This study had two aims: first, to investigate the attitudes of deaf and hearing people towards deafness; and, secondly, to study the difference between how deaf people perceive the attitudes of hearing people towards deafness, and how hearing people perceive the attitudes of deaf people towards deafness. The results showed that the deaf had more negative attitudes towards deafness than the hearing. In addition, the deaf believed that hearing people have more negative attitudes to deafness than hearing people actually have. This lack of empathy between the two groups was discussed. The amount of contact with the deaf was found to be associated with more realistic and less stereotyped attitudes to the deaf. The results are discussed in the context of research on social interaction with disabled people.

The relationships between illness severity, allergy as indicated by serum total immunoglobulin E, and various psychological and social factors were studied in 66 adult asthmatics. No substantial relationships were found between these factors. An earlier onset of illness before 3 years was associated with a higher serum IgE. These results do not support the commonly held concept that asthma is a ‘psychosomatic’ disorder.

The relationship between length of unemployment and psychological ill-health was examined in a sample of 954 unemployed working-class men, selected to cover all levels of age and several levels of duration of unemployment. The association between length of unemployment and psychological ill-health was found to be strongest in the middle age groups, with greater ill-health among those with a longer duration since job loss. No association between duration and ill-health was found for those who had recently entered the labour market or who were close to the end of their working lives. Desire for a job and financial stress were shown to be additional mediators of psychological ill-health during employment. A cumulative stress model is proposed to account for these findings.

The reliability and validity of Psychological Stress Evaluator (PSE) output and frequency modulation suppression as an inaudible vocal measure of stress-arousal was further explored, using a new interval scoring method. ‘Yes’ answers to 6 neutral questions were obtained from 106 volunteers 2 weeks before, the day before and one week after a stress-provoking event (oral comprehensive examinations for an MS degree). The data show excellent construct validity and good but not high internal consistency (0·77–0·81) and test-retest (0·72–0·74) reliability. Interrater reliability ranged from 0·94 to 0·98. Correlations of PSE output with other psychological and physiological measures (criterion-related validity) was very poor.

This paper examines a comprehensive set of data on the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress in a sample of 1038 adolescent students in a major urban area of a Canadian prairie province. About 27% of the students reported 6 or more symptoms of psychological distress on the GHQ-30. The frequency of symptoms varied with age, grade level and average marks, with sex being the most significant variation. ‘Anxiety’ and ‘social dysfunction’ were the most frequent symptom dimensions reported. More detailed analysis of possible predictors of mental health showed that the nature and quality of family life strongly affected adolescent mental health. Adolescents' positive evaluation of their school atmosphere and peer group life and their locus of control orientation also positively influenced their psychological well-being.

Sample survey techniques are often used to assess the prevalence of illness in a community and to determine any variation with environmental, social and demographic factors. Analysis of survey data is often carried out using several elementary statistical procedures. The formulation of a statistical model is an effective way of conducting a unified analysis. The model provides a concise description of the study population and is a most effective way of summarizing community prevalence data. The testing of statistical hypotheses is equivalent to model simplification and is conveniently performed using general procedures. Two alternative statistical models are given for an investigation into the extent of minor psychiatric morbidity in Perth, Western Australia.

Unlike previous studies, this study shows that in controlled conditions non-chronic schizophrenics receiving neuroleptic medication show no disparity between recall and recognition. Patients receiving both neuroleptic and anticholinergic drugs show this disparity, performing less well on recall than on recognition. These patients also seem more severely disturbed. The importance of task matching, drugs and chronicity are discussed.

A 4-year prospective study was undertaken of the families of 137 newly referred English speaking psychiatric patients with children at home aged under 15 years. The group comprised a representative sample of such patients living in one inner London borough. Teacher questionnaires were obtained yearly for all children of school age in the families, and for age-, sex- and classroom-matched controls. Detailed standardized interviews were undertaken yearly with parent-patients and with their spouses. A comparison was also made with a control group of families in the general population with 10-year-old children. Patients' families differed in terms of a higher rate of psychiatric disorder in spouses and a much higher level of family discord. Both parental mental disorder and marital discord tended to persist over the 4-year period, but persistence of both was much more marked when the parent had a personality disorder. The children of psychiatric patients had an increased rate of persistent emotional/behavioural disturbance, which tended to involve disorders of conduct. The psychiatric risk to the children was greatest in the case of personality disorders associated with high levels of exposure to hostile behaviour. Boys showing temperamental risk features were most vulnerable to the ill-effects associated with parental mental disorder.

Recent interest in the way social factors influence the course of schizophrenia has led to attempts to monitor and manipulate these factors. The work on the Expressed Emotion of the relative has been especially influential in this area. A number of studies have now been conducted in which a psychosocial intervention has been employed in an attempt to prevent relapse after discharge from hospital. These studies are reviewed with an emphasis on their methodological adequacy and on the nature of the intervention used. Recent studies have demonstrated a positive result for psychosocial interventions used in combination with neuroleptic medication. However, analysis of these studies does not allow us to conclude that we can identify the ‘active ingredients’ in these psychosocial treatment regimes. Although there is cause for optimism, further investigation is required.

A non-recursive structural equation model designed to examine the reciprocal relationship between life event reports and depressive symptoms in women is presented. The model was fitted to data from a 2-year longitudinal study of life events and depression in a sample of women with 5-year-old children. The findings suggest that life event reports may be influenced by mental state; however, even when this tendency is taken into account, there is still a substantial relationship between life events and depressive symptoms in women. This indicates that it is unlikely that the life events/depression correlation can be explained simply by a tendency for depressed women to over-report life events.

