bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Neuroradiological and neuropsychological assessment in anorexia nervosa
Authors: Palazidou Eleni , Robinson Paul , Lishman William Alwyn
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Seventeen patients with anorexia nervosa were examined by computed tomography (CT) and psychometry and compared with ten normal control subjects. The patients were found to have enlarged external cerebrospinal fluid spaces compared to controls. No differences were found in ventricular size and X-ray absorption density measurements between patients and controls. The patients performed abnormally on the symbol digit test, the scores of which displayed a significant negative correlation with the CT scan changes.
Psychiatric aspects of HIV-1 infection and AIDS
Authors: Maj Mario
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The literature on the psychiatric aspects of HIV-1 infection is reviewed. The whole range of psychiatric disorders described in HIV-1 infected subjects, from HIV-1 dementia to adjustment disorders, is covered, along with the AIDS-related psychopathology which may develop in subjects without HIV-1 infection.
Psychological and physical determinants of premenstrual symptoms before and after hysterectomy
Authors: Osborn M. F. , Gath D. H.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The aim was to study women before and after hysterectomy (with conservation of the ovaries), in order to discover how far premenstrual symptoms are caused physically and how far psychologically. In such women both physical and psychological factors can influence premenstrual symptoms before hysterectomy; after the operation, in the absence of menstruation, only physical factors can do so. The subjects were 56 women awaiting hysterectomy for menorrhagia of benign origin. During three pre-operative months these women made daily self-ratings on a check-list in which typical premenstrual symptoms were interspersed with atypical symptoms; in this way their awareness of the premenstrual focus was minimized. Starting six months after hysterectomy, the women again kept daily check-lists for three months; over the same period their serum progesterone levels were measured to identify the premenstruum. After hysterectomy, levels of premenstrual symptoms fell significantly in the whole group, indicating that psychological factors were important determinants of such symptoms before hysterectomy.
Cognitive processing in post-trauma reactions: some preliminary findings
Authors: Creamer Mark , Burgess Philip , Pattison Phillipa
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The current study investigated a model of post-trauma reactions proposed initially by McFarlane (1988 a). Two separate data sets, one obtained following a multiple shooting and the other reported by McFarlane following a natural disaster, were examined. The findings of both studies provide support for a cognitive processing conceptualization of the development of post-trauma reactions.
Obsessional states: anxiety disorders or schizotypes? An information processing and personality assessment
Authors: Enright Simon J. , Beech Anthony R.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

This paper presents evidence that on an information processing task, designed to investigate putative inhibitory mechanisms in selective attention, obsessive compulsive disordered individuals can be clearly distinguished from other anxiety disorder clients and show significantly higher scores on questionnaire measures designed to detect schizotypy in the normal population. It is suggested that these results provide some support for the idea that obsessive compulsive disorder may be misclassified as an anxiety disorder and may in fact be categorically more closely aligned to the schizophrenic constellation of disorders.
Mental health and medical consultation in primary care settings
Authors: Vázquez-Barquero J. L. , Wilkinson G. , Williams P. , Diez-Manrique J. F. , Peña C.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

This paper examines the effect of psychiatric morbidity, as measured by the GHQ-60, on the probability of being in contact with a primary care physician, and the socio-demographic factors which influenced this effect. We found that the presence of psychiatric morbidity emerged as a major determinant of primary care utilization in both sexes, and about one-sixth of consultations in men and one-fifth of consultations in women could be attributed to it. Logistic modelling was used to investigate the joint effect on general practitioner consultation of psychiatric morbidity and seven socio-demographic variables. Sex, age, and psychiatric morbidity exerted independent, but not interactive, effects on consultation.
Quality of life in chronically mentally ill patients in day treatment
Authors: Levitt Anthony J. , Hogan T. P. , Bucosky Catherine M.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A structured assessment instrument, the Quality of Life Interview, was used to explain the quality of life of seventy patients with chronic psychiatric illness attending a day treatment programme. The interview was found to have acceptable psychometric properties. Factors that best predicted the quality of life of these patients included the number of re-admissions in the last year, frequency of family contacts, satisfaction with social life, psychiatric health and adult education. The theoretical implications and potential clinical benefits of these findings for chronic psychiatric patients are discussed.
Schizophrenia and the brain: a prospective clinico-neuropathological study
Authors: Bruton C. J. , Crow T. J. , Frith C. D. , Johnstone E. C. , Owens D. G. C. , Roberts G. W.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The neuropathological results from a prospective, systematically assessed, series of 56 schizophrenic patients and 56 age- and sex-matched normal controls have been presented.

When compared with the normal controls, the brains of the schizophrenic subjects showed a significant reduction in brain weight and brain length with a concomitant increase in ventricular size. (All findings relate to measurements made after formalin fixation). In addition, the brains of the schizophrenic patients contained significantly more non-specific focal pathology and fibrillary gliosis than the controls.

