The Turkish version of the Auditory Consonant Trigram Test as a measure of working memory: a normative study.

The following study was conducted to adapt the Auditory Consonant Trigram Test (ACT) to Turkish, acquire a new and larger set of normative data, and finally investigate the reliability and validity of the adapted version. The data were collected from a sample of 236 healthy individuals. To test the validity of the Turkish version of ACT, the normative results of ACT were first compared with those obtained from the Digit Span Test (DST) backwards section. Secondly, the ACT performance of 53 schizophrenic patients was compared with that of a matched group selected from the normative sample. Age and education variables influenced performance, whereas gender did not in the normal sample. The ACT and DST backwards scores were positively correlated. As expected, the ACT performance was worse in schizophrenic patients compared to controls. The internal consistency of the adapted version of ACT was found to be at a reliable level (alpha=0.8535). The Turkish version of ACT can be considered to be a reliable and valid measure of working memory.

Who benefits from cognitive behavioral therapy for vaginismus?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of a group of Turkish vaginismus patients who benefited from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and to study which factors this treatment model changes. Twenty-eight couples who applied to Psychiatry Clinic of Hacettepe University Hospital, Ankara, for treatment of vaginismus within the 6-month period participated in the study. Fourteen subjects quit the therapy after the initial assessment sessions. Other couples successfully completed the treatment. We assessed all the couples that completed the CBT at three times: during the initial session, at the end of the treatment, and during the follow-up session (4 weeks after the end of the treatment). In terms of anxiety levels, and quality of marital and sexual relationships, the characteristics of the couples that quit the therapy could not be identified. But we found that all of the participants were treated effectively by CBT. At the end of the therapy, anxiety levels of the women decreased. There also were improvements on parameters related to marital harmony and overall sexual functioning of the women. We discuss the findings of our study within a cultural perspective.

Platelet monoamine oxidase activity in alcoholism subtypes: relationship to personality traits and executive functions.

AIMS: The purpose of the present study was to compare alcoholic subtypes (type 1 versus type 2) with regard to platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity. A possible relationship between enzyme activity, personality traits and executive functions was also investigated. METHODS: Seventeen type 1 and 16 type 2 in-patient male chronic alcoholic patients and 17 healthy male volunteers were included in the study. The personality traits were investigated by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Executive functions were assessed by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). RESULTS: When compared to the healthy subjects, platelet MAO activity was reduced in both alcoholic groups. The enzyme activity of the type 2 group was significantly lower than that of type 1 patients. Both groups of alcoholic patients also displayed impairment in executive functions. The comparison of the MMPI-2 scores of the study groups revealed that type 2 alcoholics had more severe psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: The results support previous evidence suggesting that platelet MAO activity is a useful biochemical measure for the subtyping of alcoholics.

Outcome measures of interepisode bipolar patients in a Turkish sample.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to study the correlations of several outcome measures in bipolar patients with the clinical features of interepisode period. METHODS: Bipolar patients who were diagnosed according to DSM-III-R or IV were contacted and asked for a further evaluation. Interepisode bipolar patients (n = 100) were interviewed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS). In addition the Brief Disability Questionnaire (BDQ), the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q) and the Global Assessment Scale (GAS) were administered to assess outcome. They were also asked to check the List of Life Events (LLE) for the last six months. RESULTS: Our results can be summarised as follows: (1) quality of life was predicted by current subthreshold depressive symptoms; (2) the number of previous depressive episodes, current subthreshold depressive and manic symptoms predicted disability; (3) the number of previous depressive episodes and the duration of hospitalisation as well as current subthreshold depressive and manic symptoms predicted overall functioning; (4) the number and distress level of life events were correlated with suicidal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that outcome measures were correlated with subsyndromal disorder, the number of previous depressive episodes and the duration of hospitalisation.

[The psychometric properties of MMPI-2 addiction related supplementary scales on alcoholic patients]. / Alkol bagimlilarinda MMPI-2 bagimlilik alt olçeklerinin psikometrik ozellikleri.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate criterion-related validity, internal-consistency and diagnostic efficiency statistics of the three MMPI-2 addiction related supplementary scales i.e., MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC-R), Addiction Potential Scale (APS) and Addiction Acknowledgment Scale (AAS). METHOD: Sixty-nine male chronic alcoholic patients and 51 male healthy control subjects were recruited for the study. All patients satisfied the diagnostic criteria of ICD-10 for alcohol dependence. Alcohol and drug modules of Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) were administered to each patient in order to give the diagnosis of alcohol dependency. The lifetime severity of drinking problems was assessed by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). RESULTS: The comparison of the MMPI-2 results of the study groups revealed that chronic alcoholic patients had higher scores on MAC-R, APS and AAS. The investigation of the diagnostic efficiency statistics showed that MAC-R and AAS had satisfactory sensitivity and specificity for alcoholic patients. As a measure of internal-consistency, Kuder-Richardson coefficients were found to be satisfactorily high for each scale. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicates that MMPI-2 based MAC-R and AAS scales are effective at differentiating between chronic alcoholic and control subjects. However, low specificity values of APS seemed to be damaging its diagnostic efficiency. Uniformly high Kuder-Richardson coefficients suggest that the items that comprise the MAC-R, APS and AAS are satisfactorily homogenous.