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Biomedical subjects

A S Bellack

Publications and source records attributed to A S Bellack.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

An examination of the efficacy of social skills training for chronic schizophrenic patients.

To study the efficacy of social skills training and day hospital treatment for schizophrenic patients, the authors treated 20 chronic schizophrenic patients in a 12-week day hospital program and 44 patients in the same program supplemented by comprehensive social skills training. While both groups of patients who completed treatment showed improvement immediately following treatment, during the six-month posttreatment period patients who had received social skills training either continued to improve or maintained their gains on most measures, while the patients receiving day hospital treatment alone either maintained gains or lost them. The authors discuss the implications of these findings as well as the finding that almost half of the patients in both groups were hospitalized at least once in the year following treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Validation of a Hamilton subscale for endogenomorphic depression.

The current study examined the validity of a subscale for endogenomorphic depression derived from the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. In a sample of 147 women outpatients with primary depression, subscale (HES) scores were bimodally distributed around the mean score of 7.38. High-HES patients had significantly elevated scores on measures of depressive symptomatology, generalized symptomatic distress, and social impairment relative to low-HES patients. Classifications based on HES scores significantly predicted RDC and DSM-III subtype diagnoses of endogenous and nonendogenous depression. Diagnostic predictions based on the subscale's items were superior to predictions made using the 'non-endogenomorphic' Hamilton items. Potential applications for research are discussed.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1983

Development of a rating scale to assess social skill deficits in mentally retarded adults.

In the current study, two experiments were conducted to establish the reliability of a scale developed with persons of normal intelligence for the assessment of social skill deficits and excesses of the mentally retarded. The experiment was divided into two studies. The first was aimed at establishing which of the 100 items could be accurately rated by having pairs of staff independently score 22 mild and moderately retarded adults who were outpatients at a local community mental health center. A correlation of r = .30 was established as a minimum cut off for reliability. With this criterion, 57 items were selected from the scale for further testing. In the second study, 207 different patients from the same outpatient clinic, from the mental retardation center of a nearby state psychiatric hospital and from Champaign, Illinois, were assessed on the 57-item Social Performance Survey Schedule. A factor analysis was then run and four subscales of the assessment instrument were established. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Social skills training compared with pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of unipolar depression.

The authors contrasted four treatments for unipolar (nonpsychotic) depression: 1) amitriptyline, 2) social skills training plus amitriptyline, 3) social skills training plus placebo, and 4) psychotherapy plus placebo. They studied 72 female outpatients, 52 of whom completed the 12 weeks of treatment. The four treatments, conducted by experienced clinicians, were not substantially different from one another. Each treatment produced significant and clinically meaningful changes in symptomatology and social functioning. However, the authors identified several notable differences across groups: a significant difference in dropout rates (from a high of 55.6% for the amitriptyline group to a low of 15% for the social skills plus placebo group) and a significant difference in the proportion of patients who were substantially improved. The social skills plus placebo treatment was the most effective treatment on this dimension.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Behavioral and pharmacological treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Single-case experimental designs were used to evaluate behavioral and pharmacological treatments in obsessive-compulsive disorders. Four patients were treated in variants of ABAB withdrawal design using behavioral and self-report data as dependent variables. Three of the four patients responded to behavioral or pharmacological treatment, whereas one patient responded to neither intervention.

Adolescent↗