摘要:

A consecutive series of 100 subjects with severe blunt head injuries was followed up 6 years after trauma. Neuropsychological test performances of 82 subjects and of a noninjured control group were analyzed by two principal components analyses (PCAs). Each PCA extracted 15 factors relating to a range of cognitive impairments, as well as neuropsychological features consistent with posttraumatic personality changes. Measures identified by the PCAs were applied to 85 head-injured subjects in the series to examine the incidence of impairment in four neuropsychological areas: disorders of learning and memory, neuropsychological features consistent with posttraumatic personality change, slowness in rate of information processing, and a range of basic neuropsychological skills. Overall, impairments occurred in 70% of the series. Disorders of learning and memory were the most common type of deficit (56.5%), with disturbances in basic neuropsychological skills the least frequent (16.5%). Variability among subjects with respect to the types and combinations of neuropsychological impairments was a characteristic feature of this clinical group, but the largest proportion (one-third) demonstrated isolated impairments. The implications of the incidence and selectivity of neuropsychological impairments are discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Although changes in cognitive function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have been reported, these changes have been traditionally associated with the later stages of the disease. In the current study, a comprehensive neuropsychological battery was administered to MS patients (N= 86) in whom the disease progression was relatively mild and in remission and a demographically well-matched control group (N=46). Besides the expected differences in tests of motor function, the two groups also differed on a number of cognitive tests with no motor demands. The two cognitive functions that appear impaired were learning and memory. Given that similar deficits have been found in MS patients with more severe symptoms, it is argued that changes in cognitive function can occur in the mild stages of the disease.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The study was designed as a replication of a study reported in this Journal which found that subjects with multiple personality disorder (MPD) experienced significantly more changes in visual functioning between alter personalities than a control group simulating the disorder. In the present study, data from 20 patients diagnosed with MPD and 20 control subjects role playing MPD were analyzed for statistical and clinical significance. The findings from the present study appear to confirm results from the earlier study that individuals with MPD experience differences in some aspects of visual functioning between alter personalities. The results further confirm that MPD subjects experience more differences across visual measures than control subjects simulating the disorder. However, the findings from the present study are not entirely consistent across the various visual measures or with findings from previous studies.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The purpose of this study was to determine whether mentally ill chemical abusers (MICA patients) report greater distress than do psychiatric patients who do not abuse psychoactive substances. Thirty-two MICA patients and 31 non-substance-abusing patients completed the SCL-90-R. Group comparisons indicated that MICA patients reported greater levels of somatization, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsiveness, paranoia, and psychotic symptoms. MICA patients also reported greater overall distress than did psychiatric patients without substance abuse problems.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Although women are assumed to be particularly vulnerable to depressive symptomatology after childbirth, the extent to which this symptomatology predominates over that found in men at this life cycle stage has not been addressed. This study examined gender differences in postpartum depressive symptomatology and the link between postpartum symptomatology and gender roles and relationships in a sample obtained from childbirth preparation classes. The data show no gender difference in depressive symptomatology at 2 months after childbirth. Women manifested a decrease in depressive symptomatology and men showed a slight increase from the preparenthood point. We partially link women’s equivalent rather than higher distress levels to the protective effects of their varied social supports. By contrast, men depended primarily on their spouses, but both genders experienced a decrease in spouse support after childbirth. Female lack of support was more strongly associated with symptomatology in homemakers compared with employed women or women on maternity leave. Within the context of gender role changes, the data highlight benefits of female bonding in contrast to the “costs of caring” depicted by other researchers.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Research indicates that oral dependent and eating-disordered individuals have similar personality traits, attitudes, and behaviors, suggesting that dependency may be a factor in the dynamics of anorexia and bulimia. To investigate this issue, we compared the proportions of dependent and food-related percepts in the Rorschach protocols of matched samples of eating-disordered (N=16), obese (N=18), and non-eating-disordered, normal-weight female psychiatric inpatients (N=17). Eating-disordered patients reported significantly more dependent Rorschach imagery than did obese or normal-weight control patients, but no difference in the proportion of food-related imagery was found among the three groups. These results support the hypothesis that unresolved dependency issues underlie anorexia and bulimia.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Fifty-eight consecutive suicides committed between 1984 and 1987 by adolescents and young adults (ages 15 to 29 years) in an urban community were the subject of retrospective investigation through interviews with survivors and analyses of medical records. Classification in accordance with DSM-III-R showed a large proportion of axis II disorders. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) was found in 19 subjects (33%). When compared with subjects with other disorders, BPD subjects showed more antisocial traits and substance use disorders. Early parental absence, substance abuse in the homes, employment and financial problems, lack of a permanent residence, and sentence by court were also more frequent in BPD subjects.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Forty-six patients with borderline personality disorder with and without major depression and 27 normal volunteers completed the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, a self-rating scale of anger and hostility. The patients with borderline personality had significantly higher scores than the normal volunteers. The scores of the patients with borderline personality disorders were not related to gender, treatment or research setting, the degree of acute distress, or the presence of major depression. These findings suggest that a proneness to anger and hostility are enduring characteristics of borderline personality disorder and that anger and depression may represent independent clinical conditions with independent biological mechanisms regulating these two affective states.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

In May 1980, Liberty City Miami, a black area, suffered a humanmade disaster: a riot. The effects of the riot on the utilization pattern of the only psychiatric emergency service (PES) for the Liberty City catchment area were studied in two ways: autocorrelation and cross-correlation analyses were used to determine whether PES presentations demonstrated a 7-day cycle and whether this cycle was disturbed by the riot; and analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to compare numerically the riot week to the preceding week, the riot week to the following 12 weeks, and the 12 pre-riot weeks to the 12 post-riot weeks. Black PES presentations did not demonstrate a statistically discernable cycle, and none of the ANOVAs were statistically significant. It was concluded that the riot did not have a significant psychiatric morbidity effect as measured by PES presentation data. These results are discussed in reference to previous disaster studies.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study attempted to investigate the opposing effects of degree of traumatization and of contemporary social supports on the demoralization scores of World War II survivors. The respondents were all married, Poland-born respondents living in socially contrasting neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, Israel. Two subgroups were defined, one that had been in Europe during World War II (index cases) and another that was in prestatehood Israel during the same period (comparison cases). All respondents were administered the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview/Demoralization Scale, a short item scale investigating World War II experiences, and the Social Supports Network Inventory. Uni-and multivariate analyses were conducted using means and rates of demoralization as the dependent variable. The results show that demoralization scores were associated positively with dose effect (the more brutal the experience, the higher the scores) and inversely with social supports (the higher the acknowledged presence of contemporary supports, the lower the scores).

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID