The relationship between type of antidepressant and neurovegetative symptoms in adult unipolar nonpsychotic depression: an opinion survey.

The bi-directional nature of the neurovegetative symptoms of depression, as well as the differential response to antidepressant medications, underscore the existence of possible subtypes of this disorder. This study surveyed 56 physicians practicing psychiatry in Hawaii for opinions regarding the most effective antidepressant medication for the following symptoms: hypersomnia vs. insomnia, psychomotor agitation vs. retardation, and gain vs. loss of appetite or weight. Fluoxetine was found to be the drug of choice for weight and appetite gain, hypersomnia, and psychomotor retardation. Mirtazapine was viewed as most effective for weight and appetite loss. Trazodone was found most effective for insomnia and nefazodone for psychomotor agitation. It is concluded that subtyping of depression should be investigated at the symptom level and the generalizability of the effects of each specific compound should be tested.

The Diabetes time Management Questionnaire.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the 49-item Diabetes Time Management Questionnaire (DTMQ) in individuals with diabetes. The DTMQ was designed to assess general time management skills and those specifically relevant to compliance to a diabetes healthcare regimen. METHODS: Participants completed the DTMQ; the Habits, Attitudes, and Knowledge Questionnaire of Diabetic Compliance (HAK); and the Diabetes Knowledge Schedule (DKS) to provide two indices of construct validity of the DTMQ. Three HAK items related to time management skills (HAK-TM) provided an index of concurrent criterion-related validity for the DTMQ. RESULTS: Test-retest stability reliability results were significant for DTMQ total and individual item scores. Concurrent criterion-related validity of the DTMQ was supported by a significant correlation with the HAK-TM items. Construct validity of the DTMQ was partly supported by significant correlations with the DKS and two HAK items measuring diet and exercise compliance. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the use of the DTMQ to assess the time management skills of individuals with diabetes.

Psychology's drug problem: do we need a fix or should we just say no?

Five contextual factors give rise to the proposal that psychologists secure prescription privileges: (a) the historical overattachment of applied psychology to psychotherapy; (b) the oversupply of psychotherapists; (c) the rise of managed care; (d) the hegemony of syndromal classification; and (e) the weakening of the medical guild and rise of drug company attention to psychopharmacology. Whereas some of these factors present real problems for psychology, the acquisition of prescription privileges by psychologists is not the proper response. The cost to the discipline in loss of professional identify, safety, and training disruption is too great. Instead, the profession should build a more honorable alternative based on psychological science.

Multi-cultural study of minor psychiatric disorders in Asia: symptom manifestations.

Patients with minor psychiatric disorders, including neuroses, situational adjustment reaction or acute emotional reaction, were investigated using symptom questionnaires at five research sites in Asia including: Chiang-Mai, Thailand; Bali, Indonesia; Kao-Hsiung, Taiwan, China; Shanghai, China; and Tokyo, Japan. The results revealed that the symptom profiles differ significantly among groups of different settings indicating that sociocultural background does contribute to the manifestation of neurotic symptomatology. It was also found that numerous and various subtypes of somatic scales were identified through factor analysis of symptoms for these Asian populations. It demonstrates that the spectrum of neurotic symptoms has a different focus for subjects in different sociocultural settings.

The health compliance model.

Another model for integrating a wide diversity of evidence related to compliance is proposed, termed the Health Compliance (HC) model. The HC model incorporates situational-antecedent, consequence, and organismic factors, including cognitive processes, as they relate functionally to compliance behaviors. A selective review of the compliance literature suggests the scope and organizational possibilities of the model.

A verbal behavior analysis of auditory hallucinations.

A review of recent research on the non-medical control of auditory hallucinations is presented. It is suggested that the decreases in hallucinatory behavior obtained in studies using aversive contingencies may be attributable to the disruption of the chains of behavior involved. The results of several additional studies are interpreted as indicating that methods of stimulus control and the use of incompatible behaviors may be effective in reducing the rate of auditory hallucinations. Research relating auditory hallucinations to subvocalizations is presented in support of the view that hallucinatory phenomena are sometimes related to the subject's own vocal productions. Skinner's views (1934, 1936, 1953, 1957, 1980) are then presented as possible explanations of some hallucinatory behavior. It is suggested that some auditory hallucinations consit of the mishearing of environmental and physiological stimuli as voices in a fashion similar to that which Skinner observed in his work with the verbal summator. The maintenance of long chains of such responses may be largely attributable to self-intraverbal influences (such as are present during automatic writing). With some auditory hallucinations, this progression involves first mishearing ambiguous stimuli as voices and then attributing the voices to some cause (e.g., insanity, the television, radio, or God). Later, the frequent and ongoing chains of such behavior may contaminate other verbal responses. Such verbal behavior may be parasitic on "normal verbal behavior" (and hence, not directly dependent on consquences for maintenance), may be cued by various stimuli (including respiration), and may interfere with other covert and overt behavior. Several studies to investigate this view are presented. It is hoped that such research will lead to a better understanding of the major issues involved in the etiology and treatment of auditory hallucinations in particular and perhaps of psychosis in general.

Effect of filmed modeling on the self-reported frequency of masturbation.

Forty-eight female college students were asked to complete a sexual attitudes questionnaire in which a frequency of masturbation scale was embedded. Twenty-four of the women (the experimental group) then individually viewed an explicit modeling film involving female masturbation. One month later, all subjects again completed the same questionnaire. Subjects in the experimental group also completed a questionnaire evaluating aspects of the film. Results indicated that the experimental group reported a significant increase in the average monthly frequency of masturbation, as compared to the control group. This same group, however, reported that the film had no effect on sexual attitudes or behavior. The inconsistency of these results is discussed in terms of several possible hypotheses.

Use of filmed modeling to reduce uncooperative behavior of children during dental treatment.

Sixteen inner city children attending a pedodontic clinic were shown either a filmed demonstration of a child model cooperatively undergoing dental treatment or a film unrelated to dental activity. The group viewing the modeling film showed significantly fewer disruptive behaviors during restorative care and were rated as less fearful than the control group.