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At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Helping at the bedside: spouses' preferences for helping critically ill patients.

Spouses of patients in intensive care units (ICU) need to be close and helpful to ill partners. According to adult attachment theory, emotional responses may be related to preferences for closeness and helpfulness, and according to control theory optimism also may influence spouses' emotional responses. Spouses' goals and helping behaviors were assessed in 88 spouses of ICU patients. Using a repeated-measures design, the relationships of closeness, helpfulness, and optimism to emotional outcomes were assessed. Preferences for closeness and helpfulness were strongly related, and together with optimism, predicted spouses' mood at some point of the illness trajectory. Spouses who were over-involved with partners' care requirements were at greater risk for emotional distress. Results suggest that closeness and helpfulness are integrated concepts, and that attachment dimensions of a relationship and optimism are useful for understanding spouses' emotional responses to critical illness.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

The primary group as supportive milieu: applications to community psychology.

The paper reviews evidence documenting the health-protective effects of the informal social support extended by kith, kin, and community gatekeepers. Noteworthy features of a classification scheme describing the substance of informal helping behaviors are reviewed. Implications for future research and action address: (a) the need for professionals to reexamine occasions for the provision of consultation and crisis-intervention services; (b) the potential for using social network analysis to identify vulnerable groups in the community; (c) the merits of advocating on behalf of informal support systems as favorable settings for the accomplishment of primary prevention.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Service consumption patterns over time among adult day care program participants.

A study of 59 adult day care (ADC) programs funded by area agencies on aging in Pennsylvania provides data which profiles the classic package of ADC services utilized by elder participants and traces the relationship between formal service consumption and the helping behaviors of family caregivers. Elder clients rejected 1 or more services offered by ADC staff 59% of the time. Consumption of homemaking, transportation, and counseling services escalated over time although total formal services used remained minimal. Family helpers performed both a greater range and intensity of support functions as compared to ADC programs (p less than .001). Program strategies and future research directions are suggested.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Informal support resources for vulnerable elderly persons: can they be counted on, why do they work?

The issue of informal support system resiliency is analyzed for approximately 700 vulnerable elderly persons in a variety of communities (e.g., urban age-segregated housing, ethnic urban age-integrated community, rural age-integrated, etc.). These samples, while geographically specific, are diverse, and a case can be made for generalizing the conclusions originating in this study to the larger population of vulnerable elderly persons in this country. There is a reexamination of the following questions: 1) Do informal support systems generally exist for vulnerable elderly persons; 2) Are significant levels of help being given by these helpers? An examination is also made of the following questions: 1) Can we depend upon these informal systems to continue to provide care now being given, and to respond to new needs that may arise in the future; 2) How is this helping behavior initiated? Within this study, the vulnerable elderly persons were generally found to have informal support systems characterized by active communication. The central role of the informal system is the transmittal of knowledge. Network members pick up information about the individual in regular ongoing communication of a noninstrumental character, interpret this information, act in ways that are responsive to the individual's needs, and are generally prepared to continue to act as new needs arise.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Hitchhikers' smiles and receipt of help.

The positive association of smiling on helping behavior is well established in social psychology. Nevertheless, no study was found for the effect of smiling on hitchhiking success. An experiment was carried out in France where hitchhiking is a legal and common practice. Four confederates, 2 young men and 2 young women, selected for their "average attractiveness" hitchhiked, signaled to 800 (503 men and 297 women) motorists driving along the road on a peninsula. In half of the cases, the confederate smiled at the motorist. Analysis showed that, when hitchhiking women were smiling, motorists stopped more frequently but not when hitchhikers were men. Also, in all conditions, motorists who stopped were male.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The first year: influences on the satisfaction, involvement, and persistence of new community volunteers.

This investigation tests an elaborated form of Omoto and Snyder's volunteer process model, which explains how the helping behavior of volunteers is influenced by antecedent factors and by subjective experiences while volunteering. Two-hundred-thirty-eight community volunteers from nine different organizations were recruited at the time of initial orientation and completed measures of personality and motivation. They were contacted at four times during their first year of volunteering and queried regarding their emotional reactions (sympathy, distress), satisfaction, and degree to which their motivations for volunteering were being fulfilled. Consistent with the elaborated model, feelings of sympathy, distress, and motive fulfillment were substantially predicted by antecedent factors, and satisfaction with the volunteer work was substantially predicted by these subjective experiences. Also consistent with the elaborated model, volunteer involvement (hours per week volunteered) was predicted by satisfaction, although volunteer persistence over time was not. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Empathy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Participant reactions to a cognitive-behavioral guided self-help program for binge eating: developing criteria for program evaluation.