After exclusion of cases with moderate and severe Alzheimer-type change, cerebro-vascular disease and all forms of focal pathology, the structural brain changes (i.e. decrease in brain weight and brain length) continued to distinguish the schizophrenia group from the controls. Furthermore, an analysis of the clinical data showed that the structural brain changes were correlated in the schizophrenic patients with a measurement of pre-morbid function.

The findings and their possible aetiological implications have been discussed.
Familial risk factors and the familial aggregation of psychiatric disorders
Authors: Kendler Kenneth S.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

All major psychiatric disorders aggregate in families. For most disorders, both genes and environmental factors play an important role in this aggregation. While recent work has tended to concentrate on the importance of genetic factors, this report focuses on the potential importance of environmental risk factors which themselves aggregate in families. In particular, this article examines how much of the familial aggregation of a psychiatric disorder may result from the familial aggregation of a risk factor. The model is illustrated and then applied to putative familial risk factors for schizophrenia and depression. The results of the model suggest that if parental loss and exposure to pathogenic rearing practices are true risk factors for depression, then they could account for a significant proportion of the familial aggregation of depression. By contrast, the model predicts that even if obstetric injury and low social class are true risk factors for schizophrenia, they together would account for only a very small proportion of the tendency for schizophrenia to aggregate in families.
Electrode placement in ECT: cognitive effects
Authors: Lawson J. S. , Inglis James , Delva N. J. , Rodenburg Martin , Waldron J. J. , Letemendia F. J. J.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Forty patients suffering from a major depressive disorder, for whom electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was clinically indicated, were assigned to one of three electrode placement groups: bitemporal (BT), right unilateral (RU) or bifrontal (BF). Comparisons of these groups in terms of cognitive status showed that the BF placement, which avoided both temporal regions, spared both verbal and nonverbal functions. These differential effects, which were independent of the degree of clinical depression, were not, however, evident three months after the last ECT.
Cognitive functioning and symptomatology in chronic schizophrenia
Authors: Nelson Hazel E. , Pantelis Christos , Carruthers Kathryn , Speller Jeremy , Baxendale Sallie , Barnes Thomas R. E.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Chronic schizophrenic patients in a long stay hospital were found to have low levels of intelligence (mean IQ of 80), which was attributed to the effects of substantial intellectual deterioration on below average pre-morbid levels of functioning. Patients with the lowest IQ scores had the least severe positive symptoms but symptomatology was not related to age or extent of intellectual decline. Speed of functioning was relatively more impaired than level of intellectual functioning, with cognitive speed being more affected than motor speed. The severity of negative but not positive symptoms was significantly related to the severity of bradyphrenia (cognitive slowing), a result which would be consistent with the notion of a subcortical pathology in patients with Type II schizophrenia.
Psychiatric morbidity in general practice and the community
Authors: Goldberg David , Kay Clifford , Thompson Linda
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The ‘General Health Questionnaire’ was used to assess the psychiatric morbidity among 365 consecutive attenders at a general practice and to compare this with a systematic random sample of 213 patients drawn from the lists of the same practice. Those attending a general practitioner are shown to be more psychiatrically disturbed than a random sample of the practice population, and this difference remains when those attending for psychological symptoms are discounted. Various social and demographic characteristics which distinguish between those who do and those who do not attend a doctor with a given set of psychological symptoms are described.
A method for decreasing patients' medication errors
Authors: Ley P. , Jain V. K. , Skilbeck C. E.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Eighty anxious and eighty depressed patients were assigned randomly to receiving one of three versions of an information leaflet about their medication, or to receiving no leaflet at all.

Mean medication errors were reduced from 15 to 4% by provision of suitably constructed leaflets.

The results show the practical importance of informing patients about their medication and of paying attention to the difficulty level of any leaflets issued.
‘New’ long-stay psychiatric patients: a national sample survey of fifteen mental hospitals in England and Wales 1972/3
Authors: Mann Sheila A. , Cree Wendy
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Four hundred ‘new’ long-stay patients were studied and assessments of their needs for treatment and accommodation were made. About one third appeared to need further care in hospital. A further third could possibly be discharged if suitable accommodation in the community were available: most of this group were more handicapped than present residents in hostels. The remaining third had diverse needs; many were multiply handicapped – for example, by physical disability or mental retardation in addition to psychiatric disorder. At the moment the psychiatric hospital is virtually the only agency to accept the care of such people.
‘Dieters’ and ‘vomiters and purgers’ in anorexia nervosa
Authors: Beumont P. J. V. , George G. C. W. , Smart D. E.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Thirty-one females with primary anorexia nervosa were studied by means of a retrospective analysis of hospital notes. The patients were divided into 2 groups. The first group consisted of subjects who had become emaciated solely because of dieting, food refusal and excessive exercising (‘dieters’); the second of those who had used additional means to bring about weight loss such, as habitual vomiting and the abuse of purgatives (‘vomiters and purgers’).

