Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

F Schulsinger

Publications and source records attributed to F Schulsinger.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

The children of psychiatrically disturbed parents: differences as a function of the sex of the sick parent.

To examine the effects of the sex of psychiatrically disturbed parent on the offspring, we compared children of a schizophrenic parent, a psychiatrically disturbed but not schizophrenic parent, and a normal parent using behavioral, attentional, and neurological indices. Results of a discriminant analysis indicate that children of psychiatrically disturbed mothers have an increased sensitivity to tactile stimulation, possibly reflecting more labile autonomic nervous system functioning. In addition, children with a schizophrenic parent of either sex show evidence of neurological motor dysfunction.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Alcoholism and depression in adopted-out daughters of alcoholics.

Forty-nine daughters of alcoholics were compared to 47 daughters of nonalcholics; both groups of women (average age, 35 years) had been adopted by nonrelatives early in life. Two women in each group were alcoholic or problem drinkers. Although this is above the expected rate of alcoholism among women, the numbers are too small to draw definite conclusions. Almost all were light drinkers. Daughters of alcoholics had no more depression than controls, indicating that alcoholism in the biological parents did not increase the risk of depression in daughters raised by foster parents. Environmental factors may be important in both alcoholism and depression in women, since both tended to be correlated with psychopathology in the foster parents.

Achievement↗
PubMed1977

Psychopathology in adopted and nonadopted daughters of alcoholics.

This report completes a series of studies conducted in Denmark comparing drinking patterns and psychopathology in adopted and nonadopted children of alcoholics. Sons of alcoholics had higher rates of alcoholism than controls, whether raised by their alcoholic parents or by foster parents. They did not have more psychopathology otherwise. Daughters of alcoholics, adopted and nonadopted, had a higher rate of alcoholism than was the expected frequency in the general population, but so did controls in the adopted group; neither group had higher rates of other psychopathology, eg, depression. However, daughters of alcoholics raised by their biological parents had significantly more depression.

Adoption↗
PubMed1977

Perinatal complications in offspring of psychotic parents.

The birth records of 78 subjects born to psychotic parents and 72 subjects born to normal parents were studied. No significant differences in the rates of pregnancy and birth complications (PBCs) were found between the offspring of psychotic parents and normal control parents. There were no differences between offspring born to psychotic mothers compared to psychotic fathers. Neither the onset of the parent's illness, nor the mother's age at delivery, nor the sex of the offspring seemed to influence the rate of PBCs. The offspring of chronic schizophrenic mothers and manic-depressive fathers had lower PBC rates than the offspring of parents of other diagnostic categories. The parents of these two groups, which were of a limited size, did not differ on any variable of significance, excepting the time of their first psychiatric hospital admission.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Mental illness in the biological and adoptive families of adopted individuals who have become schizophrenic.

In a sample of 5483 adults who had been legally adopted early in life by persons not biologically related to them, 33 were identified, from mental hospital records for whom a diagnosis of definite schizophrenia (chronic, latent, or acute) could be agreed upon by four raters. An equal number of matched controls were selected from the sample of adopted individuals who had never been admitted to a mental hospital. Ninety percent of the living parents, siblings, and half-siblings, biological and adoptive, cooperated in an extensive psychiatric interview permitting a consensus diagnosis by three blind raters. Schizophrenia and uncertain schizophrenia were found to be significantly concentrated in the population genetically related to the schizophrenic adoptees. Their adoptive relatives did not differ from the control populations in the prevalence of schizophrenic illness.

Adoption↗
PubMed1976

Some aspects of adoption in selected samples of adult adoptees.

Various aspects of adoption--psychopathology, age at placement, agency versus independent placement, best age to tell child he is adopted, etc.--are studied in three groups of adoptees: biological parent schizophrenic or manic-depressive; adoptive parent schizoprenic or manic-depressive; biological parent with no psychiatric history. Findings raise questions about a number of common assumptions regarding adoptees.

Adoption↗
PubMed1975

Parent-child relationships and psychopathological disorder in the child.

This report uses naturally occurring adoptions to tease apart the effects of heredity and rearing on the development of psychopathological disorder in the child. The quality of relationship between the child and his adoptive parents was assessed in four groups of subjects, and the degree of illness in the child was correlated with the quality of parent-child relationship. Quality of rearing and hereditary input both affect the development of psychopathological disorder, but the amount of variance explained by rearing tends to be low.

Adoption↗
PubMed1975

Alcoholism and the hyperactive child syndrome.

Comparisons were made between alcoholics and nonalcoholics in a sample of Danish adoptees (mean age 30) and it was found that the alcoholics, as children, were more often hyperactive, truant, antisocial, shy, aggressive, disobedient, and friendless. The literature suggesting a relationship between the hyperactive child syndrome and subsequent alcoholism is reviewed, as well as a possible relationship between these disorders and antisocial behavior. The adoptive parent of the two groups did not differ with regard to socioeconomic class, psychopathology, or drinking histories. However, 10 of the 14 alcoholics had biological parents who were alcoholic, with no known alcoholism among the biological parents of the nonalcoholics. As adults, the alcoholics differed from the nonalcoholics only with regard to drinking history, use of drugs, and overt expression of anger.

Adoption↗
PubMed1975

A longitudinal psychophysiological study of three-year-old Mauritian children: preliminary report.

The rationale for using the high-risk-group research design in the search for the aetiology of schizophrenia is described. A longitudinal study is being made of three-year-old Mauritian children who underwent a variety of physiological and psychological tests. Groups of these children, selected on the basis of their responses to electrodermal stimulation, are now attending nursery schools established on the island as part of this study. A control group of children do not attend nursery school. It is intended to follow-up these children over the next two decades. Mention is made of the benefits of this research to the development of para-medical and educational services in a developing country.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1975

Early detection and prevention of mental illness: the Mauritius project. A preliminary report.

The experimental manipulation method is in general not feasible in studies of the etiology of severe mental illness, whereas this method can be used in studies pertaining to primary prevention, because possible preventive methods would most likely be of a protective or beneficial nature. Preventive experimentation requires early detection of those individuals who will eventually become seriously mentally deviant. A study of children at a high genetic risk for schizophrenia is described. This study suggested certain autonomic nervous system variables as predictors of later serious mental breakdown. In a WHO-sponsored project in Mauritius the authors used these results for the selection of a group of children at risk for mental illness. 1,800 3-year-old Mauritian children were studied socially, psychologically, pediatrically and psychophysiologically between 1972 and 1973. 100 of these children were selected for experimental preventive intervention during their daily presence in two modern kindergartens. Members of this group were characterized by either abnormally fast autonomic recovery or autonomic nonresponding, or normal autonomic responding. A matched group of another 100 children served as a community control. The paper presents preliminary results from the screening of the 1,800 children.

Age Factors↗