Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Andrews

Publications and source records attributed to G Andrews.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

The Defense Style Questionnaire.

The Defense Style Questionnaire has proven of interest as the first questionnaire to reliably describe defense styles. The 72-item DSM-III-R-labeled Defense Style Questionnaire was administered to 388 controls and 324 patients. Eight statistical and two a priori criteria were used in choosing two items to represent each of the 20 defenses. A new 40-item Defense Style Questionnaire is published together with normative and reliability data on a normal population, patients with anxiety disorders, and child-abusing parents. The scores are unaffected by the sex of the respondent, but the endorsement of immature defense styles decreases with age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Oral health status and treatment needs of non-institutionalized persons aged 60+ in Adelaide, South Australia.

There has been a growing recognition of the need to obtain information about the oral health of older Australians. The aim of this report is to provide descriptive epidemiological information about the oral health and treatment needs of non-institutionalized older adults in Adelaide. Data from interviews with 178 persons aged 60+ were obtained from a pilot study. Clinical data were available for 106 persons who participated in oral examinations. Among the 52.9 per cent of dentate persons, the prevalence of root decay (27.1 per cent) was slightly higher than coronal decay (23.6 per cent). Some 28.1 per cent of dentate persons had a serious periodontal condition, defined as the presence of four or more teeth with at least 5 mm or more of periodontal attachment loss and periodontal pocketing of 4 mm or more at one or more of those teeth. The majority of persons (83.8 per cent) wore one or two dentures. Disorders associated with dentures were frequent, affecting 77.4 per cent of upper denture wearers and 72.5 per cent of lower denture wearers. Persons who were older, who had lower educational attainment or lower household incomes were disadvantaged in aspects of oral health status and dental caries. However, there were no consistent associations between chronic medical conditions and oral disorders. Despite the high prevalence of oral impairment, reflecting extensive disease activity in the past, high levels of untreated disease were relatively uncommon. Instead, a high prevalence of oral disorders created a substantial need for basic forms of dental treatment in this group.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Personality as a cause of adverse life events.

The element of chance and the role of the individual in causing negative life events was explored by examining the relationship between measures of personality, symptoms, and a number of demographic variables in a nonclinical population (n = 892). The results indicated that Eysenck's neuroticism was the best predictor of negative interpersonal life events. Symptoms added a negligible amount to the variance explained in the occurrence of life events. The well-established relationships between neuroticism and symptoms and life events and symptoms are discussed in the light of these findings.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Drop-out rate as a performance indicator in psychotherapy.

Many large studies of psychotherapy show that the median patient drops out by the 5th session and most before the 10th session. Data from an effective behavior therapy clinic for the anxiety disorders showed that only 17% of patients failed to complete a median of 60 h of therapy. Patient characteristics were not associated with attrition. We examined 5 meta-analytic treatment reviews and found the median drop-out rate was 8% after 20 h of therapy. We suggest that low attrition is associated with effective, standardized treatment and as such, drop-out rate may be a proxy variable that can indicate effective service delivery.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The cost of schizophrenia revisited.

This article discusses two approaches to costing disease and summarizes an incidence-based costing of schizophrenia using 1975 data. Because the presentation of schizophrenia may have changed in the last 16 years, the effects of three possible changes--a reduction in incidence, a transfer to treatment in the community, and an improvement in prognosis--are all entered into the 1975 model and the changes in costs are noted. The decrease in costs is greatest presuming a reduction in incidence, moderate given an improvement in prognosis, and relatively minor given the economies in direct treatment costs likely to follow a transfer to community treatment. Nevertheless, because community treatment might also be associated with an improvement in prognosis, the social issues for medicine implicit in the transfer from hospital to community treatment are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The Parental Bonding Instrument: a measure of perceived or actual parental behavior?

