摘要:

The concepts of psychosocial and psychomotor inhibition characteristic of major depression are based primarily on clinical observations. It is possible to describe and define these two types of inhibition by means of a systematic, quantitative ethological (behavioral) approach, which singles out precise and significant behavior markers. This investigation focuses on the behavioral features of psychosocial and psychomotor inhibition in 11 hospitalized depressed subjects and their changes during clinical recovery. The hypothesis that major depression is characterized by a significant reduction of social interaction is tested (psycho-intellectual inhibition is not addressed). Results show significant behavioral differences between depressed and recovered subjects with depression being characterized by a significant reduction of social interaction, whereas self occupation and body mobility are reduced to a lesser degree. Behavior markers for depression include nonspecific gaze, withdrawal, no mouth movements, no eye region movements, and social inactivity. Behavior markers for recovery include socially interested, social smile, verbal social initiative, speech, nod, raised eyebrows, wrinkled eyebrows, social laughter, gesticulation, drum one's fingers, point, and help. Findings point to tendencies toward two types of major depression and two types of recovery. A companion paper (Schelde, this journal) addresses theoretical issues.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This paper reports on an ethological study of 11 depressed hospitalized subjects. Major depression and recovery are described in terms of general behavioral traits,i.e.,behavior parameters. The hypothesis, that the primary behavioral feature of major depression is a reduction of social interaction and that secondary features are reduced self occupation and body mobility (posture flexibility) is tested. The behavioral patterns of depression and recovery are described and elucidated by 12 defined behavioral parameters, eight of which show significant changes between the first and the last hospital week. Findings from six of the parameters are consistent with the hypothesis and demonstrate social inhibition during depression; interactions between depression and nonverbal behavior are particularly striking. Findings also confirm that, during depression, self occupation and body mobility are reduced to a less significant degree than social inhibition. Possible relationships between findings and agitated forms of major depression are discussed. A final section examines findings in an evolutionary context and emphasizes their clinical implications.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Using neurocognitive testing, the present study assessed whether obsessions and compulsions could represent a distinct cluster of symptoms in schizophrenia. We formulated our hypothesis based on data from nonschizophrenic patients, expecting to find that schizophrenic patients with obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms would experience more difficulties in the same congnitive areas as nonschizophrenic patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Patients had separate psychiatric and cognitive evaluations. The OC and non-OC schizophrenic subjects did not differ significantly on the positive and negative symptom scores. However, compared with non-OC schizophrenic patients, those with OC symptoms performed worse on cognitive areas thought to be impaired (i.e.,visual-spatial skills, delayed nonverbal memory, and cognitive shifting abilities). In addition, the severity of OC scores correlated with poor performance in these areas of cognition. Our results support our hypothesis, specifically that OC symptoms may constitute a distinct cluster separate from psychosis in schizophrenia and raise the possibility of a distinct subtype of schizophrenia. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

A specific link between self-injurious behavior and bulimia nervosa has been observed. In affective spectrum disorders, some authors propose a distinction between impulsive and compulsive self-injurious behavior. One of the aims of the present study is to examine how different kinds of self-injurious behavior, including purging behavior, may be classified in bulimia nervosa. The clinical impact of the different types of self-injury will be studied. The subjects of the study were 125 consecutive patients with bulimia nervosa, diagnosed by DSM-IV criteria. Subjects were evaluated by means of a semistructured interview and self-report questionnaires (Eating Disorders Inventory and Hopkins Symptom Checklist). In our sample, the distinction between compulsive and impulsive self-injurious behavior appeared to be confirmed by a principal component analysis. Self-induced vomiting loaded on the compulsive dimension and laxative abuse on the impulsive dimension. To study the clinical impact of the two kinds of behavior, bulimic subjects were divided according to their position in the two dimensions. The presence of impulsive self-injurious behavior is associated with a history of sexual abuse and with higher scores on the Symptom Checklist. The presence of both impulsive and compulsive behavior is associated with greater depression, whereas the presence of impulsive features in the absence of compulsive ones seems to be linked to a longer duration of illness and to a higher dropout rate. Both compulsive and impulsive self-injurious behaviors are associated with a greater lack of interoceptive awareness.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study was conducted as a preliminary investigation into the presence and nature of psychological distress among military reserve personnel as a result of their participation in the Persian Gulf War. Eleven months after cessation of hostilities in the Gulf War, a self-report survey was mailed to the home of each of the 1090 members who had been assigned to the study Air National Guard unit during this period. After unit activation in December 1990, 517 of these individuals were deployed to the Persian Gulf as participants in Operation Desert Storm. The remainder of the unit participated in their military service during this period without being deployed to the Persian Gulf. The survey consisted of a demographic section, the Mississippi Scale for Combat Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (M-PTSD), the revised Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90-R), and an anecdotal response section; 46% of those surveyed responded. The major finding of the study was that 6.8% of the respondents who served in the combat theater had elevated M-PTSD scores. This was a statistically significant finding compared with the 1.7% of those surveyed who had elevated M-PTSD scores having served at home (χ2= 6.25,df= 1,p=.01). These elevated M-PTSD scores were found despite low levels of traditional combat stressors and strong levels of perceived public support. SCL-90-R scores were also higher in deployed versus nondeployed respondents. Although the clinical presence of PTSD was not established by this study, the preliminary finding of elevated M-PTSD scores in the deployed group is suggestive of the possibility of clinical PTSD. This finding supports the need for further PTSD research among reservists who are exposed to nontraditional combat stressors. Elevated SCL-90-R scores in the deployed group also suggest that other forms of psychological distress may have developed in a significant number of combat veterans of the Persian Gulf War.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The current study assesses the psychological and psychiatric aftermath of war captivity; 164 Israeli ex-POWs and 189 comparable controls were assessed for posttraumatic stress disorder, intrusion and avoidance tendencies, and generalized psychiatric symptomatology 18 years after the war. Findings indicated that trauma-related psychopathology and general psychiatric symptomatology were more prevalent among POWs than among their matched controls. In addition, captivity experience, social support at homecoming, and, above all, sociodemographic and military factors were found to be strongly correlated with the outcome measures. Theoretical and clinical implications of the aftermath of captivity are discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study investigated the long-term emotional and cognitive effects of malaria infection in a sample of community resident nonmigratory Ghanaian adults, comparing 142 individuals with a documented history of clinicalfalciparummalaria and 30 controls without a lifetime medical diagnosis of malaria. Results were based on self-report inventory and interview-based approaches to assessment of emotional status as well as individual administration of the Mini-Mental State Examination. Our findings indicated the presence of an enduring, albeit subclinical, mixed anxiety-depression syndrome after medical recovery fromfalciparummalaria. There were, however, no significant neurocognitive deficits associated with malaria status on the objective screening instrument, nor were there reports of subjective attention, concentration, memory, or other cognitive complaints by self-report. Malaria may be a risk factor for psychiatric morbidity. We therefore recommend a search for effective malaria prevention and intervention strategies to avert the more serious clinical manifestations of mental disorder likely to evolve in this imminently lethal infectious disease.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1998

数据来源: OVID