Most ‘dieters’ were intense, introverted, socially withdrawn individuals whose anorexic behaviour had started in response to psychological stress. They had become completely preoccupied with thoughts of food, eating and losing weight. Several did well in treatment, and recovered fully from their anorexic symptoms. ‘Vomiters and purgers’, on the other hand, were more outgoing in respect to personality. Most had previously been obese and, as they had been unable to keep themselves thin by simply abstaining from food, they had learnt to use other means to control their weight. These latter patients did less well in treatment. They continued to experience difficulty in controlling their weight, and the majority persisted with their abnormal behaviour.
Psychopathic personality: a conceptual problem
Authors: Gunn John , Robertson Graham
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The concept of psychopathic personality is currently being called into question. Grendon prison has been established for the treatment of psychopaths. A recent study of Grendon prisoners enabled an examination of some characteristics commonly attributed to psychopaths to be carried out. It proved difficult to obtain good agreement in rating such phenomena as ‘conscientiousness’, ‘sexual deviation’, ‘impulsiveness’. Of ten reliable variables including ‘personal relationships’, ‘lying’, ‘alcohol problem’, only five bore a significant relationship one to another. It was concluded that whilst the term ‘psychopathic disorder’ may be appropriate for a small handful of individuals the term is probably now used too widely and too loosely.
Urinary dimethyltryptamine and psychiatric symptomatology and classification
Authors: Rodnight R. , Murray R. M. , Oon M. C. H. , Brockington I. F. , Nicholls P. , Birley J. L. T.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The excretion of dimethyltryptamine (DMT) was studied amongst 122 recently admitted psychiatric patients and 20 normal subjects. DMT was detected in the urine of 47% of those diagnosed by their psychiatrists as schizophrenic, 38% of those with other non-affective psychoses, 13% of those with affective psychoses, 19% of those with neurotic and personality disorders and 5% of normal subjects. Ninety-nine patients were interviewed in a semi-standardized fashion, and also categorized according to a variety of operational definitions of the psychoses. The operational definitions failed to reveal any group significantly more correlated with urinary DMT than a hospital diagnosis of schizophrenia, but a discriminant function analysis of symptomatology could be used to define a group of 21 patients of whom 15 (71%) excreted detectable DMT. There was a general relationship between psychotic symptoms and urinary DMT, but specifically schizophrenic symptoms did not appear to be major determinants of DMT excretion.
Erythrocyte membrane cation carrier in mania
Authors: Naylor G. J. , Dick D. A. T. , Dick E. G. , Worrall E. P. , Peet M. , Dick P. , Boardman L. J.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Erythrocyte sodium and potassium concentrations, erythrocyte membrane ATPase (Na–K specific and non-specific) and the rate of potassium influx into erythrocytes (ouabainsensitive and insensitive) were estimated in a group of female patients suffering from mania and repeated on about two thirds of them when they had recovered. With recovery there was a statistically significant increase in the erythrocyte ouabain-sensitive potassium influx. The other parameters showed no significant overall change with recovery but the initial severity correlated significantly and negatively with the change in erythrocyte Na–K ATPase with recovery. The changes that occurred in the erythrocyte sodium concentration and Na–K ATPase activity were not random since they correlated significantly with changes in the active potassium influx.
The social causation of depression: a critique of the work of Brown and his colleagues
Authors: Tennant Christopher , Bebbington Paul
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Brown and his colleagues have presented evidence for the social origins of depression from results of 2 community surveys in Camberwell. This paper examines critically their methodology, conceptualization of variables, mode of argument and statistical techniques. Log-linear analysis of their published data fails to substantiate their differentiation of risk variables into vulnerability factors and provoking agents.
Social origins of depression: a reply
Authors: Brown George W. , Harris Tirril
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Many of the criticisms of our work made by Tennant & Bebbington in the current edition of this journal touch on issues which have already been discussed in our recent book Social Origins of Depression. We do not think that any of their points pose significant threats to our aetiological model of depression. We welcome this opportunity to clarify their questions about our data, and to use their re-analysis of our material as a basis for a wider discussion of certain general aspects of the statistical analysis and interpretation of data and the pitfalls which await the unwary.
A new scale for assessing patients' psychosocial adjustment to medical illness
Authors: Morrow Gary R. , Chiarello Robert J. , Derogatis Leonard R.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS) was administered to 37 Hodgkin's disease patients and 38 parents of children with Hodgkin's disease or solid tumour, and the scores were analysed for inter-rater reliability as well as construct and criterion validity. A significant inter-rater reliability coefficient was obtained for the total scale score, and also for 6 of the 7 subscale scores. The 7 subscale scores were shown to be relatively independent of each other, with 5 contributing strongly to the total score. Subscales analysed for criterion validity were shown to correlate significantly with independent assessments of their domains of adjustment. Results indicate that the PAIS can be administered by a diverse group of interviewers with an acceptable degree of reliability and with initial confidence in its validity.
Crohn's disease: a review of the psychological and social outcome
Authors: Latimer Paul R.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A review of the psychosocial literature relating to Crohn's disease reveals that most available studies have been aetiologically oriented and that there are important gaps in our knowledge about the psychological and social concomitants of the disease. Some future research possibilities are discussed.
Neuroendocrine changes in acute schizophrenia as a function of clinical state and neuroleptic medication
Authors: Cotes P. Mary , Crow T. J. , Johnstone Eve C. , Bartlett W. , Bourne Rachel C.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Changes in levels of prolactin, growth hormone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone in serum, and testosterone in plasma, have been studied in 38 patients with acute schizophrenic illnesses in a 4-week double-blind comparison of the 2 isomers of flupenthixol and placebo. Only prolactin showed changes which could be related either to changes in clinical state or to the effects of medication. Prolactin levels increased during treatment with the therapeutically active α-isomer of flupenthixol but were unchanged with the inactive β-isomer and placebo. Although there was a significant relationship between prolactin level and antipsychotic effect in patients on α-flupenthixol, in the individual case prolactin level was not a strong predictor of therapeutic response; and in patients on inactive medication changes in prolactin level could not be related to symptom change. There was a time lag of at least 2 weeks between the increase in prolactin secretion in patients on α-flupenthixol and the therapeutic effect attributable to medication. This delay suggests that if the antipsychotic effect is dependent upon dopamine receptor blockade it is not a direct consequence of this action. Perhaps dopamine receptor blockade permits other, and slower, changes to take place and it is these changes, rather than dopamine receptor blockade itself, which are reflected in clinical improvement.
The value of feedback in teaching interviewing skills to medical students
Authors: Maguire Peter , Roe Philip , Goldberg David , Jones Simon , Hyde Clive , O'Dowd Terry
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Forty-eight medical students took part in a study to assess the value of giving students some feedback about their interviewing skills. During the study they all received training from their clinical firms. In addition, 36 of the students received 1 of 3 types of feedback training. This was given by tutors who used television replays, audiotape replays or ratings of practice interviews conducted by the students.

