Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Social Problems”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

A study of health and health related social problems in the geriatric population in a rural area of Tamil Nadu.

About 200 individuals aged 60 years and above, out of 317 total geriatric population of a small village in Tamil Nadu were subjected for complete clinical examinations with the objective of finding major health problems and associated social problems prevalent among these study population. Main causes of illness were found to be arthritis, cataract, bronchitis, skin diseases and malnutrition.

Aged↗

Social problems in Pakistani psychiatric patients.

The paper presents a case register-based descriptive survey of social problems of general hospital psychiatric patients in Pakistan. 47.2% of psychiatric patients had a social problem. Problems with primary support group occurred in 33.4%, 14.2% had relational problems and 7.8% had problems relating to bereavement or death. Social problems were more common in females and patients who had adjustment disorder or depression. Psychiatric patients had more social problems than those who were diagnosed as having a physical problem only. Female depressed patients experienced problems with their in-laws more frequently than other types of social problem. The implications are that: i) some DSMIV categories require changing to make them more internationally applicable; ii) specific psycho-social inquiry during psychiatric diagnostic interviews is essential; iii) grief counselling and family therapy are important psychotherapeutic needs of Pakistani psychiatric patients; iv) these, in turn, indicate priorities in mental health professional training curricula.

Adolescent↗

Effect of asthma in childhood on psycho-social problems in the family.

OBJECTIVE: The responsibility for treating children with asthma has gradually shifted from the medical health service to the family and parents, which may cause new psycho-social problems in the family. This study aimed at describing the psycho-social effects on families having a child with asthma, and at determining whether a relation exists between the medical severity of disease and psycho-social problems. METHODS: The findings are based on a questionnaire with the following domains: economy, work, free time, health, environment, and family, as well as a health-related medical questionnaire. They are built on psycho-social problems and on medical records. RESULTS: The frequency of psycho-social problems was high regarding single questions in the evaluated psycho-social domains. A relation was found between high drug consumption and severe psycho-social problems. However, no positive correlation was detected among visits at the hospital's emergency department, absence from school due to asthma or disturbed sleep, and psycho-social problems. On the contrary, a negative correlation was found between absence from school due to asthma and psycho-social problems. CONCLUSION: We conclude that for single questions in each psycho-social domain, the problem rate is high, but when taking into account the mean value of different psycho-social problems in each domain, the reported problem rate is fairly low. This method permits selection of the psycho-social domains with the most severe problems in each family. It can, therefore, be used to direct help from the medical service. We also found a relation between the medical severity of asthma and the extent of the psycho-social problems caused by the disease.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Access to generic drugs in the 1950s: the politics of a social problem.

From the published literature of the 1950s, the social history of anti-substitution law is analyzed in terms of sociological theory on the construction of social problems. The analysis reveals how the substitution of generic drugs for prescribed brands came to be recognized as a social problem in need of remedial legislation. The most influential party in the process was the brand-drug industry which centered the debate on matters of public health and professionalism instead of industrial profitability. The industry was able to form a coalition of interests and establish the saliency and legitimacy of the problem, even though there was no objective evidence to establish brand substitution as a hazard to health. The case fits well into the theory of social problem construction. Other issues in health care, particularly drug issues can be studied from this same perspective.

Drug Industry↗

Towards an idiothetic understanding of the role of social problem solving in daily event, mood and health experiences: a prospective daily diary approach.

OBJECTIVES: Utilising D'Zurilla's (1986, 1990) transactional social problem solving model as the theoretical framework, the present study sought to examine the dynamics of the social problem solving process in relation to intraindividual experiences of events, mood, and physical health in daily life. DESIGN: The study incorporated both idiographic and nomothetic strategies, combining a daily diary approach within a prospective design. As such, each individual's experience of events, mood, and health were assessed on a daily basis, and the prospective relations between social problem solving and these day-to-day experiences examined. METHODS: Participants' (university students) completed a measure of social problem solving at baseline followed, approximately 5 weeks later, by daily self-reports of mood (positive & negative), events (hassles & uplifts), and physical health (health status & URI symptoms) for a period of 14 days. The data were analysed using multilevel hierarchical modelling. RESULTS: Days on which individuals had greater than their average hassles were associated with higher negative and lower positive mood (i.e. domain specific & cross-over effects), whilst greater uplifts were linked to positive mood only. With regard to health, individuals reported worse status and more URI symptoms on days with greater than their average negative (hassles, negative mood) but not positive influences (uplifts, positive mood). Both social problem solving orientations and skills dimensions were associated prospectively with daily health outcomes, and these relationships were not moderated by day-to-day experiences of mood or events. CONCLUSIONS: The data clarify the importance of social problem solving to within-person daily event, mood, and health experiences. The implications of these findings for contemporary transactional social problem solving models are discussed.

