The Differential Influence of Distinct Clusters of Psychiatric Symptoms, as Assessed by the General Health Questionnaire, on Cause of Death in Older Persons Living in a Rural Community of Japan

Rhinoplasty patients and matched elective-surgery controls completed the Facial Appearance Sorting Test, the General Health Questionnaire, a Repertory Grid and the Masculinity/Femininity Scale. Rhinoplasty applicants perceived appearance similarly to, and downrated their own appearance to the same extent as, controls. Impaired appearance and psychiatric symptoms are integral parts of the ‘rhinoplasty applicant syndrome’, but the degree to which they occur is not positively correlated. Interviews and tests were repeated 6 months after operation, when marked improvement in appearance was reported by the rhinoplasty patients, associated with the reduction of psychiatric-symptom scores. Control subjects showed no change.

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Inter-generational Conflict and Psychiatric Symptoms

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.149.3.300 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 149 (3) ◽

pp. 300-306 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

M. Fakhr El-Islam ◽

Sanaá I. Abu-Dagga ◽

Taha H. Malasi ◽

Mohamed A. A. Moussa

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

General Health ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Apparent Discrepancy ◽

Generational Conflict ◽

Generational Conflicts

Secondary school pupils and their parents were investigated using the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–28) and by a questionnaire designed to study attitudes involved in inter-generational conflict in psychiatric patients. Parent-pupil and interparental conflict in answers to the attitude questionnaires were taken as measures of inter-generational and intra-generational conflicts respectively. The former significantly exceeded the latter. Parent-student conflict was higher when the students involved were females, Kuwaiti, or had less educated fathers. The tendency of the number of reported GHQ symptoms to be higher in members of families with higher inter-generational conflict did not reach statistical significance. There is an apparent discrepancy between this finding and the prominence of inter-generational conflict in clinical material.

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Psychiatric symptoms in self-poisoning patients

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700032049 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 493-500 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

J. G. B. Newson-Smith ◽

S. R. Hirsch

Keyword(s):

Present State ◽

General Health ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Initial Interview ◽

Low Prevalence ◽

State Examination

SynopsisSelf-poisoning patients admitted to hospital were studied for persistence of psychiatric symptoms over a 3-month period and evaluated at 3 points in time with the General Health Questionnaire and the Present State Examination. Symptoms were identified which had a high or low prevalence at 3-month follow-up. GHQ and PSE scores correlated at 0·8. The implications of the study are discussed, particularly the earlier need for out-patient help in those who had a moderate or high number of symptoms at initial interview.

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The value of an improved scoring system (CGHQ) for the General Health Questionnaire in a representative community sample

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291700009922 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 1001-1006 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Felicia A. Huppert ◽

Mauvis Gore ◽

B. Jane Elliott

Keyword(s):

General Health ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

Close Association ◽

Community Sample ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Demographic Variables ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Scoring Method ◽

Optimal Method ◽

Community Residents

SynopsisThe value of a new method of scoring the General Health Questionnaire (CGHQ) has been assessed in a representative sample of 6317 British community residents aged 18 +. The CGHQ, which takes account of the chronicity of psychiatric symptoms, is found to be superior to the conventional scoring method in yielding a wider range of scores, a more normal distribution and in its close association to a well validated measure of neurotic illness.On the other hand, the conventional GHQ and the CGHQ score appear equally sensitive to a number of socio-demographic variables, including social class, marital status and employment. An important finding is that the two methods identify different individuals as cases. Compared with the GHQ, the CGHQ identifies a higher proportion of the middle-aged. The implications of these findings with respect to the optimal method of scoring the GHQ are discussed.

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The Factor Structure of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30)

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.155.2.178 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 155 (2) ◽

pp. 178-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 91

Author(s):

Felicia A. Huppert ◽

D. E. Walters ◽

N. Day ◽

B. Jane Elliott

Keyword(s):

Factor Structure ◽

General Health ◽

Psychiatric Symptoms ◽

General Health Questionnaire ◽

Health Questionnaire ◽

Factor Analyses ◽

Social Dysfunction ◽

Single Score ◽

Age Range

An individual's responses to Goldberg's 30-item General Health Questionnaire are usually represented as a single score which provides a measure of the number of psychiatric symptoms reported. No account is taken of the nature of the symptoms. Factor analyses of the GHQ-30 were undertaken in ten randomly selected samples of 600 adults each, and also on 12 age-sex groupings covering the age range 18–98. The results indicate an impressive degree of consistency of the factor structure, and the identification of five distinct factors corresponding to anxiety, feelings of incompetence, depression, difficulty in coping, and social dysfunction.

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