As in previous studies there was little improvement in the interviewing skills of those students who only received training from their clinical firms. In contrast, all 3 feedback groups improved their ability to elicit accurate and relevant information. However, only the television and audiotape groups also showed gains in techniques. While the differences between these 2 groups were not significant, they all favoured the television group.
Individual patient—doctor contact in a mental hospital
Authors: Pitcher David , Sergeant Howard
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Patients admitted to Friern Hospital in 1972 stayed on average for about 5 weeks and spent a total of less than 2 hours individually with senior and junior doctors. Long-stay patients (1 year or more) saw their doctors for an average of less than 1 hour a year. These findings, which in the case of junior doctors were corroborated in 1974, refer only to the time doctors spent with patients alone. The admission, and long-stay discharge rates were greater in the Islington than in the Camden division, and probably reflect differences in clinical practice. It is argued that more psychiatrists are needed – precisely how many will depend on studies of the relative efficiency of different services and training programmes, and on agreement among psychiatrists about minimum professional standards.
Tissue vanadium levels in manic-depressive psychosis
Authors: Naylor G. J. , Smith A. H. W. , Bryce-Smith D. , Ward N. I.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The vanadium content of hair, whole blood, serum and urine was estimated by neutron activation analysis in samples from manic patients, depressed patients, recovered manic patients, recovered depressed patients and normal controls. The results suggest that manic patients have significantly raised vanadium levels in hair which fall towards control levels with recovery, but there are no significant differences in the mean vanadium content of whole blood or serum. In contrast, depressed patients have raised levels of vanadium in whole blood and serum which appear to fall with recovery. Levels of vanadium in serum correlate strongly with those in whole blood, but neither shows significant correlation with vanadium in hair for either patients or controls. Hair and blood probably serve as indicator tissues for differing aspects of vanadium metabolism.
Cognitive functioning in depression: a review of theory and research
Authors: Willner Paul
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