In the investigation of the relationship between childhood adversity and adult psychopathology, scales that require retrospective reports of parental style are often employed. Controversy exists as to whether these scales reflect the actual behavior of the parents concerned or reflect the perceptions of the child. One such scale, the Parental Bonding Instrument, was completed by a volunteer sample of 672 twins. For females, agreement between twins was generally high and a shared environment model fitted all scales except maternal care. This is consistent with the view that the ratings reflect the behavior of the parents. Agreement between male twins was substantially lower and well-fitting models did not include a shared environment component. It is argued that the scales may be affected by competition between twins or comparisons made by the respondent with his or her co-twin.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The changing nature of psychiatry.

The traditional role of psychiatrist as the central figure in the delivery of mental health services is changing. First, the advent of structured diagnostic interviews means that the diagnosis of mental disorders is no longer the exclusive preserve of psychiatrists; second, the growth of community mental health services staffed by non-psychiatrists means that psychiatrists now treat a minority of the patients with mental disorders; and third, the psychiatrists' continued endorsement of dynamic psychotherapy means they are becoming identified with an unproven and very expensive treatment. These changes should be seen against the broader background of a profession that is well-trained, active in evaluating performance, supported by a burgeoning research base in cognitive science and neuroscience, and delivering services efficiently and inexpensively.

Australia↗
PubMed1990

The diagnosis and management of pathological anxiety.

The anxiety disorders are common reasons for patients approaching their doctors for help. While benzodiazepines used to be the treatments most commonly used, increasing concern about the wisdom of prescribing these drugs means that other treatments have to be considered. A differential diagnostic schema for patients who complain of anxiety is presented and an outline for counselling these patients is described. Treatment of the four major anxiety disorders is evaluated, and the efficacy of drug treatment compared to various levels of behaviour therapy. Cognitive behaviour therapy is recommended for all four disorders on the grounds of a short-term effectiveness comparable to drug therapy and evidence for stability of improvement after treatment has concluded, evidence that is lacking for the drug therapies.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1990

The genetics of six neurotic disorders: a twin study.

Persons who had met criteria for specific anxiety or depressive neuroses during their lifetime were identified from a sample of 446 pairs of adult twins. Although there was a genetic contribution to neuroticism and to symptoms, there was no inheritance of specific disorders. This concurs with previous work in a sample from the same Australian Twin Registry and with those from a Norwegian sample. It is concluded that while there is a genetic contribution to the predisposing trait, and therefore to the intermittent appearance of symptoms, this contribution is obscured by the grouping of symptoms into diagnoses and by the help seeking which is a prerequisite to clinical diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Tyrosine hydroxylase messenger RNA in the hypothalamus, substantia nigra and adrenal medulla of old female rats.

The effects of aging in the female rat were analyzed in terms of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene expression and serum prolactin levels. The number of tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) neurons and the concentration of TH mRNA per cell was greater in 16- to 18-month-old rats than in 25-month-old rats. The amount of TH immunostaining was more intense in the median eminence of the 18-month-old rats compared to either younger or older rats. Plasma prolactin levels were moderately elevated in 18-month-old rats compared to 4-month-old rats, and extremely elevated in 25-month-old rats due to the occurrence of pituitary prolactinomas. There were no detectable changes in TH mRNA levels in the substantia nigra with age, whereas adrenal TH mRNA increased with age. We propose that prolactin initially exerts a stimulatory effect on the TIDA neurons as the rat ages, but eventually causes a loss in neuronal number and neuronal function as the pituitary prolactinoma secretes increased amounts of prolactin.

Adrenal Medulla↗
PubMed1990

Genetic and environmental determinants of the lability of trait neuroticism and the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

A genetic analysis was conducted on trait neuroticism and symptoms of anxiety and depression in a five-wave study of 462 twin pairs. Models that assessed the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors to the lability (within-individual variability over time) of these measures were fitted to the data. Previous results concerning the substantial genetic involvement in the level of neuroticism and symptoms were confirmed. However, it was found that neither genes nor the shared environment of the twins was a significant cause of lability of these measures. An attempt was therefore made to identify aspects of individuals' environments that might be responsible for lability of neuroticism and symptoms. Adverse life events were found to predict variability of symptoms, but not of neuroticism. The availability of close social ties or having affectionless control in childhood did not contribute to lability.

Adult↗