Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Apter

Publications and source records attributed to A Apter.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Psychometric properties of the K-SADS-P in an Israeli adolescent inpatient population.

Seventy adolescent admissions to a psychiatric unit were evaluated with a Hebrew translation of the Schedule for Affective-Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children (K-SADS-P). Interrater and test-retest reliability and mother-child agreement were evaluated for diagnoses, symptom clusters, and 20 affective symptoms. K-SADS diagnoses were also compared with 3-month unit evaluation diagnoses as a measure of consensual validity. The reliability of assessing psychosocial functioning was additionally examined. Reliability and validity of diagnoses were high and reliability of symptoms and syndromes was good to excellent. Mother-child agreement faired less well on all measures. The use of semistructured interviews and DSM-III criteria in an Israeli adolescent psychiatric setting are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Serotonin uptake by platelets of suicidal and aggressive adolescent psychiatric inpatients.

Thirty-four adolescent psychiatric inpatients were studied in order to find out whether there is a correlation between serotonin platelet uptake (SPU), suicidality and aggression. The patients were divided into four main diagnostic groups according to clinical data: borderline personality disorder, affective disorder (unipolar) including schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia and 'others'. These patients were also characterized by the quantitative symptoms profile from K-SADS scale (Children's Version of the Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia) and by their behavior: aggression, suicide attempts and violent suicide attempts. In the schizophrenic group, a correlation was found between low Vmax values of SPU and aggressive behavior (p less than 0.05). In addition, in the 'other' group a correlation was found between low Vmax values of SPU and conduct disorder (p less than 0.05). On the other hand, in 'other' patients a correlation was found between low Km values of SPU and violent suicide attempt (p less than 0.05). It is noteworthy that the lowest (20-35%) Vmax values of SPU were found in the patients of the affective group as compared to values of the three other diagnostic groups. These findings are similar to those concerning unipolar depressive adults. It is assumed that there are less binding sites for serotonin on platelets of depressive adolescents than was suggested for depressive adults.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Defense mechanisms in risk of suicide and risk of violence.

This paper reports on an empirical study of defense mechanisms in 60 psychiatric inpatients. Eight defenses--compensation, denial, displacement, intellectualization, projection, reaction formation, regression, and repression--were studied in the context of a two-stage model of suicidal and violent behavior. The results showed that use of regression as a defense differentiated suicidal from nonsuicidal patients, and use of displacement differentiated violent from nonviolent patients. Repression tended to turn aggression inward, and projection and denial turned aggression outward.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Obsessive compulsive disorders in adolescence.

This article reports our experience with 14 adolescent cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). In contradistinction to other reports in the literature, our results were quite good with these patients. Although we used recommended treatment measures (exposure in vivo and clomipramine drug therapy), we found a good prognosis to be independent to these specific measures. In fact, adolescents tend not to cooperate very well with behaviour therapy and medication. Psychotherapy, on the other hand, was often quite useful. Our conclusion is that non-specific milieu therapy leads to recovery in a majority of adolescent obsessive compulsives. We are not sure as to how long these remissions will last on follow-up.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Psychopathology and management of hospitalized Ethiopian immigrant adolescents in Israel.

Over a period of about 12 months a large number of Ethiopian Jews emigrated to Israel under very stressful conditions. Many of these immigrants were adolescents who came on their own, leaving their families behind. Despite the culture shock involved, most have done well. Nine of these youngsters, who developed psychiatric disabilities severe enough to warrant hospitalization, were referred to us. In this paper we describe the clinical and management problems posed by these patients.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1988

Residents' perceptions of their role as teachers.

Teaching by residents has long been recognized as essential to the education of interns and medical students, but how residents view their role as educators has not been examined in great detail. For this purpose a questionnaire was constructed and administered to 55 internal medicine residents at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. Responses indicate that the residents enjoyed teaching and considered it a critical component of their own experience and education. These residents' views appear unrelated to their previous teaching or academic backgrounds or to plans for an academic career. A number of variables correlated with teaching satisfaction. The teaching experience can be improved, the survey suggests, by lessening distractions and interruptions that occur during teaching sessions, freeing residents of some other obligations so that more time may be devoted to teaching, increasing faculty members' observation and guidance of teaching, and carefully structuring the content of the residents' teaching sessions.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1988

A comparison of different diagnostic tools for childhood depression.

A comparison was made of the agreement of 5 different diagnostic tools for childhood depression. The diagnostic tools used were: 1) a non-directive interview with projective testing; 2) a semi-structured psychiatric interview developed by Herjanic; 3) the child behaviour check list developed by Achenbach; 4) the Kovacs child depression inventory and 5) the DSM-III criteria diagnosis. In the diagnostic tools using classic psychiatric techniques of interview there was a fairly high diagnostic agreement for depression, while the non-interview techniques (questionnaires) were less reliable in diagnosing affective disorder. Depressive symptoms were found to play an important part in non-affective disorder psychopathology in children. The good correlation between the standard intake procedure and the research methods is encouraging in that it seems that clinicians can make the diagnosis of childhood affective disorder in their everyday clinical work.

Child↗
PubMed1988

Psychopathology and temporal lobe epilepsy in adolescents.

Although high rates of psychopathology in children and adolescents suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) have been reported in the literature, the subject remains controversial. In this investigation we made a psychiatric study of 26 adolescents with TLE using a detailed structure interview and rigorous diagnostic criteria. These were compared to 26 matched controls suffering from chronic bronchial asthma (BA). In neither group was there a high rate of specific psychiatric illness, although many adolescents in both samples showed moderate to severe depression. We conclude that TLE may not be a specific cause of psychopathology in adolescence, and that the depression might result from the suffering involved in chronic illness.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1988

Use of the Child Behavior Checklist in an Israeli adolescent psychiatric unit.

This article deals with the Hebrew version of an instrument for the diagnosis of psychopathology in young adolescents: the Child Behavior Checklist and the associated Child Behavior Profile developed by Achenbach (1978). We report on a study of the reliability and validity of the checklist and its suitability for use with severely disturbed adolescents in Israel. Parents of 130 adolescents, 89 healthy and 41 sick, participated in the research. The scales were found to be valid in that two-thirds of the items were correctly assigned by clinicians in Israel to their respective scales; it is internally consistent as measured by the Cronbach coefficient; and it is reliable in distinguishing between patient and control groups. Scores for control adolescents in Israel were found to be very similar to norms in the United States, the Netherlands and Chile. This finding may have important implications for cross-cultural research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Serotonin (5-HT) uptake by blood platelets in anorexia nervosa.

Platelet serotonin (5-HT) uptake was determined in 15 underweight anorexia nervosa patients and a control group of 15 healthy individuals. The Vmax (picomoles/10(8) platelets/5 min) was 424 +/- 103 in patients and 424 +/- 69 in controls. The Km was 1.19 +/- 0.2 microM in patients and 1.08 +/- 0.17 microM in controls. The differences between the groups were not significant. These findings do not support the hypothesis that serotonin metabolism is disturbed in anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia Nervosa↗
PubMed1986

High affinity [3H]imipramine binding and serotonin uptake to platelets of adolescent females suffering from anorexia nervosa.

High affinity [3H]imipramine binding and [3H]serotonin uptake to platelets were investigated in 17 anorexic females aged 15-18 years as compared to 15 healthy females of similar ages. A significant decrease in the density of [3H]imipramine binding sites was observed in anorexics as compared to controls (368 +/- 40 vs 517 +/- 38 fmoles/mg protein, p less than 0.01). No alteration in Kd values or in the kinetic parameters of serotonin uptake (Vmax, Km) were noted. The fact that the decrease in imipramine binding is not accompanied by a parallel reduction in serotonin uptake might indicate that anorexia nervosa is not ultimately related to major depression and that the imipramine binding site is not identical to the serotonin uptake site.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

High-affinity imipramine binding and serotonin uptake in platelets of eight adolescent and ten adult obsessive-compulsive patients.

The authors evaluated high-affinity [3H]imipramine binding and [3H]serotonin uptake to platelets in eight adolescent and 10 adult patients who met DSM-III criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder in comparison with those of normal control subjects of similar ages. The maximal binding of [3H]imipramine was significantly lower in adults and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder than in the control subjects. No differences between groups in the affinity of [3H]imipramine to its binding sites or in serotonin uptake kinetic measures were detected. The lower density of [3H]imipramine binding sites in platelet membrane in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder might implicate involvement of the serotonergic system or might represent an adaptive response to a chronic disease.

Adolescent↗