The development of the sense of coherence: a retrospective study of early life experiences in the family.

This is an exploratory study of the relationship between three sociodemographic variables, four types of life experiences, and the development of the Sense of Coherence (SOC). The study was carried out using semi-structured life-history interviews of eighty-nine retirees whose SOC scores had been obtained in a previous study. The central research question was what kind of experiences within the family context during childhood are related to the development of the SOC.

Structural sources of the sense of coherence. Two life stories of Holocaust survivors in Israel.

We describe a preliminary exploration of three types of life experiences hypothesized to be relevant to the development of the Sense of Coherence (SOC), the core concept in Antonovsky's salutogenic model. Salutogenesis, in contrast with pathogenesis, is concerned with factors promoting health, rather than those causing disease. The SOC deals with how individuals respond to stressors.

Sexual activity and sex hormone levels in aging men.

A cross-sectional study of 60 men aged 65-80 was carried out to test the impact of the aging process on sexual hormones (testosterone, FSH, LH, prolactin), sexual activity, and the relations between them. Blood samples for hormone assays were taken between 8-9 A.M.

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in three primary-care clinics in Beersheba, Israel. Concurrent assessment by the General Health Questionnaire, General Practitioners, and Research Diagnostic Criteria.

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) had identified fully 69% of 776 respondents who attended 12 primary-care clinics as "probable cases" of psychiatric disorders, whereas the general practitioners (GPs) involved had thought only 31% had psychological problems. To investigate more accurately the prevalence of psychiatric disorders we examined 112 of the original sample with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Life-time version and found only 15% to have had a Research Diagnostic Criteria disorder at the time of the initial study. Raising the GHQ threshold to 15/16 improved specificity and positive predictive value, and improved GPs' case-finding modestly.

Physicians' detection of psychological distress in primary-care clinics.

This study investigated the amount of psychological distress reported by 182 soldiers in the Israeli military and compared soldiers' self-ratings of distress with ratings by military physicians of observed distress. Comparisons indicated a low detection rate by physicians with only 13% of self-reported cases of emotional distress identified. This and several related findings were taken to indicate shortcomings in medical care.