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Biomedical subjects

N C Ellis

Publications and source records attributed to N C Ellis.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Impact of functional severity on self concept in young people with spina bifida.

This study examines the relationship between medical and functional severity of disability and levels of self esteem and self concept in 79 young people with spina bifida. Greater feelings of global self worth and of self esteem in physical appearance were associated with greater severity of disability. This was only in part an effect of lower IQ among the most disabled young people. Many of the least disabled had marked impairment of self esteem. Analysis of the impact of individual aspects of disability confirmed the association between increased self esteem in physical appearance and global self worth, and diminished functional ability. Academic self ratings, however, were higher in the less disabled. Hydrocephalus and continence appeared to have minimal effect on self esteem. The relationship between severity of disability in spina bifida and self concept is complex and mediated by a range of factors. It is incorrect to assume that the psychological impact is less in the mildly disabled young person.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

The self-concept of young people with spina bifida: a population-based study.

Seventy-nine young people with spina bifida were given a psychological, medical, carer and occupational therapy assessment. 79 matched able-bodied young people received the psychosocial interview. The disabled group felt themselves to be less competent in academic, athletic and social aspects of self-concept, less supported by classmates, equally supported by parents and friends and more supported by teachers than the able-bodied group. Disabled subjects did not discount the importance of any area of personal-social functioning, and experienced greater discrepancies between competence and importance in most academic, athletic, social and physical appearance aspects of self-concept. Disabled girls assigned very high importance to physical appearance. Physical appearance was more strongly associated with general self-esteem than any other area of self-concept.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Stress is in the eye of the beholder: reconceptualizing the measurement of carer burden.

The development of community care policy and the inadequacies of professional responses to the needs of informal carers were described in an earlier paper. A qualitative analysis of carers' replies to a questionnaire survey demonstrated that the most potent stressors, contrary to what has previously been assumed, were linked more to subjective perceptions of events or circumstances than to the objective features of the events and circumstances themselves. This paper presents a quantitative analysis of data from the same survey which confirm the impressions gained from the analysis of the qualitative data. These findings prompt a reconceptualization of carer burden within a transactional model of stress, which is then considered as a basis for understanding how carers adapt to stress in their lives. Practice implications are assessed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1990

The social effects of stereotyped behaviour.

A survey of the attitudes of adolescents towards stereotyped behaviour was carried out. Two hundred and five students attending two secondary schools in a rural market town were randomly divided into four groups. Each group was shown a videotaped recording of an actress engaging in routine household tasks. Two groups saw the actress displaying stereotyped behaviour. Half the sample were told the actress was a university student and half were told that she was a person with a mental handicap. Subjects then completed a questionnaire which asked about their perceptions of the person in the video. Results showed that more negative responses were given to a person displaying stereotyped behaviour irrespective of label. The sex of the respondent and prior contact with mental handicap were significant variables. It is suggested that the public's perception of stereotypy should be a relevant factor in the decision to reduce the behaviour.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

The role of meals as a reinforcing event in a token economy programme.

Items such as meals have frequently been used as back-up events in Token Economy Programmes (TEPs) because of their supposed reinforcing effectiveness. However, despite the dubious ethical questions that this raises, there is little research evidence to support the necessity for their use in TEP's with hospitalised chronic mentally ill patients. The effects of introducing meals as a 'free' item on patients' performance of a number of target behaviours were investigated in a TEP where they had previously been scheduled as a back-up event. While 'free' meals produced a slight increase in the actual number of meals eaten, there were no systematic effects on patients' performance of the target behaviours.

Female↗
PubMed1977

Record-keeping in a state hospital: a modification of the Weed system.

The Weed problem-oriented medical record has been modified for use in a state psychiatric hospital that has a large proportion of long-term patients and uses an interdisciplinary team approach to treatment. Three new record forms were developed during a pilot study at the hospital: the processed-problem list, the problem card, and the unprocessed-problem list. The modified problem-oriented record system is being used in 28 wards providing both short- and long-term psychiatric care.

Hospital Records↗