Barbara L. Hudson

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations. Part I: Dimensional constancy of the five-factor model

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations.

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.

Social Work in Hospital

As we have seen, a crisis intervention service may obviate the need for hospital admission for some acutely disturbed people. Facilities such as day-centres, day-hospitals and hostels can make it possible for people to get assessment treatment or support without being cut off from all aspects of ordinary life. But some psychiatric patients need the surveillance, respite from stress and responsibilities, and intensive treatment that only an in-patient facility can provide. Without underestimating the risk of institutionalism, we should remember that many modern psychiatric wards bear little resemblance to the state hospitals described by Goffman (1961), and that stigmatisation can be as much a consequence of odd behaviour in the community as of mental hospital admission. The social worker can contribute in helping to reduce the ill effects, and maximise the benefits of hospital care. This chapter considers some aspects of social work that relate specifically to the psychiatric in-patient, and concludes with a brief discussion of the question of a hospital base for the specialist psychiatric social worker.

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations - Part I

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.

Parents and Younger Children

Work with children is often more accurately described as work with their parents who typically play an important part in the maintenance, if not the onset, of children’s problems. The bulk of this chapter will deal with work with children in their own homes, but we also discuss the relevance of a behavioural approach when working with children in substitute families and with children living outside their parental home when the aim is rehabilitation. Many of the techniques mentioned lend themselves to use within the school setting, and sometimes it is important to tackle behaviour at both home and school. (Some references dealing with school behaviour problems are given in the Appendix.) We begin with a brief summary of the findings of behavioural research into the factors which seem to distinguish families with conduct-disordered children. These are families who typically complain that their children’s behaviour is beyond their control; sometimes referred to in American literature as ‘the brat syndrome’.

Older Children and Teenagers: With Special Reference to Delinquency

This chapter will be largely concerned with the problem of delinquency, for three reasons. Firstly, the size of the problem is such as to merit special consideration. Secondly, the term delinquency is used to encompass many problems which, alone, are not necessarily indicative of delinquency e.g. non-school attendance or family discord. Thirdly, many of these problems are found in teenagers who have not come before the courts, either through inconsistencies in the legal system or because of their age, that is, they are what Americans would term ‘predelinquent’.

How to Begin a Behavioural Programme: II

The behavioural problem should — if at all possible — be described in such a way that client, worker, and anyone else involved would agree on whether the behaviour had occurred or not; in other words, one is seeking a specific and reliable description. Some of the ideas in this section have a great deal to offer to the writer of a report that will be acted upon by other people, such as a social enquiry report for the court: Tutt and Giller (1983) comment that recent criminal justice legislation in the UK points report writers towards consideration of concrete issues and away from the nebulous and subjective material which has so often been the hallmark of social enquiry reports in the past.

Work and Money Problems

It would be absurd to claim that behavioural procedures can do anything to solve macro-level economic problems. But we suggest that they can make a modest contribution in helping some disadvantaged people.

Behavioural Intervention Procedures I: Respondent and Operant Procedures

In Chapter 2 we introduced the learning theory principles from which the behavioural intervention procedures have been derived. The behaviour that is influenced may be visible, or it may be covert (feelings and thoughts). And it need not be our clients’ behaviour, it can just as well be our own or our associates’ or the behaviour of other people in our clients’ lives. In unitary approach language: the target system need not be the same as the client system.

Depression and Anxiety

Depression and anxiety are exceedingly common outside of psychiatric settings, and the behaviourally-oriented social worker has much to offer, either in addition to medical treatment or where medical treatment is not considered appropriate. It is essential, however, to discuss your intervention with the doctor if you feel your client is seriously distressed.