Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

D G Kilpatrick

Publications and source records attributed to D G Kilpatrick.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Posttraumatic stress disorder in adolescents after Hurricane Andrew.

OBJECTIVE: To examine rates and correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescents after Hurricane Andrew. METHOD: A random-digit dialing sample of 158 Hispanic, 116 black, and 104 white adolescent-parent pairs were surveyed in high- and low-impact areas within Dade County, Florida, 6 months after Hurricane Andrew. Subjects completed a structured telephone interview focused on within-disaster experiences and emotional reaction, disaster-related losses, lifetime exposure to violent or traumatic events, recent stressful experiences, and psychiatric symptomatology. RESULTS: Approximately 3% of males (95% confidence interval 0.4 to 5.3) and 9% of females (95% confidence interval 4.6 to 13.7) met the criteria for PTSD. Rates were highest among blacks (8.3%, 95% confidence interval 2.3 to 14.2) and Hispanics (6.1%, 95% confidence interval 2.2 to 9.9) and increased with age (odds ratio of 1.34, 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 1.72) and the number of undesirable events reported (odds ratio of 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.21 to 1.57). CONCLUSIONS: While only a relatively small percentage of adolescents reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of PTSD, most reported some posttraumatic symptoms. Postdisaster planning should recognize that common stressful events occurring after disasters may be more strongly associated with PTSD than magnitude of contact with the actual disaster.

Adolescent

Prevalence of victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder among women with substance use disorders: comparison of telephone and in-person assessment samples.

A structured interview with behaviorally specific probes was used to assess victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a clinical and a national, epidemiologic sample of women who had received treatment for a substance use disorder. Separate clinical and epidemiologic approaches to evaluating substance use disorders were compared. More than 80% of women in both samples had a history of sexual and/or physical assault and approximately one-quarter had current PTSD. The similarity in patterns of victimization, PTSD, and substance use across two samples suggests that telephone structured interviews are a valid method of collecting data/information about these important phenomena.

Adolescent

Vulnerability-stress factors in development of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Log-linear chi 2 analyses were conducted to examine potential interactions between the presence of precrime axis I psychiatric diagnoses and differential levels of crime stress in association with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a community sample of 295 female crime victims. High crime stress was defined as crime that included either perceived life threat, actual injury, or completed rape. Crime stress level was significantly associated with PTSD after the crime. Thirty-five percent of subjects with high crime stress exposure met criteria for PTSD, as opposed to 13% of those with low crime stress exposure. Precrime diagnosis was not associated with high crime stress exposure, indicating that this is not a vulnerability factor for exposure to crime characteristics associated with increased rates of PTSD. There were no significant independent associations between precrime axis I diagnoses and PTSD after the crime. However, a significant interaction was observed among crime stress level, precrime depression, and PTSD such that the rate of PTSD was substantially higher in association with precrime depression only in the high crime stress exposure group. Major findings are consistent with previous results implicating trauma exposure as the primary factor in development of PTSD. However, the results indicate that precrime depression may constitute a vulnerability factor for development of PTSD under conditions of high crime stress exposure.

Adult

Homicide as a risk factor for PTSD among surviving family members.

In this National Institute of Justice-funded study, random digit dialing telephone survey methodology was used to screen a large, nationally representative sample (N = 12,500) of the noninstitutionalized U.S. adult population to identify surviving family members and friends of victims of criminal homicide and alcohol-related vehicular homicide. A total of 9.3% of the national sample had lost a family member or friend to homicide. Immediate family survivors (n = 206) completed an interview assessing demographic characteristics and DSM-III-R criteria for homicide-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The interview participation rate was 84%. Among immediate family survivors, 23.3% developed PTSD at some point in their lifetimes, and 4.8% met full diagnostic criteria for PTSD during the preceding 6 months. Survivors of criminal and vehicular homicide victims were equally likely to develop PTSD. Survivors who experienced the homicide during their childhood, adolescence, or adulthood also showed equal likelihood of PTSD. Clinical implications of findings are discussed.

Accidents, Traffic

Concurrent validity of a Crime-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder scale for women within the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised.

