摘要:

The search for indicators of vulnerability has been important in schizophrenia research, but, as in many areas, progress has been impeded due to the heterogeneity of schizophrenic disorders. How one conceptualizes the observed heterogeneity is dependent upon the particular genetic model to which one subscribes. In this article, we delineate several models that may account for the distributions of vulnerability indicators in groups of schizophrenic patients and their ill and well relatives. We present these models for heuristic purposes so that they may serve to guide the interpretation of data with respect to the issue of teasing apart familial and nonfamilial environmental components of putative vulnerability indicators. It is suggested that investigators will profit by: a) efforts to combine psychiatric genetic paradigms in order to maximize the yield of family study data, and b) thinking in terms of comparing the ability of different models to account for research findings.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Vulnerability to drug abuse and psychopathology was explored among siblings of 201 opioid-addicted probands. Disorders were evaluated based on family histories among 476 siblings; a subset of 133 siblings was also directly interviewed. Results indicated that a) siblings of opiate addicts had substantially higher rates of several disorders in comparison with rates in the community; b) as compared with parents of addicts, siblings had elevated rates of substance abuse and antisocial personality; c) the presence of a major psychiatric disorder significantly increased the risk of developing substance abuse among siblings; and d) psychopathology appeared to precede drug abuse in terms of age of onset in this group. Results obtained with the interviewed sample of siblings were replicated in the overall group. Findings of the study are discussed in terms of implications for the classification and treatment of substance abuse.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The functioning of 94 schizophrenic subjects was rated using the Global Assessment Scale, the Strauss and Carpenter Outcome Scale, and the Role Functioning Scale. The convergent validity among the scales was quite modest and highly variable. Solid empirical convergence only occurred when two of the scales each measured social and vocational dimensions of functioning. It is argued that these findings strongly illustrate the need for conceptual and operational consensus in this area. The findings also support the notion of outcome in schizophrenia as a set of distinct, yet linked, dimensions. Other implications of the findings for the definition and measurement of outcome in schizophrenia when using global and multidimensional scales are discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study was designed to explore whether schizophrenic patients who are able to maintain their gaze with adequate persistence could competently lip-read. Four lipreading tests, designed to assess recognition of syllables, words, and overlearned sentences, were administered to 15 schizophrenic and 15 normal subjects matched for age, sex, and educational level. The patients proved to be competent lip-readers susceptible to the blend illusion and were inferior only in lipreading of overlearned sentences. The latter difficulty may tentatively be attributed to the inadequacy of the patient's premorbid social network for establishing contextual cues that aid in the recognition of overlearned sentences.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

We followed a cohort of subjects (predominantly inpatients) suffering a major depressive episode in midlife and late life for 1 year (N= 118). In this follow-up study, we examined three hypotheses, a) Elder subjects suffering major depression, compared with middle-aged subjects, will more likely report endogenous symptoms and less likely report decreased life satisfaction symptoms at 1-year follow-up. b) Impaired social support during the index episode will predict poor life satisfaction, but not endogenous symptoms at 1-year follow-up, regardless of age. c) Impaired social support during the index episode will be more predictive of decreased life satisfaction symptoms in midlife, compared with late life, at 12-month follow-up. The first two hypotheses were not supported, but the third hypothesis was. Both decreased life satisfaction and endogenous symptoms at outcome were significantly predicted by impaired social support during the index episode. Impaired social support predicted a poor outcome from an episode of major depression in both middle life and late life in controlled analyses. However, the effect of impaired subjective social support was conditional on age. Subjective social support appears to have a decreasing influence on the report of both endogenous and decreased life satisfaction symptoms for older individuals.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study used the Ways of Coping Checklist to examine coping style in patients with panic and major depressive disorders. The relative contribution of distress (symptom severity) and diagnostic comorbidity was determined in three sets of diagnostic subgroups: patients suffering from both panic and major depressive disorders (compared with either disorder alone); panic patients with and without agoraphobia (regardless of concurrent depression); and patients with versus without a concurrent axis II personality disorder. Use of less problem-focused and more emotion-focused coping was strongly correlated with level of distress and was associated with all three examples of diagnostic comorbidity when level of distress was used as a covariate. Regression analyses showed that, except for the presence of a personality disorder, distress was a much stronger predictor of coping than diagnostic subtype.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study examined one part of the criminalization thesis, which holds that the dangerous-ness standard of reform civil commitment law has led to the frequent arrest of mentally ill persons. It followed a large statewide sample of civil commitment candidates for 6 months through arrest records to observe their number and type of arrests. It found that: ex-candidates were seldom arrested; over half of arrests were accounted for by a few with multiple arrests; the nonviolent and those released were more likely to be arrested than the violent and those committed; and charges were more often for the less serious offenses, but not predominantly for nuisance offenses

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Prior research has found an association between severe punishment during childhood and adult hypnotic susceptibility. The present study investigated family process variables that potentially underlie this association. Two hundred and five college students completed a self-report family process measure and participated in a group hypnotic induction procedure. A subsample of 128 students rated severity and consistency of the punishment they received as children. Subjects with high hypnotic ability reported significantly higher family cohesion than did subjects of low hypnotic ability. A significant linear relation between family cohesion and hypnotizability was also found. Unexpectedly, punishment severity and consistency did not relate to hypnotic susceptibility. Potential causal mechanisms between family process variables and hypnotizability are discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) is a semistructured interview that collects data from substance abusers in seven problem areas: medical, employment, legal, alcohol, other drug use, family-social functioning, and psychological status. In each area, the clients provide an estimate of the seriousness of the problem and their need for treatment. It has been demonstrated in a number of studies to be reliable, valid, and useful in monitoring treatment changes and in matching substance-abusing clients to treatments. This study investigates the usefulness of the ASI with male and female substance abusers who suffer a concurrent major psychiatric disorder (N= 152). Data on the independence of the problem scales, their internal consistency, interrater reliability, and concurrent validity are presented. It is concluded that: a) the problem areas are independent from each other, underscoring the need for multidimensional assessment; b) interviewer severity ratings provide information in addition to that provided by clients; c) the reliability of the composite scores is generally adequate, with the exception of the legal and family-social scales; and d) further examination of the employment scores is required.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Six depressed mentally retarded adults were treated with fluoxetine in an open trial. Five patients significantly improved, and one patient partially improved, after treatment with fluoxetine. Their mean Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score was significantly reduced after treatment. These results suggest that fluoxetine is a safe and effective treatment for depression in mental retardation. Some potential advantages of using fluoxetine in this clinical population are discussed. Additional controlled research studies are needed to confirm these findings.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID