bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
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

SynopsisChronic 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

SynopsisThe ‘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

SynopsisEighty 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

SynopsisFour 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

SynopsisThirty-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

SynopsisThe 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

SynopsisThe 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

SynopsisErythrocyte 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

SynopsisBrown 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

SynopsisMany 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

SynopsisThe 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.
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

SynopsisChanges 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

SynopsisForty-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

SynopsisPatients 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

SynopsisThe 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

SynopsisThis 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

SynopsisEvidence 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

SynopsisA 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

SynopsisData 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

SynopsisBehaviour 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

SYNOPSISKarl 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

SYNOPSISWe 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

SYNOPSISThis 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.