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Biomedical subjects

Y Bar-Tal

Publications and source records attributed to Y Bar-Tal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The influence of social support and perceived control on handicap and quality of life after stroke.

It has been suggested that external factors, such as perceived control of life and social support, influence the interactions of impairment, disability and handicap in the WHO model. Therefore, we assessed the effect of these two factors on the relationships between disability, handicap and quality of life in patients recovering from stroke. One hundred individuals, retrospectively and randomly selected from participants in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program, were tested one year after discharge, using the Functional Independence Measure, the London Handicap Scale, the Life Satisfaction Assessment, the Tel-Aviv Social Support Instrument, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Impairment, disability, handicap and quality of life after stroke correlated positively and significantly with each other. Significant moderation of the influence that disability exerts on handicap was affected by perception of control, and by the influence of handicap over quality of life by social support. Thus, external factors can cause inconsistent interactions between components of the WHO model. Patient outcome may be improved if such factors are considered.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

A test of the overconfidence phenomenon using audio signals.

The existence of the overconfidence phenomenon was examined using a signal detection paradigm. Fifty-five participants were asked to decide whether they heard a signal or noise only, and to rate how certain they were of their decisions. The results confirmed the existence of overconfidence as well as the "hard-easy" effect.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

At first glance: social meanings of dental appearance.

OBJECTIVES: An important factor in social interaction is physical appearance. Major elements in the evaluation of physical appearance are the mouth and teeth. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of tooth appearance on the development of a first impression of the other person, with regard to the sex of both the respondent and the target. METHODS: Eight facial photographs of individuals with intact upper teeth were manipulated: one set was left untouched and the other was professionally altered so that the front anterior teeth appeared decayed. The photographs were randomly aligned in sets of eight, each set consisting of four individuals with an original, intact dentition and four other individuals with a "decayed" dentition. The sets of photographs were then presented to 115 respondents (65 males and 50 females). Evaluations were made according to three categories of traits--esthetic, social, and professional. RESULTS: For all three evaluation categories, the difference in scores between decayed and intact dentition given to targets were significantly higher when participants of one sex evaluated targets of the opposite sex, as compared to evaluating targets of their own sex. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of tooth appearance on the physical attractiveness stereotype is more evident when males evaluate females and vice versa, rather than when evaluating their own sex.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Self-efficacy and physical activity in adolescents with trivial, mild, or moderate congenital cardiac malformations.

Our purpose was to examine the cognitive processes that influence involvement in physical activity among 100 adolescents, 55 boys and 45 girls, ranging in age from 12 to 18 years, with trivial, mild, or moderate forms of congenital cardiac disease. We hypothesized, first, that the severity of the congenital cardiac malformation itself has an indirect effect on self-efficacy regarding physical activity, and that the relationship between the two is mediated by the recommendations of the cardiologist and the attitude of the mother. Second, we argued that self-efficacy serves as a mediating variable between the recommendations of the cardiologist and the attitude of the mother, on the one hand, and involvement in physical activity, on the other. The results confirmed both hypotheses. In a population of adolescents with trivial to moderate congenital cardiac malformations, beliefs in self-efficacy, rather than severity of the disease, were the most influential factors in determining whether or not adolescents will engage in sports or other physical activities. We also demonstrated the importance of the role played by the recommendations of the cardiologist in determining both the attitudes of the mother and the belief in self-efficacy of the adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

The need and ability to achieve cognitive structuring: individual differences that moderate the effect of stress on information processing.

The authors examined the hypothesis that the interaction between the need for cognitive structure (NCS) and the ability to achieve cognitive structure (AACS) moderates the effect of stress on information processing. NCS is the preference for using cognitive structuring, as opposed to piecemeal processes, as a means to achieve certainty. AACS is the extent to which individuals are able to apply information processes that are consistent with their levels of NCS. The hypothesis was validated in 4 studies, which showed that stress increased high-AACS participants' use of cognitive structuring if they had high NCS and reduced it if they had low NCS. An opposite effect was found for low-AACS participants. The implications of these results for the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the effect of stress on information processing are discussed.

Achievement↗
PubMed1999

The effect on coping of monitoring, blunting, and the ability to achieve cognitive structure.

