The Satisfaction with Life Domains Scale as an instrument for assessing quality - a psychometric evaluation.

Purpose: Basic indices of reliability, validity, and feasibility of the Polish language version of the Satisfaction with Life Domains Scale (SLDS) were assessed - this is one of the self-assessment measures of the subjective quality of life.

Methods: The combined database included 1,246 people from previous studies on stigma (n = 316) and recovery (n = 110), and individuals seeking psycho-social support (n = 820). Apart from SLDS, other measures of life functioning, experiences of stigma and discrimination, factors of personal recovery, and self-rated and clinician-rated psychopathology were used.

Mental Health Centers. Preliminary evaluation of the pilot program implementation process.

Objectives: The aim of the presented research is to characterize the operating Mental Health Centers (MHCs) and to provide a preliminary assessment of the implementation process of the pilot program model in the area of psychiatric care in Poland.

Methods: The study uses the Polish version of the German questionnaire, which covers four areas: (1) basic conditionsof the model project/pilot program; (2) characteristicsof the organizational structure of the treatment entity; (3) statistical characteristics of the services provided;(4) specific features of the psychiatric care system in model regions/pilot program Mental Health Centers.

Results: Nineteen of the 27 Mental Health Centers completed the survey.

Flexible and Integrative Psychiatric Care Based on a Global Treatment Budget: Comparing the Implementation in Germany and Poland.

The past decade has witnessed the establishment of flexible and integrative treatment (FIT) models in 55 German and Polish psychiatric catchment areas. FIT is based on a global treatment budget (GTB), which integrates funding of all acute psychiatric hospital services for a regional population. Prior research has identified 11 specific program components of FIT in Germany.

The evaluation of the impact of anti-stigma training led by "experts by experience" on participants' attitudes towards persons with mental illness.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of anti-stigma training led by people who had previously experienced mental health crises (i.e., "experts by experience") on various aspects of participants' attitudes towards the people with mental illness.

Clozapine-induced myocarditis during co-administration of valproate: A case report.

Clozapine, atypical antipsychotic drug, is widely used in patients with schizophrenia, for whom previous therapy was inadequate or not tolerated. Clozapine-induced myocarditis (CIM) is a relatively rare but potentially life-threatening complication of clozapine therapy; however, the underlying mechanism has not been so far well elucidated. Factors predisposing to CIM include a rapid dose titration, advanced age and co-administration of sodium valproate.

Healthcare system performance in continuity of care for patients with severe mental illness: A comparison of five European countries.

Most healthcare systems struggle to provide continuity of care for people with chronic conditions, such as patients with severe mental illness. In this study, we reviewed how system features in two national health systems (NHS) - England and Veneto (Italy) - and three regulated-market systems (RMS) - Germany, Belgium, and Poland -, were likely to affect continuing care delivery and we empirically assessed system performance. 6418 patients recruited from psychiatric hospitals were followed up one year after admission.

International classification of diseases/disorders diagnosis and International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health activity/participation limitation among psychiatric patients: a cross-sectional and exploratory study.

To explore the relationships between international classification of diseases/disorders (ICD)-10 diagnoses and International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) disability dimensions - activity and participation restriction among mental health service users. Three hundred sixty patients from different health services diagnosed with diverse mental disorders (ICD-10) participated in the study. Functioning restrictions were evaluated by use of the Mini-ICF-APP.

Hope and its dimensions in relation to clinical recovery: A cross-sectional study among people with psychotic disorders.

Objective: Hope is a key component of personal recovery. There is limited evidence regarding the association of hope with the level of functioning in individuals with psychosis. It is also not clear which dimensions of hope are most strongly related to clinical recovery.

Investigating the roles of loneliness and clinician- and self-rated depressive symptoms in predicting the subjective quality of life among people with psychosis.

Purpose: To examine the roles of loneliness and clinician- and self-rated depressive symptoms as predictors of the subjective quality of life (QoL) in psychosis.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 207 patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders. They were assessed with self-reported measures of QoL, loneliness and depression and with clinician-rated measures of depression and overall psychopathology.

The relationship between internalized stigma and quality of life among people with mental illness: are self-esteem and sense of coherence sequential mediators?

Purpose: To elucidate the mechanism through which internalized stigma reduces the quality of life (QoL) of people with mental illness by exploring the mediating roles of self-esteem and sense of coherence (SOC).

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of 229 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or affective disorders was undertaken to test a sequential mediation model assuming that more severe internalized stigma is related to lower self-esteem, which is associated with weaker SOC, which in turn relates to worse QoL.

Results: The proposed model was supported by the data.

[The prevalence of common mental disorders in the population of adult Poles by sex and age structure - an EZOP Poland study].

Aim: The article presents lifetime (LT) prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) in accordance with the DSMIV classification, based on assessment of representative population sample of 10,081 Poles aged 18-64.

Methods: Computer based WHO CIDI3.0 was adapted for the Polish population according to WMH protocol.

Exploring Factors Associated with the Psychosocial Impact of Stigma Among People with Schizophrenia or Affective Disorders.

