bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dieting changes serotonergic function in women, not men: implications for the aetiology of anorexia nervosa?
Authors: Goodwin G. M. , Fairburn C. G. , Cowen P. J. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe increase in plasma prolactin which follows intravenous administration of L&ndash;tryptopha (LTP) was used to assess changes in brain 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) function in normal male and female subjects, following a three week period of dieting. In women, but not men, there was a marked increase in the prolactin response to LTP, suggesting that dieting had caused alterations in brain 5-HT-mediated responses. In contrast, dieting did not alter the prolactinresponse to thyrotropin releasing hormone in either men or women, indicating that the changes in response to LTP could not be attributed to an increase in pituitary reserve of prolactin. These findings suggest that dieting alters brain 5&ndash;HT function in women but not in men. Biological factors as well as greater psychosocial pressures to diet may contribute to the high prevalence of eating disorders amongst women.
Psychobiology of anorexia nervosa
Authors: Ploog Detlev W. , Pirke Karl M. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe psychobiology of anorexia nervosa is described and explained under four headings; (1) the psychopathology as related to the motivation for fasting; (2) metabolic and somatic consequences of starvation, including brain morphology; (3) endocrine abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and gonadal axis; and (4) the hunger drive and its possible perversions in terms of aspects of neuroethology and the reward system in the brain.
Mood swings associated with the ‘on—off’ phenomenon in Parkinson's disease
Authors: Nissenbaum H. , Quinn N. P. , Brown R. G. , Toone B. , Gotham A.-M. , Marsden C. D. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisMood swings accompanying the motor fluctuations of patients with Parkinson's disease on chronic levodopa treatment frequently occur, but are poorly recognized. Occasionally, their functional impact may be greater than that caused by the motor disability itself.In this study we have assessed the nature of, and relationship between, mood and motor fluctuations in nine Parkinsonian patients with ‘on—off’ motor swings. The results of an additional questionnaire survey confirm that ‘on–off’ mood swings occur in approximately two thirds of patients with Parkinson's disease experiencing motor fluctuations on dopaminergic treatment. Aetiological and therapeutic implications are discussed.
Insulin-induced hypoglycaemic response and release of growth hormone in depressed patients and healthy controls
Authors: Brunswick David J. , Frazer Alan , Koslow Stephen H. , Casper Regina , Stokes Peter E. , Robins Eli , Davis John M. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisAs part of the Collaborative Study of the Psychobiology of Depression, we have examined the pretreatment growth hormone response (ΔGH) to insulin (0·1 U/kg) and the magnitude of the hypoglycaemic response in a large number of well-defined depressed patients (N = 132) and healthy controls (N = 80). After applying rigorous exclusion criteria, data were analysed from 93 patients and 66 controls for blood glucose response and from 56 patients and 52 controls for ΔGH. Depressed patients, either unipolar or bipolar, showed less of a fall in glucose than controls. A weak association was found between the magnitude of the fall in glucose and the severity of depression. No significant differences were found in values for ΔGH between the unipolar or bipolar depressed patients and controls either for males, pre-menopausal or postmenopausal females, or the total female group. These data do not support previous claims of a lowered ΔGH response to insulin in depressed patients. However, the resistance to hypoglycaemia seen in the depressed patients is consistent with previous reports.
Relationship between psychiatric impairment and a natural disaster: the role of distress
Authors: McFarlane A. C. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe relationship between adversity, distress and psychiatric impairment was examined in a group of 469 firefighters who had an intense exposure to an Australian bushfire disaster. The data suggested that psychiatric impairment measured by the General Health Questionnaire and distress measured by the Impact of Event Scale were relatively separate phenomena. Psychiatric impairment in these people appeared to be related more to their level of distress after the fires than to the severity of their exposure and losses.
Distinguishing anxiety and depression with field survey data
Authors: Eaton William W. , Ritter Christian 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisData on self-reported symptoms collected in the East Baltimore site of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program are analysed in parallel fashion for the two syndromes of anxiety and depression. Patterns of relationships of anxiety and depression to sociodemographic factors, prior psychopathology, and life events fail markedly to distinguish the two syndromes.
Phenomenology and classification of the childhood psychoses
Authors: Volkmar Fred R. , Cohen Donald J. , Hoshino Yoshihiko , Rende Richard D. , Paul Rhea 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisTwo hundred and twenty-eight cases of children with final clinical diagnoses of childhood psychosis were reviewed using a standard coding scheme; cases were grouped in three broad categories on the basis of clinical diagnosis (autistic, atypical and schizophreniform). These three groups differed significantly in many respects, although the ‘atypical’ group more closely resembled the autistic group. While it was possible meaningfully to differentiate diagnostic groups using DSM-III criteria, some cases were difficult to classify. Childhood schizophrenia, as strictly defined, was far less common than childhood autism. The development of diagnostic schemes for those children whose disorders are difficult to classify is an important topic for future research.