The effects of monitoring and blunting on individuals' choices of coping strategies and their effectiveness were examined. In addition, the authors explored the effect of the ability to achieve cognitive structure (AACS), defined as either or both of the following: (a) the ability to avoid information that either cannot be categorized or clashes with the individual's existing knowledge; (b) the ability to organize knowledge to fit an already existing cognitive structure. The results showed that in addition to the main effects of monitoring on problem-focused coping and social support seeking behaviors and of blunting on the use of wishful thinking, AACS was found to moderate blunting's influence on problem-focused coping as well as the effectiveness of distancing and avoidance coping. Finally, the results showed that the combination of high monitoring and high blunting sometimes contributes to coping effectiveness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Which stress matters? The examination of temporal aspects of stress.

In this study, the impact of past experiences, present stressors, and expectations of future stress on psychological distress were explored. Participants were 38 male and 41 female spouses of patients hospitalized with non-life-threatening diseases. Participants completed questionnaires on which they appraised past, present, and future stressors and described their levels of psychological distress. Five models of the relationships between appraisals of past, present, and future stressors with psychological distress were examined. Only one model was confirmed by the data. It suggests that an appraisal of past stressors affects the appraisal of present stressors only indirectly, through its effect on the appraisal of future stressors. This model also maintains that only the appraisal of present stressors affects psychological distress directly. The implications of these findings for stress research are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Effect of intended treatment on anxiety and on reaction to electric pulp stimulation in dental patients.

Fear and anxiety are common emotional concomitants of acute pain that increase the perception of noxious events as painful. In the present study, 92 patients who were about to undergo various dental treatments (calculus removal, filling, root canal treatment, and extraction) were evaluated comparing the level of their dental anxiety and pain expectation from the intended treatment to their reaction to electric pulp stimulation. The data indicate that patients differ significantly in their dental anxiety levels and in their expectation to experience pain according to the following hierarchy (in descending order): extraction, root canal treatment, filling, and calculus removal. Anxiety and amount of pain expected from treatment correlated significantly with each other, but no simple correlations were found between anxiety and actual pain measures recorded after pulp stimulation.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Parkinson's disease symptoms--patients' perceptions.

Self-assessment is significant for the accurate evaluation of patient' needs. This study examined the frequency and severity of symptoms reported by 39 patients with Parkinson's disease and compared them with symptoms suggested by the literature and by specialists as bothering Parkinson's patients. Four categories of symptoms were examined: (a) motor disability or activity loss, (b) mental change, (c) psychosocial difficulties, and (d) nonspecific symptoms. The findings show that there was correspondence between expert judgements and subjects' reports regarding symptoms such as dyskinesia/tremor as well as walking, freezing gait, and changing position. Symptoms such as dressing self, getting in/out of bed, morning stiffness and deficit in cognitive sequencing, which experts described as characteristic of Parkinson's disease patients, bothered subjects less. In general, patients mental and psychosocial symptoms were higher in their frequencies and perceived severity than problems of performing activities of daily living.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

Nursing staff responses to violent events in closed psychiatric wards: a comparison between attributional and cognitive-neo-associationistic analyses.

This paper examines the behavioural response of nursing staff in psychiatric wards to a patient's violent behaviour towards a staff member as a function of whether the patient's behaviour was presented as arbitrary or not. The participants were 133 nurses. They were given two vignettes describing an arbitrary and a non-arbitrary behaviour of a patient and were asked what the typical response in their ward to each event would be. The results show that when the patient's behaviour was perceived as arbitrary, staff was believed to respond with a therapeutic reaction more frequently than to non-arbitrary behaviour. Moreover, participants' professional characteristics played a greater role in the non-arbitrary scenario. It is suggested that a therapeutic response to a patient's violent behaviour requires a recognition that the patient's behaviour is consistent with his/her role as a patient. The implication of these results for Berkowitz & Heimer's (1989) cognitive-neo-associationistic analysis is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The moderating effect of age on self-care.

The study examined the moderating effect of age on the relations between symptom severity, self-care and others' care, patients' perception of the extent of problem solution, their satisfaction with the solution, and their perception of control over their health. Participating in the study were 121 female and 167 male chronically ill patients. Results indicated that age did play a major role in the relations between self-care and others' care and self-care outcomes. The young population sought maximum relief of symptoms with minimum effort from the self. The elderly, in contrast, could be said fo maximize control because what was important for them was not to depend on others but to be self-sufficient in solving their health problems.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Clinical decision making of experienced and novice nurses.

