The system of belief inventory (SBI-15): a validation study in Israel.

This study focused on the validation of measures assessing religiosity by means of three self-report instruments: the System of Belief Inventory (SBI-15R), the Religious Orientation Inventory (ROI), and the Index of Core Spiritual Experiences (INSPIRIT). These instruments were developed and validated previously in the United States. The study measured the extent to which the self-reports maintain their validity when administered in a different country with its own distinct language, culture and religion (e.

Transmission of response to trauma? Second-generation Holocaust survivors' reaction to cancer.

Objective: Opinions differ about the effects of the Holocaust on the adult offspring of survivors. The authors studied cancer patients who were second-generation Holocaust survivors in an attempt to determine whether they react to their illness with the high distress found to be a characteristic of Holocaust survivors.

Method: In a study population of women with breast cancer, 106 second-generation Holocaust survivors were compared to 102 women whose parents were not in the Holocaust.

Childhood imaginary companionship and mental health in adolescence.

An imaginary companion (IC) is a frequently encountered childhood fantasy, invisible to anyone but the child, who may be named, addressed or played with. Whether the presence of an IC is a normal developmental feature has not been determined. We examined psychometric measures and the presence/absence of childhood IC in a sample of 850 mentally healthy adolescents.

Psychological distress in patients with chronic, nonalcoholic, uncomplicated liver disease.

To study whether the presence of significant disease in a major organ, possibly with minimal or no clinical symptoms, would be associated with psychological disturbance, 80 subjects suffering from chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, of nonalcoholic etiology were interviewed. Of these, 64 had either minimal or no physical symptoms. Patients completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES), questionnaires, which measure symptoms of psychological distress.

Prospective study of cancer patients and their spouses: the weakness of marital strength.

In a prospective study, 133 married cancer patients and their spouses were interviewed within a month of diagnosis and administered three self-reports: The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) to assess psychological distress, the Impact of Events Scale (IES) to assess coping, and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales (FACES III) to assess family relations. Patients and spouses were moderately distressed. The patient's psychological distress was explained by the level of intrusion, by the spouse's psychological distress and cohesion which had a protective effect (R2.