Internalized Stigma among People with Mental Illness in Serbia and the Psychometric Properties of the Ismi Scale

This study was aimed at exploring the experience of internalized stigma in persons with mental illness. It also served the purpose of exploring the feasibility of using the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMI) to establish basic psychometric characteristics. The study is a part of the international INDIGO- ASPEN project. Participants (N=103) were service users of two psychiatric clinics and one primary health service in Serbia, with severe mental illnesses (52 with diagnosis of Major depression and 51 with Schizophrenia). Participants were of different age, gender, level of education, marital and employment status. For internalized stigma assessment the ISMI scale was applied. It consists of 5 subscales and 29 questions. Participants completed a questionnaire about socio-demographic and clinical data. 17.5% of participants reported experiencing moderate or severe stigma and 82.5% mild or minimal stigma. An elevated score was established for answers at all subscales: Alienation (27.2% of participants), Social Withdrawal (24.3%), Stereotype Endorsement (16.5%) and Discrimination (16.5%). Results show that socio-demographic and clinical variables are not linked to ISMI subscales. The study results confirm the good psychometric characteristics of the ISMI. Though the experience of internalized stigma in the sample of people with depression and schizophrenia in Serbia is mildly grave it should not be discarded. Effective stigma reduction interventions should include empowerment of interpersonal relationships in persons with mental illnesses, their inclusion in self-help groups and self-esteem improvement. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n3p15

Importance of visual and non-visual information for perceived distance anisotropy

The aim of this research was to verify whether perceived distance anisotropy exists even when visual information are available, that is, to examine interaction of non-visual (vestibular and proprioceptive) and visual information in depth perception. An experiment was done in a forest, where there is a large number of equally distributed depth cues. Partiticipants were instructed to equalize the distance of the stimuli towards horizon with the distance of the standard towards zenith. As a stimuli we used paper circles, 30cm in diameter, and participants performed their task from standing and lying position. Results have shown that estimated distances towards horizon were longer than physically identical distances towards zenith, which means that distances towards horizon are being perceived as shorter. Shorten age of perceived distances towards horizon was smaller from lying position. These findings point out significance of vestibular and proprioceptive information on percieved distance anisotropy, regardless of presence of visual information

Aesthetic preference of object position on pictures

Cilj rada je eksperimentalna provera tri hipoteze. Prva tvrdi da je položaj zlatnog preseka idealni položaj objekta (elementa) na slici, kao i da taj položaj ne zavisi od oblika slike i broja objekata na njoj. Po drugoj hipotezi estetski optimalni efekat se postiže postavljanjem fokusa na desnoj strani slike (kod asimetrično komponovanih slika). Prema trećoj hipotezi, postoji uticaj prethodne stimulacije na trenutno estetsko doživljavanje; odnosno, zbog pojave monotonije, menjaće se estetska preferencija procenjivača. Izveden je eksperiment koji se sastojao od dva dela. U prvom delu, ispitanici su imali zadatak da na tri različita oblika kartica (kvadrat, zlatni pravougaonik i pravougaonik) postave kružić tako da dobijena konfiguracija bude za njih najlepša. Drugi deo ogleda je bio gotovo identičan prvom, s tim što su ispitanici umesto jednog, postavljali po dva kružića na svaku od kartica. Sve tri hipoteze su dobile potvrdu u rezultatima eksperimenta. Preferirani položaj kružića odgovara položaju zlatnog preseka i ne menja se sa promenom oblika kartice i broja objekata na njoj. Postoji jasna preferencija gornjeg desnog dela kartica u odnosu na druge delove. Preferirani položaj kružića se menja sa ponavljanjem iste stimulacije (isti oblik kartice i isti broj kružića).In this study three hypothesis were evaluated. The first claims that the golden section position is an ideal position of an object on a picture and that this position does not depend on picture shape, or on the number of objects on it. According to the second hypothesis, the aesthetically optimal effect is achieved when the focus is on the right side of the picture ( for asymmetrically composed pictures). According to the third hypothesis, there is an influence of previous stimulation on aesthetic experience; that is, because of the monotony, the aesthetic preference of observers will change. An experiment was done, with two sections. In the first section, subjects were asked to put a little black circle, on three different shapes of cards (square, golden rectangle and rectangle), in a such way that the given configuration is the most beautiful one in their own opinion. The second section of the experiment was almost identical to the first one, with the exception that the subjects were asked to put two circles on each of the cards. Each one of the three hypothesis was confirmed by the results of this experiment. The preferred position of the circle is the same as the position of the golden section and it does not change with the change of card shape and number of objects. There is a clear preference of the upper-right corner of cards. The preferred position of an object is changed with repetition of the same stimulation (the same shape of cards and the same number of circles)

Materials

All materials, except for M.I.N.I.7.0.2 are shared. M.I.N.I.7.0.2 is under copyright

How are parental practices and attitudes towards corporal punishment related to child academic, developmental, or psychological–emotional dysfunctioning?

Corporal punishment (CP) is a widely spread disciplining practice among parents and caregivers globally. Our paper aimed to explore the relationship between the parental attitudes towards CP, expected outcomes of CP, and parenting practices on one hand, with the reported dysfunctions of their children, on the other. Additionally, we aimed to explore the relationship between the use of CP and the reported academic, developmental, and psychological–emotional dysfunctions of their children. The present study involved a nationally representative sample of 1186 parents in Serbia, who had at least one child aged 0–18 years at the moment of interviewing. The parents filled out a series of questionnaires on their attitudes towards CP, expectations of CP outcomes, and their parental practices. Findings indicate that parents that report having a child with dysfunctions have positive attitudes towards CP and expect positive outcomes of CP. These parents also report using more CP as a disciplining method, as well as other harsh disciplining practices. We also identified parental positive expectations of CP, use of physical assault, psychological aggression, neglect as significant predictors of reported child dysfunctions severity. Having all the results in mind, we can assume that children with health-related and school-related issues might be at potential risk of further maltreatment.This is the peer reviewed version of the paper:Grujicic, R., Toskovic, O., Lazarević, L. B., Mandic-Maravic, V., Mitkovic-Voncina, M., Radanović, A., Radosavljev-Kircanski, J., Videnović, M., Pekmezovic, T., & Pejovic Milovancevic, M. (2022). How are parental practices and attitudes towards corporal punishment related to child academic, developmental, or psychological–emotional dysfunctioning? European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-02061-z

Recreational Use of Urban Green Infrastructure: The Tourist’s Perspective

eISBN 9783319502793Vytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij