Naltrexone treatment of dementia with severe self-injurious behaviors: a single case study.

The results of studies of the opiate antagonist Naltrexone (NLTX) in the treatment of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in various psychiatric populations have been equivocal. The majority of studies has relied on small samples, many of which lacked scientific rigor and none of which occurred in a nursing facility. The present study investigates the use of NLTX on a patient with severe SIB who resides in a nursing facility. The patient is a 38-year-old male with a history of heavy drug and alcohol abuse. He has been in either a state hospital or nursing facility since age 21. The patient overdosed on alcohol and drugs in 1990, which led to a prolonged coma with organic brain damage.

Using three different types of assessment data for diagnostic purposes.

This study investigated the performance of 38 learning disabled and 16 emotionally impaired children and youth on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised, Wide Range Achievement Test--Revised, and Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test--Revised. The ages of the children ranged from 8.4 to 16.7 years (M = 12.4, SD = 3.6). The findings suggest that discriminate functional analysis may be useful in the differential diagnosis process. Implications for clinicians are discussed.

Discriminant function analysis of LD/BD children scores on the WISC-R.

Investigated the performance of learning-disabled (LD) and behavior-disorder (BD) children and youth on the WISC-R. A stepwise discriminant function analysis and chi-square analysis were used to analyze the performance of 135 children and youth (83 males, 52 females) on the WISC-R. The sample consisted of 68 LD and 67 BD Ss, whose ages ranged from 81-1 month to 168-6 months with a mean age of 123-1 months. Results suggest that discriminant function analysis can be useful as one criterion in differentiating LD children from BD children. Implications are discussed.

Correlations of some brief measures of intelligence with the WISC-R for a group of exceptional children.

Correlations were calculated between the Slosson Intelligence Test, Quick Test forms 1 and 3, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-R for a group of 93 students (58 boys and 35 girls) who were in Special Education classes. It was found that the Slosson, Quick Tests, and PPVT correlated higher with the verbal scale of the WISC-R than with the Full-scale or Performance scale. It was concluded that the more briefly administered tests do not provide scores that can be considered to be comparable to the WISC-R Full-scale.

Stability of the WISC-R for a sample of exceptional children.

Compared the subtest and IQ scores obtained by a sample of 75 learning disabled and retarded children and youth (50 boys, 25 girls) on the WISC-R after a 2-year time interval. Stability coefficients (test-retest) were obtained for the sample. The evidence obtained from the present study indicated that the WISC-R provides stable full-scale IQs.

WISC-R subtest differences for male and female LD children and youth.

Investigated the performance on the WISC-R of 98 learning disabled children and youth (69 males/29 females), who ranged in age from 6-3 to 13-6 to determine whether there were any significant subtests scale score differences between sexes. A 2 X 10 analysis of variance was used to analyze these data. Differences between the individual subtest means were analyzed by using Newman Keuls test for simple effects. Results indicated that males obtained higher (but not significant) scores on the six verbal subtest. Females scored significantly higher on coding than did their counterparts. In addition, the Verbal vs. Performance IQ dichotomy did not appear as useful evidence in the diagnosis of learning disabilities. Evidence from the investigation did not indicate that a significant interaction effect existed between sexes and WISC-R subtest scores.

The abilities of retarded students: further evidence concerning the stimulus trace factor.

A Wherry-Wherry hierarchical factor solution was obtained on the correlations among 11 WISC-R subtests for a sample of 79 mentally retarded boys and girls. The findings were not only congruent with Vernon's ability paradigm but also suggest that the ability structure for retardates may well be more complex than the structure for normals. The ability hierarchy for the present sample included a general (g) factor defined by positive loadings from all 11 subtests and factors corresponding to the verbal-educational (v:ed) and spatial-perceptual (k:m) parameters. In addition, a stimulus trace (ST) factor corresponding to the ability dimension described by Baumeister and Bartlett was obtained.

Analysis of cognitive ability for rural white culturally different children.

The study investigated WISC-R subtest pattern scores of 176 rural mountain culturally different white children (111 boys and 65 girls) ranging in age from six years three months to 16 years six months. The variation in subtest scores was analyzed by a 1 X 10 analysis of variance with repeated measures on a single factor. Differences between individual subtest means were analyzed by the Newman-Keuls test for simple effects. The evidence indicates that high subtest scores on Comprehension, Object Assembly, and Picture Completion and low scores on Coding, Information, and Similarities were characteristics of this group. The study did not support a Verbal-Performance discrepancy in favor of the Performance skills for these culturally different white children. The WISC-R was found to provide a valid measure of functional or operational intellectual capacity for this sample.