The distinction of 'Psychosomatogenic family types' Based on parents' self reported questionnaire information: a cluster analysis

The theory of 'psychosomatogenic family types' is often used in treatment of somatizing adolescents. This study investigated the validity of distinguishing 'psychosomatogenic family types' based on parents' self-reported family features. The study included a Flemish general population sample of 12-year olds (n = 1428). We performed cluster analysis on 3 variables concerning parents' self-reported problems in family functioning. The distinguished clusters were examined for differences in marital problems, parental emotional problems, professional help for family members, demographics, and adolescents' somatization. Results showed the existence of 5 family types: 'chaotic family functioning,' 'average amount of family functioning problems,' 'few family functioning problems,' 'high amount of support and communication problems,' and ' high amount of sense of security problems' clusters. Membership of the 'chaotic family functioning' and 'average amount of family functioning problems' cluster was significantly associated with higher levels of somatization, compared with 'few family functioning problems' cluster membership. Among additional variables, only marital and parental emotional problems distinguished somatization relevant from non relevant clusters: parents in 'average amount of family functioning problems' and 'chaotic family functioning' clusters reported higher problems. The data showed that 'apparently perfect' or 'enmeshed' patterns of family functioning may not be assessed by means of parent report as adopted in this study. In addition, not only adolescents from 'extreme' types of family functioning may suffer from somatization. Further, professionals should be careful assuming that families in which parents report average to high amounts of family functioning problems also show different demographic characteristics

Preventive youth health care in 11 European countries: an exploratory analysis

Objective: To systematically identify similarities and differences in the way preventive youth health care (YHC) is organized in 11 European countries. - \ud Method: Questionnaire survey to EUSUHM (European Union for School and University Health and Medicine) representatives. - \ud Results: The greatest similarities were found in the age range of the YHC target group and the separation of curative and preventive services. Croatia, Germany and Switzerland show the greatest differences when compared to other European countries, for example, in the access to medical records, YHC professional input and the number of examinations, immunizations and screenings. In eight countries YHC is financed by national insurances or taxation. In Germany, FYR Macedonia, the Netherlands, Russia and Switzerland, different forms of financing exist in parallel. - Conclusion The results should be interpreted as a preliminary step in mapping organizational features of YHC in Europe

Science/policy boundaries: a changing division of labour in Dutch expert policy advice

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Real options and scenario planning as a way to gain insight into flexibility in health care real estate management, a first exploration

Real estate management in health care faces many uncertainties, and more specific in the Netherlands even more because of changing regulations regarding\ud the financing of capital costs. Therefore we propose, based on literature and a\ud survey, to use scenario planning in combinations with the real option approach to deal with these uncertainties. The survey shows that limited use is made of future uncertainties and options for flexibility in the responded Dutch hospitals. Real options provide insight for real estate managers into opportunities for flexibility when making strategic decisions in real estate management, such as choosing for a building organisation form

The association between parenting behavior and somatization in adolescents explained by physiological responses in adolescents

Introduction: This study adds to the knowledge on somatization in adolescents by exploring its relation with parenting behavior and the mediating/moderating role of physiological responses in adolescents to parenting behavior. Method: Eighteen adolescents with high and 18 adolescents with low somatization scores and their mothers completed a discussion task, from which observed parenting behavior scores were derived. Skin conductance in adolescents was measured before and during the discussion. Results: For adolescents with high levels of physiological responses, unadaptive parenting was related to a higher chance of high somatization scores. For low physiologically responsive adolescents, the relation between parenting behavior and somatization was not significant. Conclusion: Parenting behavior is not univocally related to somatization in adolescents, but the association depends on physiological responses in adolescents. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Tijd en toekomst. Deelrapport van de VTV 2010 Van gezond naar beter

Alleen digitaal verschenenN.B. 22-11-2011 nieuwe pdf met erratum op laatste pagina. 'Tijd en Toekomst' is het deelrapport van de Volksgezondheid Toekomst verkenning 2010, waarin de ontwikkelingen in de volksgezondheid in een tijdsperspectief worden geplaatst. Enerzijds wordt teruggekeken, maar er wordt vooral ook vooruitgeblikt. De levensverwachting neemt in Nederland naar verwachting toe tot 88,1 jaar voor vrouwen en 83,8 jaar voor mannen in 2050. Deze extra jaren gaan echter gepaard met een toename van chronische ouderdomsziekten en beperkingen. Mede hierdoor zal het zorgvolume tot 2030 met gemiddeld 3,4 procent per jaar stijgen. De overheid zal de knelpunten in de financiering en de beschikbaarheid van voldoende zorgpersoneel onder ogen moeten gezien.Not availableVW

Land Use Scanner: the continuous cycle of application, evaluation and amelioration in landuse modelling

The Land Use Scanner is a logit model that simulates future land use in a GIS environment. The model uses claims from sectoral models as input, next to physical suitability, distance decay and policy maps. The model has been applied in several planning and decision making processes, such the Fifth Nota on Physical Planning and Nature Outlook. Evaluation of these applications has led to a series of suggestions for further improvement, such as adaption of the suitability maps, fine-tuning of the translation of sectoral claims to land use claims, and refinement of the priority of allocation for different types of land use. This paper discusses briefly the development of the Land Use Scanner, its application, and the current and prospective adaptions of the model and its input.

Somatisation and functional impairment in adolescents: longitudinal link with mothers' reactions

Adolescents' somatisation (i.e., the psychological tendency to experience and report multiple physical complaints for which no definite medical cause can be found; SOM) and functional impairment (i.e., all bothersome aftermath of somatisation; FI) were studied in relation to mothers' protection, encouraging/monitoring, and minimisation of physical functional complaints. Besides main effects, interaction effects with other child and parenting characteristics were examined. A total of 990 adolescents and their mothers filled out questionnaires when the adolescents were respectively 12-13 (T1) and 13-14 (T2) years old. At T1, there was a significant relation between mothers' higher amounts of minimisation and adolescents' higher levels of SOM. Further, the link between mothers' higher levels of T1 minimisation and adolescents' higher amounts of T1 FI was significant, but not for adolescents with high levels of depressive mood. Longitudinal analyses revealed that mothers' reactions did not significantly predict adolescents' SOM/FI, nor did adolescents' SOM/FI significantly predict mothers' reactions. Practical implications are discussed