ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

An increased density of neurons in the white matter of the neocortex has been found in schizophrenia, and the original reports suggested this abnormality was restricted to a subgroup of patients. In a study of the inferior parietal cortex, we found that deficit schizophrenia subjects, but not nondeficit subjects, had an increased density of ICWMs. We extended that finding by comparing the density of microtubule-associated protein 2-immunoreactive ICWMs in deficit schizophrenia (N= 3), nondeficit schizophrenia (N= 4), and control (N= 5) subjects, using postmortem tissue from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 46). The deficit group differed significantly from the other two groups; the respective mean (SD) density values for the deficit, nondeficit, and control groups were 1.27 (.10), .53 (.39), and .76 (.20) cells per 10−6cubic microns. These group differences provide further evidence that deficit and nondeficit schizophrenia differ in their pathophysiology.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

It has been well established that patients with schizophrenia have impaired cognitive abilities on neuropsychological tasks related to memory. Previous studies also suggest a central role for serotonin in memory. This double-blind crossover study aimed to explore the effect of l-tryptophan, a serotonin precursor, on a variety of memory tasks in schizophrenic patients. Antipsychotic-treated schizophrenic patients in remission (N= 21) were randomly treated with l-tryptophan or placebo and then evaluated at three consecutive points on clinical measures (including Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia, Clinical Global Impression, and Extrapyramidal Symptoms Rating Scale) and by neuropsychological tests (including Digit-Span, Paired Association, Rey-Osterich Complex Figure Test, Digit Symbol, Number Facility Test, and the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Tests. Compared with placebo, l-tryptophan had a beneficial effect on memory functions but not on the patients’ psychotic state or on the side effects of medications. These preliminary results suggest the possibility of using serotonin precursor to enhance memory function in schizophrenia.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The present study examined attributions, emotions, and help-giving of 24 relatively unacculturated Latino-Americans toward a family member with schizophrenia. Ninety-one percent of participants had been rated as low in expressed emotion (low-EE) in an earlier study using a sample that overlaps with the present study. Low-EE refers to relatives who express few critical attitudes when talking about a mentally ill family member. Study findings indicate a link between relatives’ emotions and their reported help-giving behavior. In support of attribution-affect theory, relatives who reported feeling more compassion toward an ill family member also reported exerting more effort to help their relative cope with the illness. A qualitative analysis of relatives’ views, values, and behaviors was also conducted with the aim of better understanding low-EE relatives’ perceptions, which may serve to buffer schizophrenia relapse. We observed the following three main categories of attributions: (1) most participants accepted the patient as having a legitimate illness, (2) the majority of participants viewed interpersonal problems or other external environmental stressors as causing or exacerbating the disorder, and (3) many participants implicated God in their causal attributions and also reported turning to religion as a source of hope and comfort in coming to terms with the patient’s illness. Together, the quantitative and qualitative data suggest that efforts to augment positive or favorable emotions in key family members may be most important in establishing a low-EE family environment.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The objective of the study was to examine the hypothesis that some forms of suicidal behavior among adolescents are related to helplessness and depression, whereas others are related to anger and impulsivity. Sixty-five adolescents were studied. Thirty-three had borderline personality disorder (BPD), of whom 17 had made a recent suicide attempt. Thirty-two had major depressive disorder (MDD), of whom 16 had made a recent suicide attempt. Assessments were made with the Child Suicide Potential Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Multidimensional Anger Inventory, the Overt Aggression Scale, the Impulsiveness-Control Scale, and the Suicide Intent Scale. Adolescents with BPD had more anger, aggression, and impulsiveness than those with MDD, but similar levels of depression and hopelessness. Suicidal versus nonsuicidal adolescents were more depressed, hopeless, and aggressive, but not more angry or impulsive. There were no significant differences in impulsiveness for the MDD suicidal group versus the MDD nonsuicidal group, but the suicidal BPD adolescents were significantly more impulsive than the nonsuicidal BPD adolescents. In the subjects with BPD, impulsiveness and aggression correlated significantly and positively with suicidal behavior. In the subjects with MDD, no such correlations were seen. In both diagnostic groups, depression and hopelessness correlated positively and significantly with suicidal behavior. Anger did not correlate with suicidal behavior in either of the groups. The suicidal subjects with MDD had significantly higher suicidal intent scores than the suicidal adolescents with BPD. We conclude that the nature of suicidal behavior in adolescents with BPD differs from that seen in MDD with respect to the role of anger and aggression.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study compared patients with bulimia nervosa (BN), obese patients with binge eating disorder (BED), and nonobese patients with BED. One hundred sixty-two adult women consecutively evaluated for outpatient clinical trials who met DSM-IV criteria for BN, purging type (N= 46) or for BED (N= 79 obese andN= 37 nonobese) were compared using the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). The three groups differed significantly on two (drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction) of the three eating-related scales and on all five of the general personality scales of the EDI. When age and depression level were controlled, findings for the eating-related scales did not change, whereas four of the five general personality scales were no longer significant. Post hoc analyses revealed that the BN group and the nonobese BED group had significantly higher drive for thinness than the obese BED group. The nonobese and the obese BED groups did not differ from each other in any area (other than drive for thinness), including body dissatisfaction. The nonobese and the obese BED groups had significantly lower maturity features than the BN group. Our findings suggest that when the effects of age and depression levels are controlled, treatment-seeking women with BN and BED are generally similar. Certain differences that do exist between women with BN and BED are associated with obesity status (drive for thinness), whereas others are associated with diagnosis (body dissatisfaction, maturity fears).

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The aim of this study was to investigate the interrelatedness between temperament and character according to Cloninger’s biosocial theory of personality, coping behavior, and social support among traumatized refugees. Personality, psychopathological disturbances, coping resources, and social support were assessed in 100 Iranian refugees resettled in Sweden who had been exposed to various extreme traumatic life events in Iran before their escape. Individuals traumatized by war experiences as soldiers, with low Beck Depression Inventory scores showed the lowest scores in Harm Avoidance and the highest in Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness. Concerning coping resources and social support, these subjects scored slightly higher and the traumatized refugees with high Beck Depression Inventory scores scored slightly lower compared with nontraumatized subjects. Resilient refugees are characterized by low harm avoidance, high self-directedness, and high cooperativeness scores which enables them to develop effective coping strategies to obtain sufficient social support and thus to become more resistant against severe trauma.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Motor vehicle accidents are one of the most common causes of trauma-related psychiatric morbidity. Previous studies have suggested that symptom screening instruments may be useful in predicting risk of longer-term psychiatric morbidity, but results have varied. The present study is based on 83 of an eligible 102 consecutive hospital-admitted survivors of road trauma who completed a structured clinical interview at baseline and 18-month follow-up. A subsample returned symptom questionnaires within 2 weeks of the accident, with between 60 and 66 completing the questionnaire. Receiver Operator Characteristic curve analyses were applied to obtain optimal predictive scores on each screening measure. Combining the derived cutoff scores on the Impact of Event Scale (measuring posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms) and the Beck Depression Inventory yielded an odds ratio of 82.9 in predicting any psychiatric morbidity at 18 months, with a specificity of 95%, and high positive (89%) and negative (91%) predictive indices. If these exploratory findings are confirmed by future studies, the case will be strengthened for routine screening of motor vehicle accident survivors to allow ongoing monitoring and selective early interventions for the high-risk subgroup. Compliance with completing and returning questionnaires remains a major challenge in this population, however, as indicated by the level of attrition in our study.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2003

数据来源: OVID