This paper reviews recent research into cognitive functioning in depression, with particular reference to the theories of Lewinsohn, Beck, Seligman and Klein. The major cognitive changes in depression are a decrease in the ability to maintain concentration and effort, and an increase in the relative salience of aversive events and memories, with a corresponding decrease in the salience of pleasant events. There is as yet little evidence to support the view that depressions arise out of pre-existing depressive attitudes. Attention is drawn to the heterogeneity of depressive disorders, and the significance of the endogenous/non-endogenous distinction is discussed.
Smoking and the Eysenck personality dimensions:an interactive model
Authors: Parkes Katharine R.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Evidence relating smoking and neuroticism is inconsistent; some studies report no significant relationship, while others report a positive association. The present study examined smoking in relation to neuroticism (N), extraversion (E) and psychoticism (P), in the light of predictions that interactions between N and E, and between N and P, could underly these inconsistent findings. The subjects were female student nurses (N = 270), of whom 34·1% were smokers. Discriminant analyses revealed that E differentiated most strongly between smokers and non-smokers. N and P did not add to the predictive power of the discriminant function, but the N × P and N × E interactions did make significant contributions. Among extraverts, and among subjects low in psychoticism, N was not related to smoking; but among introverts, and among subjects high in psychoticism, the relationship was significant and positive.
A comparison of the prescriptions received by the elderly in long-term care in New York and London
Authors: Mann Anthony H. , Jenkins Rachel , Cross Peter S. , Gurland Barry J.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A comparison of medication prescribed for elderly residents in long-term care institutions in London and New York shows that New York residents are prescribed more drugs. The contrast is sharpest for those suffering from dementia who are much more likely to receive neuroleptic medication than their counterparts in London. Analysis indicates that the differences may reflect the greater emphasis in New York on the nursing-medical model of care, rather than any differences between the residents themselves.
The effect of a mental hospital strike on general hospital psychiatric services
Authors: Norman Ross M. G. , Malla Ashok K.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Data collected from 6043 psychiatric in-patient records were analysed to assess the impact of a strike at a mental hospital on in-patient services in general hospital psychiatric units in St John's, Newfoundland, Canada. As a whole, during the strike general hospital units showed an increase in the number of involuntary admissions, the number of prior mental hospital admissions of patients, and indications of violent or suicidal behaviour; and a decrease in the occupational status of patients admitted and the prescription of minor tranquillizers. There was also evidence of considerable variation between general hospitals in the extent to which their admission pattern changed during the strike and the permanence of some of the strike effects. The data indicate that all patients showing violent or suicidal behaviour who would normally have been admitted to the mental hospital were treated in the general hospital units during the strike. On the other hand, a large number of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, personality disorder or mental retardation, who normally would have been admitted to the mental hospital, apparently went without hospitalization during the strike. A substantial proportion of this latter group would usually have been admitted involuntarily.
Behaviour disturbance and mental handicap: typology and longitudinal trends
Authors: Leudar Ivan , Fraser W. I. , Jeeves M. A.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Behaviour disturbance was investigated in mentally handicapped adults who were living in hospital or at home. The first part of the study describes an empirically derived typology of disturbed behaviour patterns and gives the details of a scale by means of which behaviour disturbance can be quantified along six dimensions: aggression, mood disturbance, communicativeness, antisocial conduct, idiosyncratic mannerisms, and self-injury. The second part of the study used the scale in a longitudinal study of behavioural disturbance. Different forms of disturbed behaviour exhibited different kinds of longitudinal stability, and the long-term changes in one aspect of disturbance depended on subjects' other disturbance scores.
Karl Philipp Moritz' Journal of Empirical Psychology (1783–1793): an analysis of 124 case reports
Authors: Förstl H. , Angermeyer M. , Howard R.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Karl Philipp Moritz edited Gnothi Sauton, the Journal of Empirical Psychology (1783–1793), which stands as the first of numerous psychological and psychiatric periodicals. We evaluated 124 psychiatric or neurological case reports from the journal according to modern diagnostic criteria and present a brief outline of the contributors' and patients' sociodemographic characteristics, selected case reports and the surmised risk factors. A reliable diagnostic reassignment of the well-described cases was feasible; this may indicate that patients retain similar psychiatric disturbances over the centuries. As in the popular literature of the period, examples of ‘sentimental students’ and ‘desperate soldiers’ represented the most frequently discussed, prototypical high-risk personalities in the Journal, which marked the step from literature to empirical science. The influences of this case material upon contemporary psychiatric writing and thought are reviewed.
Nature, nurture and depression: a twin study
Authors: McGuffin Peter , Katz Randy , Rutherford Joan
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

