Zeitschrift für Medizinische Psychologie

Objectives: Sense of coherence as a resource of resilience is closely associated with health and well-being. The present study examined whether parents of sick children/adolescents differ from parents of healthy children/ adolescents in regard to their sense of coherence. Additionally subsamples from parents whose children suffer from different chronic illnesses or mental health problems were compared with each other. Interrelations between the sense of coherence and neuroticism were examined.

Methods: Results of the Heidelberger Sense of Coherence Questionnaire and the Scale for Neuroticism from the Trierer Integrative Personality Inventory of mothers and fathers (n=441) of chronically sick children and children with mental health problems were compared to those of a control group (n=174).

Results: Mothers of the clinical overall sample showed a significantly lower sense of coherence than mothers of healthy children. In fathers no such differences were found. No significant differences between different types of illness could be identified. Correlations between sense of coherence and neuroticism were between r = −0.50 and −0.75.

Conclusion: It seems that through the child's illness the mother's sense of coherence is negatively affected. Parents, especially mothers of seriously ill children should therefore be offered psychological-psychotherapeutical and/or psychosocial support.

Objectives: Revalidation of a survey instrument assessing patients’ experiences with care in hospital. To determine the suitability of the questionnaire for its use in internal and external quality management.

Methods: Postal survey, 11 826 patients from 31 hospitals received a questionnaire after discharge. Psychometric evaluation was done via exploratory factor analysis and reliability and regression analysis. The questionnaire's ability to differentiate between subgroups and between hospitals was evaluated.

Results: The mean response rate was 60%. Nine factors (Cronbach's α between 0.6 and 0.9) were extracted, explaining 57% of the variance. Age, subjective assessment of health and hospital size seem to be associated with patients’ willingness to recommend the hospital to family and friends. This applies particularly for those aspects where the interaction between patient and health professionals and a successful communication between them is concerned.

Conclusions: Due to its good psychometric properties, the ability to differentiate between hospitals and its practicability the questionnaire is well suited for use in internal and external quality management of hospitals.

Objectives: The “Dresdner Körperbildfragebogen” (DKB-35; Thiel, 2007) was psychometrically evaluated in a non-clinical sample (n = 349).

Methods: Statistical analyses with SPSS/PASW involved item- and scale distribution as well as reliability- and validity analyses.

Results: First, reformulation of some of the items of the DKB-35 should be considered. Second, the scale structure of the DKB-35 was approximately replicated. Third, the internal consistency of the scales varied between low α = 0.76 (body contact) and high α = 0.91 (sexual satisfaction) values. Furthermore, stability over time was demonstrated for a period of seven days regarding the dimensions of the body image. Moreover, the DKB-35 was able to differentiate between underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese individuals. Correlations with questionnaires measuring psychological stress, interpersonal problems, stress experiences and social support demonstrated construct-validity.

Conclusion: The development of the DKB-35 does not appear fully completed. However, this study confirmed the quality of the questionnaire regarding reliability and validity. Following a comprehensive standardisation and evaluation in specific samples, the DKB-35 could serve as a routine multidimensional instrument of the body image and its disorders.

Objectives: Starting point of our medical psychology education concept were reflections about which professional skills medical students should acquire. As medicine is a practical discipline striving for good clinical practice, power of judgement and research competence are key contents of medical education. In this study, we examined the student reception of a practiceand research-oriented seminar.

Method: In our curriculum, students examined a psychological problem area by interacting with a simulation patient, and professionally presented a research project on a student congress. Participants were 193 second-year medical students who evaluated four educational objectives and eight teaching methods by questionnaire.

Results: The students felt encouraged to engage in self-reflexion. They considered knowledge about medical psychology as rather important for medical education, but doubted its practicability. The acquisition of communication skills via interpersonal experiences was evaluated very positively, while achievements in research skills were reflected upon rather sceptically. Accordingly, interaction with simulated patients was the most and the student congress was the least preferred teaching method. The more students were engaged in acquiring communication skills, the more they benefitted from simulation patients, the research project, the student congress, lecturer instructions, and students’ own seminar presentation.

Conclusions: Promoting power of judgement and research competence as well as dealing with different teaching methods are high demands on medical students. The student reception of our curriculum encourages and support the incorporation of interpersonal training in communicative skills as well as working on an independently developed scientific problem into medical psychological teaching.

Abstract: Somatosensory hallucinations occur not only in psychosis or under the influence of drugs. Therefore, we implemented a survey to investigate changes in body perception in a random sample of users in different German internet forums.

Methods: Using an internet-based questionnaire, 680 mostly young subjects were asked about changes in body perception. Items addressed sensory hallucinations, affected body parts, frequency and perceived cause of such experiences. In addition, some questions assessed symptoms of identity disorders (e.g. Body Identity Integrity Disorder, Gender Identity Disorder). Two items were included twice in a slightly changed format in order to test reliability.

Results: Out of 680 questionnaires 422 (62%) were included in the analysis. All participants reported a body-referred change in perception at least once in their life and about 90% reportedly experienced more than one such change in body perception. The sensation that a part of the body was heavier (47.1%), lighter (34.5%), larger (31.4%), smaller (16.5%), levitating (26.9%), was tingling and pricking (84.5%), not belonging to one's own body (20.5%) or leaving the body (15.7%) were reported. 6.4% of respondents experienced changes in the identification with their own body. Women reported significantly more body perception changes than men.

Conclusions: There exist multiple changes in body perception, presumably brought on by stress, meditation, or exercise. Women seem to be more sensitive with respect to the perception of their own body compared to men.