Using the psychological stress evaluator in conditions of extreme stress
Authors: Gunn John , Gudjonsson Gisli 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe Psychological Stress Evaluator (PSEV) is a machine for detecting signs of stress in the voice. It was tested using tape recordings of negotiators during a prolonged terrorist siege in which a number of death threats were issued. The study aimed to test whether the PSEV could distinguish between the traces of terrorist voices before the death threats from voice traces at other points. A scoring system using the proportion of voice oscillations falling above defined amplitude levels was used. PSEV scores did rise significantly more just before the actual shooting of a hostage. Unfortunately, the apparatus proved to be slow and cumbersome in practice and of limited, or no, use during the course of incidents similar to the one analysed.
Investigation of ‘weight pathology’ of 58 mothers of anorexia nervosa patients and 204 mothers of schoolgirls
Authors: Hall Anne , Leibrich Julie , Walkey Frank H. , Welch Gary 
Published: July 2009

Synopsis‘Weight pathology’ – defined by Kalucy et al. (1977) as ‘deviations in weight, shape, eating behaviour and activity’ – has been hypothesized to be unduly common in families with anorexia nervosa. It was investigated in this study by means of questionnaires evaluating both weight history and attitudes towards weight-related matters in 58 mothers of anorexia nervosa patients and 204 mothers of schoolgirls of similar age and socioeconomic status (SES). No support was found for the hypothesis. A family history of aberrant weight and mother's current weight and past weight histories showed no significant differences between the groups. 142 other mothers of schoolchildren and 446 attenders at Weight Watchers also completed the questionnaire on attitudes towards weight-related matters. Mothers of patients showed a lower concern on all scales than did all other groups. The findings are discussed in relation to earlier controlled studies of family factors in anorexia nervosa.
Emotional distress and satisfaction in life among Holocaust survivors – a community study of survivors and controls
Authors: Carmil D. , Carel R. S. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisResults are reported from a large population study (of working people) comparing Holocaust survivors and a control group in regard to emotional distress, satisfaction in life and psychosomatic symptoms. It was found that, even 40 years after the traumatic experience, this group of survivors exhibited a slightly higher degree of emotional disorders than controls who were not under Nazi occupation during WWII. These long-term effects were usually more prominent in women than in men, and the relationship to age was minimal.
Visual flicker in depression: response criteria, confidence ratings and response times
Authors: Herskovic Joseph E. , Kietzman Mitchell L. , Sutton Samuel 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisDifferences in response criterion and sensory sensitivity to visual flicker among major depressive patients, dysthymic patients, and normal controls were investigated. Also, signal detection confidence ratings and response times were compared. The results indicated that major depressive patients responded more conservatively (i.e. were less willing to respond ‘flicker’) than either of the other groups. The groups did not differ significantly on a criterion free measure of flicker sensitivity. The major conclusions are: (1) previously reported visual flicker differences between depressed patients and normal controls were probably due to the more conservative response criterion of the patients and not to flicker sensitivity differences between groups; and (2) confidence ratings and response times yield similar conclusions with respect to visual flicker sensitivity and response criterion. Therefore, interpretations concerning a sensory or perceptual deficit in depression must take into account the differences in response criterion between depressed patients and normal controls.
At risk drinking among general practice attenders: validation of the CAGE questionnaire
Authors: King Michael 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisSynopsis The CAGE questionnaire was used to screen for at risk drinking among attenders to an inner London health centre. The CAGE functioned most effectively at a cut-off point of two or more affirmative replies, with a sensitivity of 84%, a specificity of 95% and a positive predictive value of 45%. The usefulness of this instrument for screening in general practice is discussed.
Continuation therapy with lithium and amitriptyline in unipolar depressive illness: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial
Authors: Glen A. I. M. , Johnson A. L. , Shepherd M. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA detailed analysis of the results of a multi-centre clinical trial shows that, while the relapse rate following recovery from an operationally defined depressive illness was smaller among patients subsequently treated with either amitryptiline or lithium than with a placebo, there was no clinically significant difference between the prophylactic efficacy of the 2 antidepressants. An account is given of the relative adverse effects of the treatments, and the implications of the findings are discussed.
Institutional rearing, parenting difficulties and marital support
Authors: Quinton David , Rutter Michael , Liddle Christine 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA prospective follow-up study was undertaken of two groups of women first studied in the mid 1960s when they were children: 94 girls reared in institutions to which they had been admitted because of a breakdown in parenting, and 51 girls in a general population comparison group. Both groups were interviewed in detail when aged 21–27 years and home observations were undertaken for those with young children. The institution-reared women showed a markedly increased rate of poor psychosocial functioning and of severe parenting difficulties in adult life. However, the support of a non-deviant spouse and of good living conditions in adult life provided a powerful protective effect.
