Shlomo Katz

Impact of traumatic brain damage on family dynamics and functioning: A review

The purpose of this paper is to review the dynamics and functioning of families with a severely head-injured member. In order to stress the unique problems faced by persons with brain damage and their families, a comparison with spinal cord-injured individuals is presented. The reviews major conclusion is that a head injury exposes the family to a complex of problems that are unique to this disability and, therefore, necessitates the delivery of special family support services focused on the family, rather than on the head-injured person.

A review of the effect of traumatic brain injury on the human sexual response

A human sexual response format was used to describe possible sexual dysfunctions after TBI. Additional material was also included to qualify the information drawn from the above format. A number of possible conclusions were drawn, indicating that the causes and effects of sexual functioning after TBI are very confusing and that the literature does not clarify this confusion. One cannot accurately differentiate between primary and secondary sexual problems and, therefore, cannot evaluate the contribution of each problem to the presented sexual dysfunction.

Wives’ coping flexibility, time since husbands’ injury and the perceived burden of wives of men with traumatic brain injury

Primary objective: To examine the moderating effect of wives’ coping flexibility on the relation between time since husbands traumatic brain injury (TBI) and wives’ perceived burden and the hypotheses that wives of long duration TBI men and wives with less coping flexibility will express more burden than wives of short duration burden men and wives with more coping flexibility. Research design: Forty-four wives whose husbands had sustained brain injury were interviewed 1 year or more after hospital discharge. Methods and procedures: The Relatives’ Burden Questionnaire and Ways of Coping Questionnaire for each of four different problem vignettes were administered to the wives. Main findings and conclusions: No statistically significant effects were found for TBI duration or for wives’ coping flexibility, although longer duration TBI wives reported a statistically significant higher level of burden than short duration TBI wives, only if the wives were characterized by low coping flexibility.

The impact of cultural, ethnic, and national variables on attitudes towards the disabled in Israel: A review

Abstract Studies in Israel relating to attitudes of various ethnic, cultural and religious groups towards the disabled were reviewed. The results indicate that although there were differences in attitudes towards the disabled, these differences appear to be a function of interaction effects between many other variables and not necessarily only related to ethnic, cultural, and religious affiliation.

Sexual dysfunction of persons after traumatic brain injury: perceptions of professionals.

The purpose of this paper was to study the perceptions of professionals in the field of rehabilitation in Israel concerning sexual dysfunction of persons after traumatic brain injury. Thirty professionals filled out an open-ended questionnaire that focused on problems of sexual functioning, dyadic and social relationships, and suggestions for the most appropriate interventions for these problems. The results indicated that for persons with TBI, the physical changes were not identified as the primary obstacle preventing persons after TBI from achieving sexual satisfaction, but rather the cognitive and emotional sequelae of TBI. A number of possible intervention techniques were also suggested.

A Comprehensive Theoretical Model of Psychological Reaction to Loss

This article describes a multidimensional model which may be applicable to study three types of loss, interpersonal loss, loss of a limb or function, and environmental loss or loss of peace of mind. It is a preliminary attempt to collate relevant variables associated with the three types of loss into one comprehensive model which assumes that the dynamic processes associated with and encountered in one area of loss can be extrapolated for use in comprehending other areas of loss. A number of testable hypotheses can be derived for future validation and research.

Impact of traumatic brain damage on family dynamics and functioning: a review

The purpose of this paper is to review the dynamics and functioning of families with a severely head-injured member. In order to stress the unique problems faced by persons with brain damage and their families, a comparison with spinal cord-injured persons is presented. The reviews major conclusion is that a head injury exposes the family to a complex of problems that are unique to this disability and, therefore, necessitates the delivery of special family support services focused on the family, rather than on the head-injured person.

The Relationship between Attachment Style, Birth Order, and Adjustment in Children Who Grow Up with a Sibling with Mental Retardation

(2004). The Relationship between Attachment Style, Birth Order, and Adjustment in Children Who Grow Up with a Sibling with Mental Retardation. The British Journal of Development Disabilities: Vol. 50, No. 99, pp. 89-98.

Evaluation of Persons with a Physical Disability: The Influence of Variables Related to the Disabled on Arab and Jewish Youth

The impact of ethnic group, disability framework, and responsibility for the disability on evaluation of the physically disabled was examined in Israel. Arab and Jewish students were asked to evaluate a disabled person shown on videotape. Before and after seeing the videotape, subjects were given additional information pertaining to the circumstances in which the person became disabled. The results of the three-way analysis of variance indicated that disability per se was not the sole variable that influenced evaluations of the disabled; the variables of the study superimposed on the disability did affect the evaluations of the disabled. Disability framework, that is, civilian versus military disabled, appears to have the strongest single effect on evaluation of disabled persons. Responsibility for the disability influenced the evaluations in certain identifiable contexts. Ethnic group expressed itself as a general variable and its impact could only be assessed in relation to the other variables.

Aspects of a Theory of Mind and Self-Reports of Quality of Life by Persons with Mental Retardation

The present study examined the assumption that individual differences on aspects of the cognitive development of a Theory of Mind (TOM) may account for differences in the capacity of persons who are mentally retarded (MR) to provide accurate, reliable, and valid self-reports of their quality of life (QOL). Seventy-five adults with mild to moderate levels of mental retardation and basic communication skills filled out a multifaceted measure of QOL which included a measure of acquiescence. In addition, they were asked to perform four TOM tasks, two related to the ability to attribute ignorance and two related to the ability to attribute false belief. As expected, TOM development was found to be negatively related to acquiescence. However, no relation was found between TOM development and the reliabilities of self-reported QOL. In addition, relations between TOM and these self-reports were in the opposite direction to what was predicted on the basis of the assumed association between the validity of the self-reports and TOM development. The self-reported QOL of persons with less developed TOM tended to differentiate between different degrees of inclusion, whereas those of persons with more developed TOM did not. Furthermore, TOM was shown to be positively related to self-reported QOL.