Adult↗

A social problem index for Canada.

OBJECTIVE: To construct an index that represents the general level of social problems among Canadian provinces and territories. METHOD: Factor weights were used to combine provincial and territorial rates for homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault, robbery, divorce, suicide, and alcoholism into a single Social Problem Index. RESULTS: The resulting index demonstrated strong positive intercorrelations among its factors across provinces. That is, provinces that showed high rates on one factor tended to show high rates on the others as well. The validity of the Social Problem Index is demonstrated by its positive correlation with an independent measure of the likelihood of having experienced personal trauma. CONCLUSIONS: The robust nature and apparent validity of the Social Problem Index suggest that it can be well used for needs assessments and theoretical studies and as a feedback mechanism to national, provincial, and community leaders on the social problem status of their particular jurisdictions.

Canada↗

Social problem solving, conduct problems, and callous-unemotional traits in children.

This study examined the association between social problem solving, conduct problems (CP), and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in elementary age children. Participants were 53 children (40 boys and 13 girls) aged 7-12 years. Social problem solving was evaluated using the Social Problem Solving Test-Revised, which requires children to produce solutions to eight hypothetical social problems, including five problems involving acquiring a desired object and three problems gaining access to a peer. Regression analyses showed that greater frequency of CP symptoms was associated with producing less flexible, relevant, and prosocial solutions and more overtly aggressive solutions. However, this pattern was present only when CU traits were low. Results add to a growing body of literature demonstrating that CU traits are an important moderator of CP in children.

Affect↗

The relation between social problems and substance use in adolescent boys: an investigation of potential moderators.

This study investigated the relation between social problems and adolescent male substance use in the context of other potential moderating variables. Two hundred eighty adolescent boys completed measures of social problems, cognitive distortions, constructive thinking, affiliation with delinquent peers, and multiple aspects of substance use. Results revealed that social problems were not directly related to most substance use variables. Cognitive distortions moderated the relation between social problems and substance use in social situations, such that the relation was significant only at high levels of cognitive distortions. Constructive thinking and affiliation with delinquent peers were both related to substance use, but neither served a moderating function. It is concluded that the widely accepted relation between social difficulties and adolescent male substance use may be better understood in the context of cognitive variables.

Adolescent↗

A qualitative and serial analysis of social problem solving in aggressive boys.

Social problem solving skills in 84 elementary school aged boys were assessed to identify those responses most salient in the prediction of ratings of aggressive and socially withdrawn behavior. Aggressive and socially withdrawn boys did not differ from the control group in the number of effective first solutions generated to the hypothetical stories. The control group generated significantly more effective solutions as second alternatives to the stories than did the aggressive or socially withdrawn boys. In addition, the number of effective second responses generated significantly predicted both aggression and social withdrawal after controlling for verbal problem solving. Results are discussed in terms of differences in cognitive processes as well as implications for treatment.

Aggression↗

Evaluative factors in social problem solving by aggressive boys.

Components of social problem solving (problem definition, generation and prioritization of solutions, and generation and evaluation of consequences) were assessed in high aggressive and low aggressive boys from grades 2-3 and 5-6. When compared with their low aggressive peers, high aggressive boys at both grade levels were more likely to (1) define social problems based on the perception that others were hostilely-motivated adversaries, (2) generate few consequences for exhibiting aggression, (3) choose a "second-best" solution that was rated as ineffective, and (4) evaluate their own affective reactions to self-generated consequences of aggression as "wouldn't care" or as not "unhappy." In addition, within the group of aggressive boys, problem definition was found to be significantly related to both number of solutions generated and effectiveness of solutions that subjects chose as best and second-best. These findings are discussed in terms of early patterns of cognitive mediation that differentiate high aggressive children from their low aggressive peers.

Affect↗

Does social problem solving differ from other types of problem solving during the adult years?

One hundred thirteen individuals, ages 18-81, were presented with a test of social problem solving, a test of practical problem solving, the Twenty Questions task (a test of traditional problem solving), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale--Revised Vocabulary subtest (a measure of crystallized intelligence), and Raven's Progressive Matrices (a measure of fluid intelligence). The effects of age, sex, education, and intellectual abilities on problem-solving performance were examined. Social problem solving was positively related to higher education and higher Vocabulary scores, but it was not related to age. Social problem solving and practical problem solving were significantly related to each other and to scores on the Vocabulary subtest, whereas traditional problem solving was significantly related to scores on Raven's Progressive Matrices. These results suggest that different types of problem solving are differentially related to other intellectual abilities and to age.

Adolescent↗

[Health and social problems in the aged].

