Cocaine addiction and family dysfunction: a case-control study in southern Brazil.

Family-related factors play a crucial role in the onset, development, and maintenance of drug misuse and addiction. To investigate the hypothesis that families with a cocaine addicted son display more dysfunction than control families, we applied the Personal Authority in the Family System and the Self-Report Measure of Family Functioning to 67 case triads (child-father-mother) in which the son was an inpatient with a primary diagnosis of cocaine abuse or dependence and to 67 matched control triads from the community (Pelotas, Brazil) in 2000. Case children, mothers, and fathers were significantly more likely to present nuclear family triangulation than their matched control subjects.

[Prevalence of postpartum depression and associated factors].

Objective: To assess the prevalence of postpartum depression and associated factors.

Methods: The study was carried out in Pelotas, a city in the Southern region of Brazil, between October and November 2000. Mothers (n=410) were interviewed in the hospital using two questionnaires on obstetric and psychosocial data.

[Relationship between spiritual well-being and minor psychiatric disorders: a cross-sectional study].

Objective: To assess the influence of spiritual well-being in mental health of college students.

Methods: It was interviewed 464 medical and law students of Pelotas, Brazil. Data collection was carried out in groups in the school classroom, 43 absent students were not interviewed and represented a loss of 9.