Using a structured interview to obtain a lifetime history of criminal victimization, a community sample of 266 adult women who had experienced at least one incident of victimization was identified. These women were administered the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, the Impact of Event Scale, and a structured clinical interview was used to identify Crime-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CR-PTSD). A recently derived scale based on responses to items on the SCL-90-R was compared to the IES for predicting current diagnosis of Crime-Related PostTraumatic Disorder. Both the scale and the IES were found to improve prediction of CR-PTSD above base rates and to perform in a similar manner. The utility of each of these scales as a screening measure is discussed.

Adult

Aging, alcoholism, anxiety, and sensation seeking: an exploratory investigation.

Aging alcoholic (n = 36) and aging nonalcoholic (n = 35) male veterans were compared on biographic/demographic variables and psychological characteristics. Results indicated that aging alcoholics and nonalcoholics were married at approximately the same ages, married roughly the same number of times, and produced similar numbers of offspring, but aging alcoholics were better educated and had fewer persons economically dependent on them. They had higher scores than aging nonalcoholics on objective measures of state anxiety, trait anxiety, overall fears, tissue damage fears, social-interpersonal fears, miscellaneous fears, and failure/loss of self-esteem fears. Aging alcoholics also had higher scores on the sensation-seeking variable of boredom susceptibility and disinhibition, suggesting the existence of a relationship between need for sensory stimulation and maladaptive drinking among aging alcoholics.

Aging

Alcoholics and opiate addicts. Comparison of personality characteristics.

Compared with opiate addicts, alcoholics scored higher on the Hs (hypochondriasis), D (depression), Hy (hysteria). A (anxiety) and MacAndrew Scales of the MMPI and lower on the K (defensiveness). Ma (activity) and Es (ego strength) scales, but age was the most powerful discriminator between the two groups.

Adult

The Sheppe and Hain study revisited: professional students and their knowledge and attitudes about human sexuality.

The professions of law and medicine exert a profound influence on sexual attitudes and behaviour in our society. Previous reported studies of legal and medical students found no differences in sexual knowledge for entering first-year students. However, in this study, a sample of 160 medical and seventy-nine law students revealed significant differences in knowledge and attitudes about sexuality. The data indicate that a gender-linked double standard of acceptable behaviour is not present. Results further reinforce the necessity of medical sex education.

Attitude

Persistence, planning, patience, and prevention: aspects of sex education in medicine.

This paper emphasizes the rapid response of American medical schools to the absence of sex education in their curricula, which has led to diversity of design, strategy, and evaluation of human sexuality courses. It further points out that most such courses are inadequate to teach physicians knowledge and skills that will be required when they leave medical school. Major areas of resistance to full implementation of comprehensive sex education programs are cited, with one method outlined to overcome institutional resistance. The authors cite case examples of the variety of sexual conflicts that become accessible in students and faculty as a result of such instruction. They suggest that groups of persons who are sexually knowledgeable and possess counseling skills in sex therapy could greatly improve sex education in the medical institution.

Adult

Comparison of the psychiatry learning system and traditional teaching of psychiatry.

Pressures of time, changing curricula, and increased enrollment in medical schools require the development of more efficient teaching methods to replace or supplement the traditional lecture format. The faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina has developed an individualized course in basic psychiatry which can replace approximately 50 hours of lectures ordinarily delivered to students during the rotation on clinical psychiatry. The individualized course, referred to as the Psychiatry Learning System (PLS), was received by half the class during the year 1973-74, and the lecture course was delivered to the other half. These two groups were compared on several learning outcomes, including attainment of theoretical knowledge about psychiatry, observational skills, interviewing ability, and problem-solving ability. Overall performance ratings by clinical supervisors were also obtained. The PLS group scored no worse on any of the measures but statistically better on half of them than did the lecture group.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate

The effect of a spaced sex education course on medical students' sexual knowledge and attitudes.

This paper reviews the literature and emphasizes the rapid expansion of medical sex education, which has created a diversity of course content, curriculum timing and strategies. One variable of medical sex education programmes is whether they are massed or spaced courses. The authors conducted testing on 159 first year medical students who took a spaced sex education course. Significant changes in cognitive knowledge as well as attitudinal tolerance of others is reported. No changes were found in styles of thinking as measured by the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale.

Attitude of Health Personnel