Decision making is an important daily nursing activity. Given contradictory past findings concerning the ease of use cognitive schema for reaching decisions among experts and novices, we chose to examine consistency of information as a parameter that may clarify the process of decision making. Ninety-two experienced nurses and 65 nursing students rated their decisional difficulty and levels of certainty in reaching a diagnosis for two scenarios: one including consistent information and one providing information that was partly inconsistent with the given diagnosis. For the consistent information, students showed more difficulty and less certainty in the given diagnosis than the experienced nurses. The inconsistent scenario was perceived as more difficult by nurses in comparison to students. The cognitive processes responsible for these results are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

The moderating effect of demographic variables on coping effectiveness.

In spite of the theoretical recognition regarding the role of coping as a moderator, empirical findings indicate that it has only a modest effect as such. This study was designed, therefore, to examine the moderating effect of demographic variables (DV) on coping effectiveness, i.e. active cognitive coping, avoidance coping and active behavioural coping. The study sample was comprised of 12 male and 65 female patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were treated in three outpatient clinics of large hospitals in Israel. Findings suggest that demographic variables do play an important, and somewhat surprising, role in the effectiveness of coping strategies to temper psychological distress. Of the various demographic variables studied, marital status was found to have a significant effect on active cognitive coping and avoidance coping, and adherence to a religious belief system was found to have a significant effect on avoidance coping. The implications of the results for coping effectiveness are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Social support: how does it really work?

This study examines social support effect on stress and adaptation through the mediating effect of control. Participants in the study were 12 male and 65 female rheumatoid arthritis patients who were being treated in the outpatient clinics of three large hospitals in Israel. Findings suggest that social support did have a significant effect on stress and adaptation, though this effect was through the mediating effect of control and not as a buffer as was suggested previously. Implications of the results for nursing science are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1994

The moderating effects of structural characteristics of wards in general hospitals on the relationship between professional management and quality of care.

The present research examined the moderating effects of three structural characteristics of wards: ward type (surgical vs medical), size, and hospital size on the relationship between professional management and quality of nursing care (QNC) on the ward. The sample consisted of 119 wards situated in general hospitals in Israel. The results of the three regression analyses show that only hospital size, had a moderating effect. Further analysis of the interaction showed that the effect of professional ward management on QNC was greater in large than in small or medium-sized hospitals. In addition, ward size was found to have a great effect, i.e. larger wards had lower QNC. Finally, in all three analyses professional management achieved significance, that is, better management is associated with higher QNC.

Health Facility Size↗
PubMed1993

Quality nursing care survey, 1988-1990.

In a quality nursing care survey conducted in Israel, 1988-1990, the four nursing process components were examined. The survey covered 13 hospitals with 119 medical and surgical wards, in which the nursing care quality for a sample of 2065 patients was assessed. Instruments used were (a) the Patient Classification Form, to assess patient dependency level, and (b) Monitor--an index of the quality of nursing care for acute medical and surgical wards [Goldstone et al., Polytechnic Products, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1982], a British adaptation of the Rush Medicus methodology [Jelinek et al., US Dept of Health, Education and Welfare, 1974]. The survey process involved orientation of the hospitals' senior staff, and training of participants in the administration of patient classification and of Monitor. The highest quality nursing care was found in "Meeting the patient's physical needs"; the lowest in "Assessment and planning of patient care". Factors chosen for possible influence on quality of nursing care were: patient dependency category, type of ward (medical, surgical), ward size and hospital size. The most influential factor was found to be the patient dependency category.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Perceptions and attitudes of academic nursing students to research.

Tel Aviv University students' perceptions of nursing research activities were examined. Specifically, the research concentrated on attitudes, role perception, ability and behavioural intention to perform research in the future. It was found that nurses in all stages of their academic studies, viewed research activities favourably on all four measures. Differences, however, were shown on the subjects' rating of their ability to perform research, their attitudes and their intentions to engage in research activity, according to their job level and academic level. No differences were found on the four measures when examined by work domain or clinical area. The multiple regression analysis showed that the best predictor of the intent to do research was the perception of ability, followed by the perception of research as part of the nursing role and the subjects' attitudes towards research.

Adult↗