OBJECTIVE This study compared three instruments that are used to measure empowerment of people with psychotic disorders. The study evaluated internal consistency, discriminant and convergent validity, sensitivity to symptom levels, and clinical usefulness. METHODS Fifty patients in the Netherlands were administered the Empowerment Scale (ES), the Personal Empowerment Scale (PES), and the Ment...

In developed nations, approximately half of household environments contain pets. Studies of Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) have proposed that there are health benefits and risks associated with pet ownership. However, accurately demonstrating and understanding these relationships first requires a better knowledge of factors associated with ownership of different pet types. A UK birth cohort, th...

BACKGROUND Mental health condition (MHC) comorbidity is associated with lower intensity care in multiple clinical scenarios. However, little is known about the effect of MHC upon clinicians' decisions about intensifying antiglycemic medications in diabetic patients with poor glycemic control. We examined whether delay in intensification of antiglycemic medications in response to an elevated Hem...

OBJECTIVE To explore the nature of paternal involvement in early child-rearing adopting a social developmental perspective, and estimate its effect on behavioural outcomes of children aged 9 and 11 years. SETTING The data come from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort recruited in the former county of Avon in the southwest of England. PARTICIPANTS Out of the 1...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association of vitamin D status with all-cause mortality in a Norwegian population and the potential influences of existing chronic diseases on the association. DESIGN A population-based prospective cohort study. SETTING Nord-Trøndelag County, Norway. PARTICIPANTS A random sample (n=6613) of adults aged 20 years or older in a cohort. METHODS Serum 25-hydroxy...

BACKGROUND Guided online psychological self-management interventions offer broad prospects for the treatment of people with mild to moderate mental health problems, but implementation is challenging. The aims of this study are (1) to gain insight into use of and intention to use these interventions among primary care health professionals, (2) to determine the main barriers to use such intervent...

BACKGROUND Distant healing, a form of spiritual healing, is widely used for many conditions but little is known about its effectiveness. METHODS In order to evaluate distant healing in patients with a stable chronic condition, we randomised 409 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) from 14 private practices for environmental medicine in Germany and Austria in a two by two factorial des...

BACKGROUND Atopic diseases are a major burden of disease on a global scale. Regarding their aetiology, the early years of life are assumed to play a crucial role. In addition, there is growing evidence that elucidating the impact of cross-generational effects and epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation can substantially widen the scientific knowledge of the occurrence and progression of t...

Psychotic experiences are not uncommon in general population samples, but no studies have examined to what extent confirmed risk variants for schizophrenia are associated with such experiences. A total of 3483 children in a birth cohort study participated in semistructured interviews for psychotic experiences at ages 12 and 18. We examined whether (1) a composite measure of risk for schizophren...