We studied a series of twins systematically ascertained through 214 probands (84 monozygotic, 130 dizygotic) who had had one or more episodes of hospital-treated major depression. A variety of definitions of depression were applied to the co-twins all of which resulted in (a) markedly higher rates of disorder than are found in the general population, (b) significantly higher monozygotic than dizygotic concordance. The results of applying a simple additive model in which depression is considered as a threshold trait suggested that both genetic factors and shared family environment make substantial and significant contributions to the familiality of depression.
Psychiatric symptoms, personality and ways of coping in chronic fatigue syndrome
Authors: Blakely Antony A. , Howard Rick C. , Sosich Rowena M. , Murdoch J. Campbell , Menkes David B. , Spears George F. S.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

This study aimed to investigate the psychological characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS: Holmeset al.1988). A battery of psychometric instruments comprising the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Lazarus Ways of Coping (WoC) inventory, was administered to a sample of clinically-defined CFS sufferers (N= 58), to a comparison group of chronic pain (CP) patients (N= 81) and to a group of healthy controls matched for sex and age with the CFS sample (N= 104). Considerable overlap was found between CFS and CP patients at the level of both physical and psychological symptoms. This raises the possibility that CFS sufferers are a sub-population of CP patients. However, while there was some commonality between CFS and CP patients in terms of personality traits, particularly the MMPI ‘neurotic triad’ (hypochondriasis, depression and hysteria), CFS patients showed more deviant personality traits reflecting raised levels on the first MMPI factor, emotionality. Moreover, results were not consistent with the raised emotionality being a reaction to the illness, but rather were consistent with the hypothesis that emotionality is a predisposing factor for CFS. The majority of CFS patients fell within four personality types, each characterized by the two highest MMPI scale scores. One type (N= 20) reported a lack of psychological symptoms or emotional disturbance contrary to the overall trend for the CFS sample. This group conformed to the ICD-10 classification of neurasthenia.
Occurrence of schizotypal and borderline symptoms in parasuicide patients: comparison between subjective and objective indices
Authors: Markar H. R. , Williams J. M. G. , Wells J. , Gordon L.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Seventy-six patients were interviewed within a week of admission following a parasuicide episode. Axis II diagnosis on DSM-III was made for schizotypal, borderline, histrionic, and antisocial personality disorder. In addition patients completed a self-rating questionnaire, the Schizotypy Questionnaire of Claridge & Broks (1984), which assesses schizotypal and borderline personality traits. The objective and subjective indices of schizotypal and borderline symptoms correlated significantly but allocation of patients to a diagnosis missed several patients who nevertheless rated themselves as having a high frequency of these symptoms. There was an asymmetry of symptom pattern reminiscent of Foulds & Bedford's (1975) hierarchy model. The presence of schizotypal symptoms appeared to be higher in the hierarchy: they predicted borderline symptoms, but a high frequency of borderline symptoms did not necessarily predict schizotypy. We suggest that the occurrence of schizotypal symptoms should become a more explicit focus of clinical assessment and treatment of these patients, especially those who repeatedly harm themselves and we suggest ways in which cognitive therapies may be adapted to do this.
Parasuicide and the lunar cycle
Authors: Rogers Tim D. , Masterton George , McGuire Ralph
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Admissions to hospital following parasuicide in one city over eighteen years exhibit a cyclical variation apparently synchronized with the lunar quarters. The effect would only account for approximately 0·7 out of the average of 46 parasuicides per 100000 adults per lunar cycle (95% CI 0·6–0·8), and fails to reach statistical significance.
Object chaining and thought disorder in schizophrenic speech
Authors: Manschreck T. C. , Maher B. , Celada M. T. , Schneyer M. , Fernandez R.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The phenomenon of object chaining was investigated to determine its relationship to thought disorder in schizophrenia. Samples from thought-disordered schizophrenics (N = 12) and controls (10 non-thought-disordered schizophrenics and 10 normals) were analysed. Using the object subject ratio (OSR) to measure object chaining, we found higher OSRs in the speech of thought-disordered subjects than in that of subjects free of thought disorder. Object chaining correlated with low predictability of speech. We conclude that object chaining is associated with reduced speech comprehensibility and probably contributes to the judgement that thought disorder is present.
DSM-III compulsive personality disorder: an epidemiological survey
Authors: Nestadt G. , Romanoski A. J. , Brown C. H. , Chahal R. , Merchant A. , Folstein M. F. , Gruenberg E. M. , McHugh P. R.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

A two-stage probability sample of community subjects was developed with a full psychiatric examination employing DSM-III criteria in conjunction with the Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) survey conducted in Baltimore, MD. This report details the observation on those subjects diagnosed with compulsive personality disorder and compulsive personality traits. The results indicate that this condition has a prevalence of 1·7% in a general population. Male, white, married and employed individuals receive this diagnosis most often. Our data suggest a dimensional rather than categorical character for this disorder. The disorder imparts a vulnerability for the development of anxiety disorders.
General practitioner referral to specialist psychiatric services: a comparison of practices in North- and South-Verona
Authors: Arreghini Ermanno , Agostini Claudio , Wilkinson Greg
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Specialist psychiatric services run by the Italian National Health Service are mainly hospital-based in North-Verona and community-based in South-Verona. Ninety-two GPs from both areas participated in a one-day survey of their provision of psychiatric care, and this paper focuses on socio-demographic and clinical variables associated with specialist psychiatric referral. The one-day prevalence figure for GP referral to specialist psychiatric services was 7·3% (17·6/10000): the figures did not differ between the sexes or between the two areas. Whereas in North-Verona 49% of the patients referred were sent to the two local hospital-based public services and 51% to other agencies (mainly to private psychiatrists), in South-Verona 71% of referrals were to the community-based public service.