Stigmatization can exert a variety of pernicious effects on the lives of persons with mental illnesses. The purpose of this study was to explore factors related to the psychosocial impact of stigma among 229 people receiving psychiatric treatment: 123 with schizophrenia [International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10): F20] and 106 with affective disorders (ICD-10: F31-F33). In the whole sample, the factors most prominently associated with a greater impact of stigma on personal and family life were schizophrenia diagnosis, current inpatient treatment, actually experienced stigma and self-stigma.

The stages of recovery in relation to the other subjective and objective aspects of psychosis.

The Stages of Recovery Instrument (STORI; Andresen et al., 2006) was used among 110 patients with psychosis. Recovery stages relationship with attribution, the way of experiencing illness and its phase and symptoms were analyzed.

[Four measures of treatment compliance among patients recovering from psychotic episodes--a comparative study].

Objectives: Patient compliance influences results of treatment of mental disorders. The study compares four measures of treatment adherence.

Methods: 103 subjects were examined in the early remission from an acute psychotic (schizophrenic or schizoaffective) crisis.

Loneliness mediates the relationship between internalised stigma and depression among patients with psychotic disorders.

Background: Stigmatisation is a source of chronic stress and a major barrier to recovery for people with mental illnesses. The internalisation of stigma can have a negative impact on an individual's social relations and lead to feelings of loneliness and depression.

Aim: This research is aimed at testing the hypothesis that the internalised stigma of mental illness contributes to the intensification of depressive symptoms indirectly, through its impact on feelings of loneliness.

The sense of coherence as a predictor of the scope and impact of stigma experiences among people with mental illness.

This study explored the role of the sense of coherence (SOC) in predicting the scope and impact of stigma experiences in 229 patients with schizophrenia or affective disorders. Findings revealed that SOC significantly predicted lower levels of stigma, accounting for 13% of the variance in stigma experiences and 4% of the variance in stigma impact, over and above that explained by background characteristics, diagnosis and the psychiatric symptoms of the participants.

The Stigma subscale of the Consumer Experiences of Stigma Questionnaire (CESQ): a psychometric evaluation in Polish psychiatric patients.

Objective: There is a scarcity of well validated measures of the subjective experience of the stigma of mental illness. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Stigma subscale of the Consumer Experiences of Stigma Questionnaire (CESQ).

Methods: A secondary analysis of the data from two cross-sectional studies using the CESQ was conducted in order to assess the factor structure, internal consistency and concurrent validity of the Stigma subscale.

[Language disorders and cognitive functions in persons with schizophrenic disorders].

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between clinical and neuropsychological measures of language disorders as well as characteristics of the mental condition of patients diagnosed as having schizophrenic disorders.

Method: There were 45 persons with schizophrenic disorder (acc. ICD-10) examined with The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the side effect rating scale (UKU), Wisconsin Cards Storting Test (WCST), verbal fluency task, Ruff's Test, "Similarities" --WAIS-R subtest, 10 graphics of The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).

Experiences of stigma and discrimination among users of mental health services in Poland.

Stigmatization is commonly recognized as one of the main barriers to recovery and to social inclusion of people with mental illnesses. This exploratory study investigated the frequency, type, and sources of actual stigma and discrimination experiences among Polish psychiatric patients. A total of 442 people, treated in various psychiatric health care facilities in Warsaw, were interviewed with the use of the Consumer Experiences of Stigma Questionnaire (CESQ).

[Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Scale and Young Mania Rating Scale--comparison of psychometric properties of the two instruments for rating a manic syndrome].

Aim: The Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Rating Scale (BRMAS) and Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) are both popular rating scales for mania. Until now BRMAS has not had a Polish language version BRMAS, although it may be particularly useful because of its twin depression (melancholia) rating scale (BRMES). No attempt of evaluation of the scales were made in Poland until now.

[Usefulness of the GEOPTE scale--self-rating scale of social cognition for persons suffering from schizophrenia].

Aim: To analyse psychometric value of the Polish version of the GEOPTE Scale, a self-rating scale measuring social cognition among persons suffering from schizophrenic psychoses.

Method: Fifty patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria were assessed by the scale under study. Analysis of its usefulness included: reliability (as internal consistency), validity - as content, construct, and diagnostic validity in relation to selected measures of mental state (CGI scale, PANSS), social (GAF scale, SOFAS), and cognitive functioning (WCST and N-back test), and feasibility of the scale - according to observed patients' coping with the task.

[Unawareness of illness and neurocognition in schizophrenia].

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between insight and cognitive function in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Insight into illness is a clinically important feature influencing clinical outcome and prognosis in schizophrenia. One ofthe most important and widely discussed in recent literature factors contributing to lack of insight is cognitive dysfunction, mainly that mediated by deficits in the frontal cortical systems.

[A study on the occurrence of the deletion 22q11.2 in patients affected with a psychiatric disease].

Aim: The aim of the study was an estimation of the rate of deletion 22q11.2 among psychiatric patients and an attempt at the assessment of the degree in which this rate is influenced by the coexistence of dysmorphic features and congenital defects.

Methods: Cytogenetic examination was performed in 255 patients with psychosis.