period is first discussed with particular attention to the previously held myths about adolescence. Second, a review of existing studies that have examined the problems and help-seeking behaviors of adolescents is presented. Overall, the majority of recent research findings suggest adolescence should not be characterized as a time of severe emotional upheaval and turmoil because the majority (80%) of adolescents manage this transition quite well. Nevertheless, a sizable proportion of youth (20%) do not fare so well, with many not receiving the help they may need.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

The pediatrician's concept of the normal adolescent.

Complete medical assessment of an adolescent requires understanding of the normal psychological state, including self-image. To determine the pediatrician's knowledge about the self-image of normal adolescents, 33 house staff and 36 attending pediatricians in a major teaching center completed the Offer Physician-Adolescent Questionnaire (OPAQ), a scale that measures adult perceptions of adolescent self-image. Forty-one male and 28 female pediatricians completed the 50-item questionnaire as they believed a "mentally healthy, well-adjusted adolescent" would. Pediatricians' responses did not differ by sex, age, or status as resident or attending. Percentage endorsements for each item were converted to standard scores for 11 scales. The scale scores were then compared with previously established norms for healthy adolescents and adolescents with cystic fibrosis. Pediatricians accurately predicted the normal adolescent responses for only two scales: vocational and educational goals and superior adjustment. Pediatricians responded more positively than the adolescents to items on the idealism scale. For the remaining eight scales, the pediatricians responded more negatively than did normal adolescents and teens with cystic fibrosis. The pediatricians' view of normal adolescent self-image seems to be more pessimistic than what adolescents report.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

To whom do adolescents turn for help? Differences between disturbed and nondisturbed adolescents.

The focus of this investigation was to 1) identify those adolescents experiencing distress; 2) examine the formal and informal helping agents that adolescents seek out for help for emotional problems; and 3) describe adolescents' perceptions of the helpfulness of selected helping agents. Adolescents (N = 497) from three high schools in a large metropolitan area in the Midwest, representing a broad socioeconomic spectrum, were administered instruments related to self-image, delinquency, symptomatology, and help seeking. The prevalence rate of disturbance was 22.3%. Results show that disturbed adolescents sought help from alcohol/drug abuse centers, teenage drop-in centers, and mental health professionals more frequently than nondisturbed adolescents. In additional, both groups frequently sought help from parents and friends and perceived this help as beneficial. Implications of these findings for the development of adolescent mental health services are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Normality and adolescence.

Diagnostic work with adolescents has always been difficult. The problem is to distinguish serious psychopathology from mild crisis. We can now say, however, that a severe identity crisis and emotional turmoil are just not part of normal growing up. Our belief is that we do not help adolescents who experience such crises or turmoil when we tell them not to worry about their problems because they are a normal part of adolescence and because they will "grow out of it." In summary, we have presented data on the self-image of a large number of adolescents. We have stressed three things. First, we used self-administered questionnaires to collect our data. Most important, our data are consistent, and they are congruent with results obtained from use of other psychologic instruments such as interviews or parents' evaluations of their children. Second, we found that the normal groups of adolescents we studied were characterized more by their similarities than by their differences. The continuity of values for all our samples over an 18-year period and across cultures was especially impressive. Third, we stressed the diversity of adolescents' view of their psychologic worlds. These youths define normal functioning and development. They reside in our communities, and before we can help their disturbed peers who need professional help, we need to know what the norm is. Only then can we correctly diagnose and successfully treat the adolescents who do seek our help.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Weight and dieting concerns in adolescents, fashion or symptom?

Attitudes toward body weight and dieting and the relations of these attitudes to psychological adjustment were investigated in 497 randomly selected adolescents who were in their senior year in one urban and two suburban midwestern high schools. Most students reported feeling physically healthy. Two thirds of female adolescents were preoccupied with weight and dieting compared with only a small number (approximately 15%) of male adolescents. Black female adolescents were found to be less weight- and diet-conscious than white female adolescents. Increased weight and dieting concerns were associated with greater body and self-image dissatisfaction, with a depressed mood, and greater overall symptomatic distress in both male and female adolescents. The fairly common fear of being overweight and thoughts about dieting experienced by contemporary female adolescents, in part, seem to reflect the greater aesthetic value that contemporary society places on thinness for women. Overall, the findings suggest that preoccupation with weight and/or dieting concerns in either male or female adolescents are likely to indicate psychological problems.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

Gender differences in adolescent symptomatology: a normative study.

A widespread belief that adolescence is marked by disturbance may have contributed to a lack of interest in psychiatric symptomatology in adolescents. There are few studies of adolescent gender differences. Adolescents (N = 497) from three Chicago area high schools, representing a broad socioeconomic spectrum, were administered the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire, the Delinquency Checklist, and the Symptom Checklist in which they self-report on self-image, experience of symptoms, and delinquent behavior, respectively. Results show that adolescent girls are more prone to report inwardly directed psychiatric symptomatology, such as depression and anxiety, than are adolescent boys; adolescent boys are more prone to report acting out behaviorally. Gender is an important aspect of treating adolescent patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Adolescence. What is normal?

We present in some detail what constitutes normal behavior, or mental health, among teenagers. Our data are based on the results of a specially devised psychological questionnaire by one of us (D.O.). This questionnaire has been shown to reliably distinguish mentally healthy from psychiatrically disturbed populations. Results are presented across three decades (1960s, 1970s, and 1980s), across genders, and across the high school years. A conceptual framework is presented to help the clinician working with adolescents to understand the fluctuation in psychopathology among youth. Adolescent density in the total population is shown to be a significant factor in determining the rate of disturbance among teenagers. Our research findings demonstrate that the rate of behavioral disturbance among adolescents is the same as in other parts of the life cycle. The clinician working with adolescents tends to underestimate the severity of adolescent problems because of the near-universal belief that all adolescents undergo "adolescent turmoil." We have found that adolescents who are experiencing turmoil need professional help.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

A prediction model of suicide among youth.

Epidemiological relationships were studied between adolescent (ages 15 to 24 years) suicide rates and population shifts among adolescents. Suicide rates among adolescents tripled from 1956 to 1977 and have subsequently leveled off. Increases (and decreases) in adolescent suicide rates corresponded to increases (and decreases, respectively) in the proportion of adolescents in the United States. Opposite trends have been found among older age groups. Projected population fluctuations were used to predict trends in adolescent suicide rates to the year 2000: the current decrease in rates is predicted to continue until the mid-1990s. Recent data indicating a decrease in adolescent suicide rates tend to support the population model hypothesis. The data suggest that demographic variables may be of explanatory and predictive use in understanding the epidemiological trends of suicide. Early intervention and prevention strategies emerge from this model, and various social, public health, and research implications exist. However, the results must be viewed with caution because of the methodological problems inherent in using national mortality data, the possibility that other variables may account for the observed relationships, and the length of time required to test such prospective epidemiological propositions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Suicide and homicide in the United States: an epidemiologic study of violent death, population changes, and the potential for prediction.

The authors found significant positive correlations between the suicide and homicide rates for 15-24-year-olds and the proportion of 15-24-year-olds in the U.S. population from 1933 to 1982. Significant negative correlations were found for most adult age groups (35-64 years). Since future numbers of adolescents and adults can be estimated on the basis of current population data for children and preadolescents, the epidemiologic patterns for suicide and homicide may be predictable for certain age groups. However, methodologic problems are inherent in using national mortality and population data, and many years are necessary to evaluate such epidemiologic propositions.

Adolescent↗