This article evaluates the effectiveness of a telephone-based guided self-help program for women who binge eat. We report how key program components (e.g., phone sessions, the self-help book) contribute to the four self-help goals identified in the clinical literature: (1) decrease isolation/increase support; (2) increase knowledge of the problem; (3) broaden coping skills; and (4) improve self-esteem. Using the example of our feasibility study, we illustrate that even minimal interventions create a relational context which can promote entry into and engagement with treatment. We conclude that program evaluation should include not only traditional measures of outcome (e.g., reduction in symptomatology), but utilize outcome measures related to the specific goals of minimal interventions (e.g., changes in help-seeking behavior).

Attitude↗
PubMed1975

Effect of behavioral variables on cooling rate of man in cold water.

Five different behaviors of man while in cold ocean water (9-10 degrees C) were assessed for their effect on rate of progress into hypothermia. With subjects wearing lifejackets, two thermally protective behaviors were studied which reduce exposure to the water of areas of body surface with high relative heat loss potential. One was huddling of three persons and the other a self-huddle behavior (HELP or Heat Escape Lessening Posture). These two behaviors resulted in significant reductions of rectal temperature cooling rate of 66 per cent and 69 per cent, respectively, of that of a control behavior. With no flotation available, two survival swimming behaviors (treading water and drownproofing) were shown to result in significant increases in cooling rate to 134 per cent and 182 per cent, respectively, of the control behavior. Potential swimming distance of subjects wearing a life-jacket was 0.85 miles in water near 12 degrees C before predicted incapacitation by hypothermia. It was concluded that behavioral variables can be of major importance in determining survival time in cold water through modulation of cooling rate associated with other variables such as fatness, body size, and clothing.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Cooperative breeders adjust offspring sex ratios to produce helpful helpers.

Whether birds and mammals adaptively adjust their offspring sex ratios in response to their environment is much debated. A source of confusion is that different studies show different patterns, with sex ratio adjustment appearing to occur in some cases but not others. The extent to which this reflects interesting biological variation due to differences in the underlying selective forces, as opposed to statistical noise, is not clear. Cooperatively breeding species offer an opportunity to address this problem because the strength of selection on sex ratio adjustment can be estimated. When helping behavior is sex dependent, parents are predicted to overproduce the helping sex when this sex is rare or absent. We show here that the extent of this behavior depends on the benefit that helpers bring to parents: there is greater sex ratio adjustment when helpers bring larger benefits. Variable selection on sex ratio adjustment may thus explain variable empirical findings.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

[Decreasing violence in the school: study of a cooperative intervention].

Can physically aggressive behavior among pupils be reduced by some easily applicable interventions? The teaching staffs of four elementary schools were advised (1) to hold regular classroom meetings (on rules of behavior, helping attacked peers etc), (2) to stop acute aggressive behavior and encourage positive behavior, and (3) to change some situational factors (especially during break-time). Preliminary results suggest that a highly committed staff can reduce aggressive behavior by these interventions. Further study is needed, however, as to the contribution of individual measures and the extent and stability of the effects to be obtained.

Aggression↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Factors influencing young children's coping behaviors during stressful healthcare encounters.

The authors examined the coping behaviors of 80 preschool children during venipuncture, and selected situational and personal variables thought to influence their coping. The children's behaviors were recorded on the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist-Intrusive Procedures; the helpful behaviors of health professionals were recorded on the Nursing Actions Checklist. Information about specific influencing variables was gathered through questionnaires and parent interviews. The children's report of procedural pain was correlated with the number of coping behaviors used, with the children's attempts to protect themselves, and with helpful nursing interventions. Socioeconomic status, nursing interventions, and preparation for the procedure had low to moderate correlations with number and type of the children's coping behaviors. The results indicate that a child's coping is related to the situation, and the actions of professionals in that situation rather than to the characteristics of the individual child.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

An interactive computer-administered self-assessment and self-help program for behavior therapy.

Behavior therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is extremely effective and usually conveys lasting benefits. Unfortunately, behavior therapy is not widely available and is usually quite costly in the few settings where it can be obtained. The essential features of effective behavior therapy are identifying triggers of obsessions, rituals, and discomfort; designing personalized exposure and ritual prevention (E & RP) goals; and encouraging and monitoring E & RP sessions of sufficient frequency and duration for habituation to occur. A computer program (BT STEPS) was designed to assist OCD sufferers in carrying out self-assessment and self-help behavior therapy. The program has nine clinical steps, 12 computer-controlled interactive voice response (IVR) telephone calls (some used repeatedly), and more than 1000 digitized voice files that depend on the progress that patients report during calls. BT STEPS has been studied in two trials at three sites with a total of 65 patients. In both trials, patients who experienced behavior therapy had substantial reductions in OCD severity as assessed by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. Approximately two thirds of those who participated in two or more E & RP sessions were much or very much improved. Patients liked using the program, and 71% thought their lives improved as a result. BT STEPS makes behavior therapy for OCD patients potentially available to anyone with a touch-tone telephone. It is intended for use under the supervision of a clinician and can be used in conjunction with pharmacotherapy.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed2002

The Ironson-woods Spirituality/Religiousness Index is associated with long survival, health behaviors, less distress, and low cortisol in people with HIV/AIDS.

The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of an instrument that measures both spirituality and religiousness, to examine the relation between spirituality and religiousness and important health outcomes for people living with HIV and to examine the potential mediators of these relations. One aim was to determine whether subscales of spirituality, religiousness, or both would be independently related to long survival in people living with AIDS. The Ironson-Woods Spirituality/Religiousness (SR) Index is presented with evidence for its reliability and validity. Four factors were identified on the Ironson-Woods SR Index (Sense of Peace, Faith in God, Religious Behavior, and Compassionate View of Others). Each subscale was significantly related to long survival with AIDS. That is, the long-term survivor (LTS) group (n = 79) scored significantly higher on these factors than did the HIV-positive comparison (COMP) group (n = 200). Long survival was also significantly related to both frequency of prayer (positively) and judgmental attitude (negatively). In addition, the Ironson-Woods SR Index yielded strong and significant correlations with less distress, more hope, social support, health behaviors, helping others, and lower cortisol levels. The relation between religious behavior and health outcomes was not due to social support. Further analyses were conducted, which identified urinary cortisol concentrations and altruistic behavior as mediators of the relation between SR and long survival.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Nicotine patch and self-help video for cigarette smoking cessation.

A total of 424 smokers were randomized in a 2 x 2 factorial experiment. A pharmacologic factor contained 2 levels: transdermal nicotine path (TNP; 21 mg) and placebo. A self-help behavioral treatment factor contained 2 levels: video-enhanced self-help treatment manual and self-help treatment manual only. At 2 months, TNP produced a higher level of abstinence (36%) than placebo (20%), p < .001. No other comparison was significant. In secondary analyses, (at 2 months) and compliance with patch treatment regimen (at 2, 6, and 12 months) were associated with less relapse. Although nicotine replacement therapy has improved our ability to produce smoking cessation, the production of sustained, longer term abstinence remains an elusive goal.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1990

[Neuromuscular disorders].

In this study, the author focuses on three neuromuscular disorders that have historically been isolated to a specific region in Québec. The author is convinced that appropriate nursing interventions can help in the detection of these disorders and can, using data on social behavior, help eliminate harmful genetic mutations.

Health Education↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of a mass media behavioral treatment for chronic headache: a pilot study.

This article presents the results of a pilot study evaluating the efficacy of a mass media self-help behavioral treatment program for chronic headache. The program consisted of a self-help textbook, an exercise book, 10 television programs, 11 radio programs, and 3 audiocassettes with relaxation training. Approximately 15,000 headache sufferers purchased the book and relaxation tapes. A random sample of 271 respondents participated in the effect study; the pretraining and posttraining data of 164 subjects were available for analysis. Multivariate testing of the pretraining and posttraining results showed highly significant reductions in headache activity and medication intake at 4-month follow-up. A reduction of 50% or more in headache parameters and medication intake was achieved by 40% to 60% of the patients. Work absenteeism was significantly reduced. The differences between the diagnostic groups were not significant. Mass media behavioral treatment seems to be a viable treatment alternative for chronic headache and highly promising in terms of gain in quality of life, decrease in economic loss, and cost-effectiveness in health care.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Basic empathy in older adults: conceptualization, measurement, and application.

Older adults comprise the most rapidly increasing age group in America. In addition, an increasing number of older adults are involved in helping behaviors or volunteering. Although empathy has been identified as a critical component of a helping relationship, few studies concerning empathy have been conducted with older adults and few instruments have been developed that can be used with this population. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between two measures of empathy in older adults. The Hogan Empathy Scale and an Adjective Check List Empathy Scale were used to assess basic empathy in 43 older adults between the ages of 63 and 96. Results indicated that the mean scores of older adults were lower than mean scores in younger populations. Scores on both measures were comparable suggesting that both instruments could be used to measure basic empathy in older adults.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

On immediate function.

Behavior is a property of living organisms, not of inanimate matter. The problems of physical science are to understand how a phenomenon works; biological science adds the questions of what a phenomenon does and how something that does such things came to be. Exclusive dedication to cause-effect explanations ignores how behavior helps creatures cope with their internal and external environments. Laws of causation describe the precursors to behavior; laws of function describe the effects of behavior. The numerous instances of learning reflect the many ways that selective pressure for altering behavior on the basis of experience has been manifested. Little basis exists for assuming that the various forms of learning reflect either common functions or common processes. Instead, it seems that evolutionary processes have resulted in domain-specific learning. The rules of learning must be understood in terms of the function that the particular manifestation of learning serves for the organism. Evolutionary theory provides the framework for understanding function as well as relations between function and causal mechanisms.

Journal Article↗