Modification of levels of depression in mother-bereaved women by parental and marital relationships
Authors: Parker Gordon , Hadzi-Pavlovic Dusan 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA sample of 79 young women whose mothers had died in the subjects' childhood, and whose fathers had remarried, was studied to determine any effects on state and trait depression associated with modification of high and low risk parental style. Lack of care from fathers and lack of care from step-mothers were the parental variables most strongly associated with high trait depression, and almost all subjects scoring both these parents as uncaring affirmed a distinct life-time episode of depression. In a married sub-group of 63 subjects, low marital affection and low step-mother care accounted for 33% of the variance in trait depression scores, while low paternal care was no longer a significant predictor. Data for the married sub-group suggested that an affectionate husband largely corrected any diathesis to greater depression exerted by uncaring parenting, while the protective effects of caring parenting on adult depressive experience were largely undone by marriage to an unaffectionate husband.
Age of onset in bipolar affective disorder and misdiagnosis as schizophrenia
Authors: Joyce Peter R. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe age of onset in bipolar affective disorder was determined in 200 hospitalized patients. The mean age of their first affective syndrome was 28·3 years, and the mean age of first hospitalization was 30·8 years. However, the median age for first affective syndrome was 23 years (26 years for first hospitalization), and the most common age of onset was 15–19 years. Those patients with an early onset, especially if they were first hospitalized for mania, were most likely to have received a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
Reliability and validity of an interval measure of vocal stress
Authors: Fuller B. F. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe reliability and validity of Psychological Stress Evaluator (PSE) output and frequency modulation suppression as an inaudible vocal measure of stress-arousal was further explored, using a new interval scoring method. ‘Yes’ answers to 6 neutral questions were obtained from 106 volunteers 2 weeks before, the day before and one week after a stress-provoking event (oral comprehensive examinations for an MS degree). The data show excellent construct validity and good but not high internal consistency (0·77–0·81) and test-retest (0·72–0·74) reliability. Interrater reliability ranged from 0·94 to 0·98. Correlations of PSE output with other psychological and physiological measures (criterion-related validity) was very poor.
Assessment of the negative and positive feedback effects of administered oestrogen on gonadotrophin release in patients with anorexia nervosa
Authors: Wakeling A. , Beardwood C. J. , deSouza V. A. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe capacity of the hypothalamic–pituitary axis to respond with changes in LH release to the negative and positive feedback effects of oestrogen was assessed in 19 patients with anorexia nervosa at different stages of the illness. Ethinyl oestradiol, 200 μg daily for 3 days, was administered and serial estimations of serum LH were carried out during and after the course of oestrogen.In patients with anorexia nervosa tested when markedly underweight, negative feedback effects of oestrogen were demonstrated in those patients with detectable levels of LH. None of the patients demonstrated positive feedback release of LH to the oestrogen stimulus.After the resumption of a more normal weight, basal LH levels were higher and negative feedback effects of oestrogen were observed in 11 out of 12 patients. The complete response to oestrogen with a subsequent positive release of LH to the oestrogen stimulus was shown by only 3 patients. Two of these 3 patients maintained a normal weight during the subsequent 6 months and both resumed regular menstruation shortly after the test. Three additional patients who had shown only negative feedback effects of oestrogen on LH release similarly maintained a normal weight and only 1 of them resumed menstruation, starting 3 months after the oestrogen test.It was concluded that in recovery from anorexia nervosa there is a return of normal hypothalamicpituitary–gonadal activity in a definite sequence with recovery of the hypothalamus to respond normally to the negative feedback effects of oestrogen followed by return of the positive feedback capacity between oestrogen and LH which allows menstruation to resume. The resumption of normal hypothalamic–pituitary function is clearly dependent in part upon correction of the malnutrition. However, after correction of the malnutrition some patients fail to menstruate, and this appears to be determined by a continuing impairment of the hypothalamus to respond normally to the feedback effects of oestrogen upon gonadotrophin release.
The influence of propranolol on the exposure in vivo of agoraphobics
Authors: Hafner Julian , Milton Frank 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThis study examines the influence of 40 mg of propranolol on agoraphobics throughout 5-hour periods of exposure in vivo on 3 alternate days. Twenty-three patients were studied using a double-blind parallel design and 19 followed up for 3 months. The propranolol group spent significantly less time than the placebo group travelling alone in the month after treatment, and had improved significantly less on a measure of general symptoms at 3 months. The adverse influence of propranolol on treatment outcome appeared mainly due to a waning effect in the last hour of exposure. Attempts to measure coping with panics as an independent variable were largely unsuccessful.