Log-linear analysis showed that past psychiatric history, psychological presenting complaint, social problems and GPs' psychiatric diagnosis exerted positive joint main effects on GP referral to specialist psychiatric services, and that diagnosed organic illness had a negative effect in this regard. In the presence of a psychological complaint, a psychiatric diagnosis proved to be quite unimportant, so that those without a psychiatric diagnosis were just as likely to be referred as those with one. However, in the absence of a psychological complaint a GP diagnosis of depression greatly increased the risk of referral.

Though the type of psychiatric service proved not to be an important determinant of GP referral to specialist psychiatric services it influenced the GPs' choice of referral agency.
Some cognitive correlates of schizophrenic illnesses
Authors: Robertson Graham , Taylor Pamela J.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A battery of tests was developed to assess verbal, non-verbal and mixed cognitive functions. Interest was based on pattern of response rather than absolute scores. The subjects were 167 men held in prison on criminal charges or in a maximum security hospital after conviction. The present paper deals exclusively with two subgroups: the 61 schizophrenic men and the 41 men with no psychiatric disorder. The schizophrenic group as a whole presented a very different cognitive pattern from the ‘normal’ men. First, with the exception of the vocabulary subtest of the WAIS, the schizophrenics were inferior on all tests, whether verbal, non-verbal or mixed function. Secondly, they showed considerably more variation within subtests. The schizophrenic sample was therefore subdivided into four clinical groups. Each showed a distinctive cognitive profile. It is argued that these cognitive differences reflect real differences in the disorder and type of illness being experienced by members of these subgroups.
The factor structure of the Eating Attitudes Test with adolescent schoolgirls
Authors: Wells J. Elisabeth , Coope Patricia A. , Gabb Diane C. , Pears Richard K.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

The 40-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40) was administered to teenage schoolgirls. Factor analysis (N = 749) yielded a major dieting factor almost identical to that found by Garner et al. (1982) with anorexics. Although this factor clearly measures pathology in underweight girls, its interpretation is ambiguous for normal and overweight girls. Two other factors found in all analyses were food preoccupation and social pressure to eat.
The development of a short observation method for the study of the activity and contacts of old people in residential settings
Authors: Macdonald A. J. D. , Craig T. K. J. , Warner L. A. R.
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

Data from a non-participant, ‘event-sampling’, direct observation study of 32 elderly persons in residential care were simplified and re-analysed, with the aim of developing a short, practical method of observation for use in research and training in residential care. A single, nominated hour's observation seemed to fit the data satisfactorily. This method, when applied to data from two newly observed contrasting samples, revealed the same important differences as had been found from a whole day's observation. A practical, short observation method thus emerged for use in research and training.
The List of Threatening Experiences: a subset of 12 life event categories with considerable long-term contextual threat
Authors: Brugha Traolach , Bebbington Paul , Tennant Christopher , Hurry Jane
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

In a survey of a random sample of the general population recent life events, collected and rated for long-term contextual threat according to the methods of Brown & Harris (1978), were also recorded where possible on an inventory of life event categories (Tennant & Andrews, 1977). Of the 82·5% of all events collected which were covered by the inventory, 12 of the 67 event categories accounted for 77% of life events with an aetiologicaly significant rating of marked or moderate long-term threat. Where practical and economic constraints oblige research workers to choose the inventory method, a brief list of event categories, such as the List of Threatening Experiences, is recommended in preference to much longer lists.
A pilot study of mental disorders in Taiwan
Authors: Cheng Tai-Ann
Published: July 2009