This study assessed the inter-relations of socio-demographic, resource and policy factors with standardized measures of short-term psychiatric bed-use in 42 counties of Atlantic Canada. The policy factor made up two-thirds of the total variability (61%) accounted for among males, and nearly one-half of the 47% accounted for among females. An accurate assessment of in-patient resource needs is seen as resulting from intertwining morbidity surveys with utilization studies.

Forty-nine patients with low serum and cerebrospinal fluid folate levels completed the Ottawa–Wechsler Scale after 7–11 months of folate supplementation (10 mg daily). Twelve patients exhibited major neurological symptoms, while 37 patients displayed depression and minor neurological signs. After folate therapy, Verbal, Performance and Full Wechsler scores were significantly improved (P ≺ 0·0·01). The order of improvement in scores on the Wechsler subtests (from the statistically most significant to the least as measured by the t-statistics) was: Block Design, Digit Symbol, Similarities, Picture Completion, Picture Arrangement, Arithmetic, Object Assembly, Digit Span, Information, and Comprehension.

Disturbed behaviour was studied in relation to two contrasting ward environments, one representing the ‘medical model’ of psychiatry and the other being a modified form of ‘therapeutic community’. A mathematical model was used in order to identify the characteristics of disturbed patients. The results suggested that behavioural disturbance of a patient in our sample was related to diagnosis, to the ward of admission and to the length of stay in hospital. Patients in all diagnostic categories tended to be more disturbed in the ‘therapeutic community’ than in the ‘medical model’ ward.

The present study examined sensitivity to noise in subjects with Type A and Type B behaviour patterns as a function of the type of task being performed. Twenty Type A and 20 Type B subjects, selected by means of Bortner's scale (French version), were exposed to steadily increasing noise levels (68–110 dBA) while performing two tasks. The first was simple (crossing out) and the second was more complex (memorizing nonsense syllables). There was no difference between the groups on the simple task, but on the more complex task Type A and Type B subjects reacted differently, the former maintaining their level of tolerance while the latter lowered theirs. High investment and the desire to succeed may lead Type A subjects to ignore the acoustic environment and/or to deny the aversive aspects of noise as cognitive strategies for coping with stress.

The present study describes and evaluates aspects of care in a new residential unit for chronic patients. The findings suggest that the unit is relatively resident-orientated in its management practices and that the staff are similarly orientated in their attitudes. Staff also hold generally optimistic attitudes to residents' potential accomplishments and consider themselves highly involved in decision-making. They also show high levels of positive interactions with the residents. Various aspects of staff attitudes and behaviour are positively correlated with seniority or length of time on the unit. The results are discussed in terms of the unit's organizational structure and its possible impact on residents' functioning.

A comparison of medication prescribed for elderly residents in long-term care institutions in London and New York shows that New York residents are prescribed more drugs. The contrast is sharpest for those suffering from dementia who are much more likely to receive neuroleptic medication than their counterparts in London. Analysis indicates that the differences may reflect the greater emphasis in New York on the nursing-medical model of care, rather than any differences between the residents themselves.

A 26-year-old man developed a syndrome following a head injury, characterized by disturbances of memory, language, and beliefs, and lasting for several years. The clinical picture was suggestive of a number of conditions, but diagnostic of none. The aetiology involved a complex interaction of biological and psychological factors, and these are discussed in relation to similar syndromes described in the literature.

In order to evaluate Foulds' hierarchical model of psychiatric illness, a study was carried out using data from a 3-year follow-up of patients suffering from functional non-affective psychoses. Of the 177 Present State Examinations carried out 86% yielded symptom patterns compatible with the model. It was shown that failures to fit the hierarchy can be explained either by measurement error or by the masking of major symptoms by the simultaneous presence of minor ones. A one-dimensional scale to measure the severity of psychiatric illness was constructed. Patients' scores were compared with ratings on the Index of Definition and the diagnosis of current mental state. The results of these comparisons were considered to be supportive validatory evidence. Some of the implications of the model and the data are discussed.

Recent follow-up studies of depression in old age have highlighted the high relapse rate in older patients compared with younger patients. The consequences for the provision of acute psychiatric beds for elderly patients has been investigated by comparing the usage of beds by younger and older patients with depression over a 4-year period. Overall, elderly depressed patients consumed one and a half times as many bed days as younger depressed patients and a quarter of all acute bed days available in the hospital were used by elderly depressed patients.

Between 1968 and 1981 there were roughly equal numbers of male and female schizophrenic parasuicides in Edinburgh: males were significantly younger than females at parasuicide (33 v. 37 years), and had received a diagnosis of schizophrenia for a shorter time (3·4 v. 7·2 years). The clinical, epidemiological and social characteristics of such parasuicides are, by and large, those that might be expected from a knowledge of the epidemiology of schizophrenia.

Eight per cent of a sample of Edinburgh schizophrenic first-ever parasuicides subsequently committed suicide, when followed up for up to 14 years. This percentage is close to what would be expected for later suicide in non-schizophrenic parasuicides. When all the suicides were considered, similar numbers of male and female schizophrenics killed themselves; their mean ages at death were 42 and 43 years respectively; and the mean duration of the schizophrenic illness was 10 years in both cases, according to hospital records.

We found slight evidence that parasuicide is commoner in schizophrenic suicides than in schizophrenic controls but little evidence to support the contention that there may be a specific relationship between suicide (or parasuicide) and the presence of auditory hallucinations, recent discharge from in-patient care, the use of depot neuroleptic medication, or recent parasuicide.

From the point of view of the prevention of suicide and parasuicide in schizophrenics, it is noteworthy that we found few differences between the clinical characteristics and management of schizophrenic parasuicides and suicides, and schizophrenic controls.