Ethnicity and illness behaviour
Authors: Pilowsky I. , Spence N. D. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe 52-item Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ) was administered to 134 general practice patients of Greek, Anglo-Greek, and Anglo-Saxon origin. Responses were scored on 7 dimensions of illness behaviour labelled general hypochondriasis, disease conviction, psychological versus somatic perception of illness, affective inhibition, affective disturbance, denial and irritability. Results of a three-way analysis of variance (ethnicity, age and sex) indicated that Greek patients were significantly more likely to differ from their Anglo-Saxon counterparts on the initial 3 IBQ scales. Compared with the Anglo-Saxon group, the Greek sample showed greater hypochrondriacal concern, were more likely to manifest conviction as to the presence of serious physical disease, and took a more somatic view of illness. Anglo-Greek patients varied from one scale to another in the degree to which their responses resembled the pattern of illness behaviour reported by Greek patients. They were most similar to the latter in their hypochondriacal attitude, and least similar in their psychological perception of illness. Although the IBQ responses to the Greek sample were consistent with patterns described in other studies of Mediterranean cultural groups, it was found that relationships observed between ethnicity and illness behaviour were to some extent dependent upon age and sex.
Some psychological concomitants of chronic bronchitis
Authors: Rutter Brenda M. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThirty chronic bronchitic patients with severe airways obstruction were individually matched with non-bronchitic controls from the general population. The 2 groups were compared using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) to assess non-psychotic psychiatric disturbance, the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) to assess personality traits, and the Marlowe–Crowne (M–C) scale plus the L (Lie) scale of the EPI to assess social-desirability response set. Chronic bronchitic patients were both more psychiatrically disturbed and more neurotic in personality than were their matched controls; but there were no differences between the 2 groups on the personality trait of extraversion or on measure of social desirability response set. The results are discussed in the context of both chronic bronchitis specifically and chronic illness in general, and future investigations are proposed.
The prevalence of minor psychiatric morbidity in the community
Authors: Finlay-Jones Robert A. , Burvill Peter W. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe method is described of a point-prevalence survey of minor psychiatric morbidity among a sample of healthy community residents. The General Health Questionnaire was used as the sole means of case identification. The demographic characteristics of the sample were compared in detail with those of the total population. The factors mainly responsible for sample bias were difficulty with the English language, the varying degree of personal contact made with residents, and the difficulty in contacting the employed population during working hours. The overall response rate of the survey was 66·%. The demographic groups found to be at significantly higher risk for minor psychiatric morbidity included women, the young, non-British migrant women, and lower social class men.
The psychopathology of affectivity: conceptual and historical aspects
Authors: Berrios G. E. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe disorders of affect have not contributed much to the diagnostic definition of mental disease, and their phenomenological description has never achieved the richness of the psychopathology of perception or cognition. This paper shows how the subordinate role played by affectivity in the Western concept of man led to the early and enduring view of mental illness as an exclusive disturbance of intellect. Attempts by nineteenth-century alienists to challenge this notion were only partially successful, due to the conceptual unmanageability of most forms of affective behaviour and the terminological redundancy that this engendered. These efforts were frustrated by the rebirth of Associationism, the rise of brain localization experiments, the peripheralist definition of the emotions and, finally, by the unfolding of Darwinism. As a result, no autonomous psychopathology of affectivity was ever developed. The eventual recognition of the so-called ‘primary’ disorders of mood has not led, however, to a refinement in the semiology of the experiences themselves. This has been impeded by the use of descriptive behavioural surrogates or by metapsychological accounts of affect as a form of energy or as a driving force. None of these developments has contributed to the clinical description of the mood disorders.
The use of health diaries in the field of psychiatric illness in general practice
Authors: Murray Joanna 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisThe individual's response to the occurrence of symptoms is conditioned by a variety of non-medical factors, of both an enduring (e.g. personality attributes) and a changing nature (e.g. social support). The health diary provides a particularly appropriate method of studying the daily variations in health and illness behaviour which make up so much of the clinical content of general practice.
Increasing right hand dominance with age on a motor skill task
Authors: Weller Malcolm P. I. , Latimer-Sayer D. T. 
Published: July 2009

SynopsisA standardized pegboard task was used to investigate changes in manipulative skill as a function of age in 119 right-handed subjects. The typical pattern of cognitive impairment in old age indicates a relative preservation of functions which depend on the integrity of the left hemisphere. In accord with these observations, we predicted that, with increasing age, right hand motor skills would be better preserved than left hand skills. We found this on initial exposure to the task (P < 0·01); however, the phenomenon was masked by practice, because older subjects (over 60 years of age) derived more improvement to their left hand motor skill, as a result of practice, than they did to their right hand skill (P > 0·05).