Synopsis

A two-stage case-identification method, using a modified General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS), was applied in a pilot study of mental disorders in an urban city in Taiwan. The validity of the modified GHQ was proved to be greater than that of the original, with a very high sensitivity and specificity. The Chinese version of the CIS was found to be feasible for community study in Taiwan. The total prevalence rate of all mental disorders was 26·0%, with a higher morbidity among females.
Mental disorder, criminal responsibility and the social history of theories of volition
Authors: Smith Roger
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Nineteenth-century theories of human volition are discussed in relation to ideas on insanity and responsibility. Attention is drawn to the importance of accounts of volition for medical psychologists and to the implications of these accounts for medical and lay discussion of criminal responsibility.
Reduced caloric intake following small bowel bypass surgery: a systematic study of possible causes
Authors: Robinson Robert G. , Folstein Marshal F. , McHugh Paul R.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Food intake, appetite and a variety of feelings were measured pre- and post-operatively in obese patients undergoing jejuno—ileal bypass surgery. Decreased food intake correlated closely with the amount of weight loss at both 4 and 30 months after surgery. Malabsorption correlated with weight loss at 4 months but not 30 months post-operatively. The cause of the decreased food intake is unknown and cannot be completely explained by either depression, nausea, malabsorption, liver disease, an attempt to avert diarrhoea, or decreased appetite.
The prognostic significance of psychological factors in the management of chronic bronchitis
Authors: Rutter Brenda M.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Eighty-three chronic obstructive bronchitic patients were psychologically assessed before being randomly allocated to 1 of 3 management regimes. The following measures were taken: psychiatric disturbance, personality, social-desirability response set, vocabulary, expectations about treatment, attitudes and beliefs about bronchitis, effect of patient's bronchitis on the family, work, self, physical exercise, smoking, and general health. Outcome was assessed after one month and again one year later, and the measures included physiological tests of lung functioning, an exercise tolerance test, reported symptoms, time off work, drop-out, and death.

Contrary to expectations, it was found that psychological variables had some prognostic significance for outcome assessed by medical measures of illness severity. More important was the finding that, in bronchitics under retiring age, weeks off work during the year of the study could be predicted by psychological variables but not by physiological measures of illness severity.
Schizo-affective psychosis: definitions and incidence
Authors: Brockington I. F. , Leff J. P.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Eight definitions of schizo-affective psychosis have been compared in a sample of psychotic first admissions. Their mutual concordance is very low (mean 0·19) showing that there is very poor agreement about the meaning of the term ‘schizo-affective’ at present. Ten patients (4·5 % of admissions and 8 % of psychotic admissions within the age group studied) satisfied 3 definitions, a figure which demonstrates the numerical importance of this group of unclassified mental disorders.
Skin conductance responsivity during acute episodes of schizophrenia as a predictor of symptomatic improvement
Authors: Frith C. D. , Stevens Marilyn , Johnstone Eve C. , Crow T. J.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

Skin conductance responses to a series of tones were measured in 41 patients during an acute episode of schizophrenia before they received treatment and after 4 weeks of treatment with either α-flupenthixol, β-fiupenthixol or placebo. Patients who did not habituate to the tones prior to treatment tended to show no symptomatic improvement during the course of treatment. Patients who habituated and also showed an acute onset of their current symptoms (‘Feighner negative’ patients) showed a marked improvement even without active medication. Skin conductance responsivity did not change with improvement in symptoms alone, but decreased in patients on active medication (α-flupenthixol).

Non-habituation of skin conductance and insidious onset (i.e. fulfilment of the Feighner criteria) were found to be independent predictors of poor outcome. Taken together, these criteria may define a group of patients with particularly poor prognosis.
Patterns and issues in multiaxial psychiatric diagnosis
Authors: Mezzich Juan E.
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The multiaxial diagnostic model, consisting in the systematic formulation of a patient's condition according to separate clinical variables or aspects, is receiving increasing attention in several parts of the world. This innovative model promises to improve diagnostic reliability and validity and involves many methodological challenges. This paper reviews patterns and issues in the conceptualization of axial content, number and organization of axes, dimensional versus categorical scaling, and evaluation and further development of multiaxial systems.
Deciding how to treat – the relevance of psychiatric diagnosis
Authors: Williams Paul
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

A distinction is drawn between ‘diagnostic decisions’ and ‘management (or treatment) decisions’, and a model for the process of making a management decision is suggested.

Evidence is reviewed which suggests that psychiatric diagnosis does not strongly predict treatment, and an extension of diagnosis, the problem oriented approach, is advocated.
CSF GABA in depressed patients and normal controls
Authors: Roy Alec , Dejong Judith , Ferraro Thomas
Published: July 2009

SYNOPSIS

The inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. Therefore, we examined cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of GABA in depressed patients (N = 25) and normal controls (N = 20). There was no significant difference between the groups. However, among the depressed patients the subgroup of unipolar melancholic patients (N = 13) had significantly lower CSF levels of GABA than the rest of the depressed patients (N = 12). There was no significant difference for CSF levels of GABA between depressed patients who were (N = 14) or were not (N = 11) cortisol non-suppressors. It was of interest that among the controls there was a significant negative correlation between CSF levels of GABA and CSF levels of norepinephrine.