Polish Baby Boom in United Kingdom – Emotional Determinants of Medical Care Perception by Pregnant Poles in UK

In the year of 2004 United Kingdom experienced the wave of immigration from Poland which was recently admitted to the European Union. In 2010 Poland was one of three countries of origin of non-UK born mothers, and the increase in birth rates among Poles in United Kingdom has started in 2005 (Office for National Statistics, 2010; Hayes et al., 2011). The aim of this paper is to examine the perception of various components of medical care received during the course of pregnancy by Polish women residing in the United Kingdom (N = 106). We took under consideration two aspects of female emotional and cognitive functioning: inclination to depression, and empathy. Depression was measured by the Edinburgh Depression Scale (Cox et al., 1987), and empathy was measured by the Empathic Sensitivity Questionnaire (ESQ) (Kazmierczak et al., 2007). As hypothesized pregnant women who scored higher in depression and emotional contagion were also less satisfied with the information they received from the medical staff. Personal distress was the sole empathic dimension, which was associated with dissatisfaction with: a general gynecological care during pregnancy, emotional support from a gynecologist / a midwife, and the quality of medical care provided by a gynecologist / a midwife. Other-oriented empathic tendencies (empathic concern and perspective taking) facilitated cultural adaptation in our sample in respect of dealing with foreign health system in a highly vulnerable time of pregnancy

Risk behaviours of people with psychopatic personality structure

Czynniki związane z etiologią i rozwojem osobowości psychopatycznej wciąż stanowią obszar intensywnych badań przedstawicieli różnych dyscyplin naukowych. Szczególne miejsce w tych rozważaniach zajmuje poznanie skutków dla zdrowia fizycznego i psychicznego osób pozostających w relacji z psychopatami natomiast zdecydowanie mniej badań dotyczy zdolności osób psychopatycznych do osiągania i wykorzystania własnych możliwości psychicznych, fizycznych i społecznych do adekwatnego reagowania na wyzwania środowiska w kontekście szeroko pojętego zdrowia. W badaniach zdrowia psychicznego można spotkać próby uporządkowania szerokiego wachlarza stosowanych miar zaburzeń zdrowia poprzez wprowadzenie podziału na dwie zasadnicze kategorie, określane jako wskaźniki eksternalizacyjne (externalizing) i internalizacyjne (internalizing). Pierwsza z tych grup obejmuje zachowania związane z agresją, przemocą, łamaniem norm życia społecznego, zachowania przestępcze, używanie substancji psychoaktywnych. Druga grupa wskaźników opisuje problemy wewnętrzne, emocjonalne, głównie zaburzenia depresyjne i lękowe, nadmierny stres i inne problemy. Dlatego też niniejszy artykuł ma na celu z jednej strony wskazanie czynników, które powszechnie uznaje się za czynniki ryzyka rozwoju i kształtowania się osobowości psychopatycznej, z drugiej zaś przedstawienie analizy relacji pomiędzy wskaźnikami internalizacyjnymi i eksternalizacyjnymi.The factors associated with etiology and development of psychopathic personality still form the area of intensive research performed by the representatives of various scientific disciplines. A very particular place in these deliberations is taken by the cognition of effects on physical and mental health concerning the people remaining in the relationship with psychopaths; while on the contrary, significantly less research concerns the abilities of psychopaths to achieve and use their own mental, physical and social possibilities to respond adequately to environmental challenges in the context of widely understood health. In the research on mental health one can notice the attempts to organize a wide range of used measurements of health disorders via the introduction of a division into two main categories, referred to as externalizing and internalizing indicators. The first group includes the behaviours connected with aggression, violence, violation of social norms, criminal behaviours or the use of psychoactive substances. Another group of indicators describes internal and emotional problems, mainly depression and anxiety disorders, excessive stress and other problems. Therefore, this paper aims at identifying factors which are commonly recognized as risk factors of formation and development of a psychopathic personality. It also intends to introduce the analysis of relation between externalizing and internalizing indicators

Personality disorders and the risk of violating legal norms – what we know about the complex nature of humans

The article explores the relationship between theoretical knowledge of the psychology of personality disorders and its practical application in the area of justice. There is agreement in the literature on the relationship between a diagnosis of personality disorder and the increased risk of aggressive or violent behaviour, as pointed out by both the research of clinicians and judiciary workers. Nevertheless, the issue of explaining and understanding the relationship between personality disorders and violence has not yet been resolved, due to conceptualisation, diagnostic, methodological, psychotherapeutic and resocialisation difficulties. These controversies stimulate reflection and an attempt to determine whether the relationship between personality disorders and aggression is the same in all types of personality disorders

Diagnoza zaburzeń osobowości a perspektywa opiniowania sądowo-psychologicznego

The article provides an overview of the current discussions on personality disorders and their role in the psychological assessment for court. The discussion focused on the following aspects: 1) the difficulties and challenges of diagnosis of personality disorders; 2) the status of personality disorders in psychological assessment for court; 3) the presentation of modern methodology for the diagnosis of personality disorder and 4) interaction of multiple disorders and accuracy of the diagnosis. Despite the fact that personality disorders still constitute the largest group among the disorders diagnosed in offenders they still pose a diagnostic challenge for clinicians. The problem concerns both the diagnostic criteria of the medical models, as well as methods for their evaluation and description. Therefore, the search for methods of more precise and objective assessment of offenders is still needed by the administration of Justice

The Role of Religious Values and Beliefs in Shaping Mental Health and Disorders

Mental health is an area of continuous analysis, both in the context of understanding increasingly precise diagnostic criteria and the impact of therapeutic methods. In addition to these well-established directions of analysis and search, psychology tries to explore the factors that bring us closer to understanding the mechanisms of the genesis and development of disorders, as well as their importance in psychoeducation or therapy. The increased interest in issues of spirituality/religion observed in recent years translates into the pursuit to explore the relationship between religion/spirituality and health. This article reviews research into the ability of religion and spirituality to benefit or harm the mental health of believers. We also examine the mechanism of developing religious delusions in schizophrenia. Religion and spirituality can promote or damage mental health. This potential demands an increased awareness of religious matters by mental health practitioners, as well as ongoing attention in clinical psychology research

Czy policjantki potrzebują wsparcia przełożonych?

Autorzy odpowiadają na zawarte w tytule artykułu pytanie, analizując pojęcie wsparcia społecznego, związanego ze sposobami radzenia sobie ze stresem życiowym oraz relacjami interpersonalnymi. W przypadku środowiska pracy zwracają uwagę na problem stresu organizacyjnego i funkcje wsparcia społecznego w radzeniu sobie z nim. W dalszej części tekstu przedstawiono wyniki badań, których celem było sprawdzenie, czy policjantki różnią się od policjantów w zakresie otrzymywanego wsparcia organizacyjnego

Between empathy and psychopathy – moral and ineffective or effective and immoral

Empathy and psychopathy seem to be two distant extremes, which only differ, with nothing similar. Therefore, the question that seems to be surprising is whether such a theoretical perspective is justified. Empathy exerts significant influence on social relationships and is associated with moral development, whereas psychopathy seems to be an opposite phenomenon, as it is associated with the lack of deep interpersonal bonds and the violation of legal norms. As studies from various disciplines and scientific areas indicate, such concepts as behavioral effectiveness, morality or altruism might help explain the complex nature of the interrelationship between psychopathy and empathy. The authors tried to explore and describe the complexity of the two presented concepts in the light of the conducted research, and the resulting theoretical and empirical implications