This study reviews data from a poll conducted in three municipalities of Vojvodina on health and social problems of 60-year old and older people (n = 104). Poverty and illness are the main two problems aged people have to deal with, whereas exhaustion, pains, moving around with difficulty, poor vision, heart and breathing problems, as well as cardiovascular diseases and diseases of the musculoskeletal system are the most frequent health problems. Socializing is poor in the old age. Every third aged person visits nobody, while every fifth aged person is visited by nobody. About 3% of examinees describe their relationships with children as negative. That is why it is necessary to organize a health care of the aged which should maintain health and functional abilities into the old age with adequate social care of both closed and open type as long as possible.

Aged↗

Test-retest reliability of the Social Problem Questionnaire in primary care in Italy.

The 1-week test-retest reliability of the Social Problem Questionnaire (SPQ) was investigated in a sample of 100 primary care attenders in Italy. The questionnaire was found to be simple and readily acceptable to primary care attenders. Reliability coefficients were high for housing, financial and work problems (Pearson's r and the intraclass correlation coefficient > or = 0.75) and relatively low for problems with spouse or partner (Pearson's r and the intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.30). Pearson's r and the intraclass correlation coefficient were 0.77 and 0.76, respectively, for the overall severity score reported on the SPQ; the two coefficients were 0.63 and 0.62, respectively, for the overall number of problems reported on the SPQ. When the proportion of specific agreement was computed, agreement on absence of social problems was higher compared to agreement on presence. Reliability coefficients tended to be higher in males compared to females. Systematic differences between scores on the first and second tests were found for problems in housing conditions and social relationships excluding relatives (lower scores on the second test), as well as for the residual category "other social problems" (higher scores on the second test).

Adolescent↗

Social problem solving in suicidal adolescents.

Whether adolescent suicide attempters would have deficits in interpersonal problem solving and the relation between social problem solving, suicide intent, and medical lethality were evaluated. Compared with psychiatric and normal controls, adolescents who attempted suicide exhibited poorer social problem-solving abilities, particularly in terms of problem orientation. Specifically, suicide attempters brought more maladaptive cognitive-emotional-behavioral response sets to problematic situations than did psychiatric and normal controls. Both suicide attempters and psychiatric controls had similar deficits in problem-solving skills (e.g., generation of alternatives, decision making, and solution implementation) compared with nonhospitalized peers. Social problem solving was not found to be correlated with suicide lethality or intent.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

The perception of social problems by husbands and wives in the community.

The Social Problem Questionnaire (SPQ) was completed by 132 Italian married couples who were part of a stratified community sample of 207 families. Agreement between husbands and wives on problems in housing, finance, marriage, family and social relationships was assessed by product moment correlation coefficients, weighted kappas, specific agreement indices and three way analysis of variance. The results showed that couples agreed well on the absence but not on the presence of social problems. Although husbands' and wives' ratings on the severity of problems correlated significantly, wives consistently tended to give higher ratings than their husbands. The implications of these results for social research and community surveys are briefly discussed.

Adult↗

Social problems of women patients in a private obstetrics and gynecology clinic.

Patients present or exhibit problems other than physical ones to their physicians and need access to some type of assistance for them. Over a 1 year period, women patients were referred to and seen by the medical social worker employed by a private obstetrics and gynecology clinic. Their social problems were studied by content analysis of patients' records, patients' social services cards, and monthly social services summaries. Results showed that 163 women exhibited 288 social problems consisting of three major types, financial, marital, and emotional. Various relationships were shown between the type of social problem and the primary reason the patient visited the clinic. It was also shown that if a patient has a financial problem, she is more likely to have a greater number of social problems than are other patients.

Adolescent↗

A critical theory of medical discourse: how patients and health professionals deal with social problems.

Criticism of social context does not generally appear in medical encounters. When contextual issues arise in medical discourse, messages of ideology and social control may become apparent, usually without the conscious awareness of the participants. By easing the physical or psychological impact of contextual difficulties, or by encouraging patients' conformity to mainstream expectations of desirable behavior, encounters with doctors can help win patients' consent to troubling social conditions. Seen in this light, doctor-patient encounters become micropolitical situations that do not typically encourage explicit statements or actions by health professionals to change contextual sources of their patients' difficulties. A critical theory influenced by structuralism suggests that the surface meanings of signs in medical discourse prove less important than their structural relationships. In addition, a theoretical approach adopting elements of post-structuralism and Marxist literary criticism emphasizes the marginal, absent, or excluded elements of medical discourse. Contextual features that shape a text include social class, sex, age, and race. Through the underlying structure of medical discourse, contextual problems are expressed, marginalized, and managed.

Communication↗