A retrospective clinical study using existing patient records investigated the predictive value of a number of variables. Eighty-three new admissions to a large outpatient clinic completed a battery of eight self-report questionnaires that have been shown to be reliable and have a measure of discriminant validity. The battery consisted of items tapping anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, phobias, borderline personality disorder, and histrionic, obsessive-compulsive, and paranoid personality styles. Outcome of therapy, which was predominantly dynamically-oriented, was assessed by residual difference scores computed from pre- and posttherapy Global Assessment Scale (GAS) ratings. Only patients attending five or more sessions (N = 37) were considered in the analyses. Patients high on the Anxiety Scale pretherapy showed relatively greater improvement in functioning than those with low initial scores. Patients scoring high on the Histrionic, Paranoid, and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Scales showed the least relative improvement.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Correlates of suicide and violence risk 1: the suicide risk measure.

A measure of suicide risk was developed using items reported to discriminate suicidal patients from controls in various studies. The new self-report scale was administered to 82 outpatients, 157 inpatients, and 83 college students. Using total scores, significant differences were found between the college sample and the two patient samples. The scale also discriminated between patients who reported one or more past suicide attempts and those who reported none. An independent cross-validation showed that half of the items continued to discriminate between patient and control groups. Sensitivity and specificity estimates were also determined. The test does not attempt to predict a specific rare event, i.e., suicide. It attempts to describe the degree to which a given individual reveals a set of characteristics that are similar to a suicide prototype.

Bipolar Disorder↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Development of a scale for the measurement of symptom change in an outpatient clinic.

A brief 21-item symptom rating scale, the Psychiatric Outpatient Rating Scale (PORS), was developed for use in outpatient clinics. On the basis of its initial use with 86 patients, it was shown to have high internal and interjudge reliability and evidence of concurrent and construct validity. Scores on the PORS correlated significantly with the Global Assessment Scale and with the number of sessions of psychotherapy. For a subsample of 45 patients rated on the PORS at the beginning and termination of psychotherapy, seven symptoms revealed highly significant improvement. The PORS appears to be a potentially useful measure of change in outpatient clinics.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Psychological mindedness as a predictor of psychotherapy outcome: a preliminary report.

This study investigated the properties of a new measure of psychological mindness (PM). A 45-item self-report questionnaire was administered to consecutive admissions to a large outpatient clinic that provides primarily psychodynamically oriented individual psychotherapy. The PM scores of a sample of 44 of these patients who attended a median of 15 sessions were correlated with several outcome measures obtained from retrospective chart reviews. These measures consisted of the number of sessions attended, discharge ratings, and change scores on a Global Assessment Scale (GAS) and on a symptom checklist. Coefficient alpha for the Psychological Mindedness (PM) Scale indicated high reliability. Total PM score correlated significantly with three of the outcome measures. Twenty of the 45-items were good predictors of one or more outcome measures.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Can personality traits predict psychotherapy outcome?

Ninety-six new admissions to a psychiatric outpatient clinic who attended a median of 14 therapy sessions completed a self-report Personality Profile Index prior to their first session. This index provides scores on eight dimensions of personality, a conflict measure, and a measure of social desirability. Scores were correlated with number of sessions and outcome as measured by a Symptom Checklist and by a Global Assessment Scale (GAS). Improvement was significantly related to number of sessions attended. Patients scoring high on being rejecting of others (rejection) were significantly less likely to show improvement after therapy. Rejection, aggression, passivity, and conflict were significantly related to the extent of symptoms and problems with which patients presented at the clinic.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The Suicide and Aggression Survey: a semistructured instrument for the measurement of suicidality and aggression.

Despite the rising concern with the increasing rate of violent and suicidal behaviors in this country and others, we remain relatively limited in our ability to rigorously define, classify, and measure these behaviors. In addition to our previous work in developing self-rating scales assessing aspects of aggressive behaviors, we have developed the Suicide and Aggression Survey (SAS), a new, comprehensive, semistructured interview and research tool, for the purpose of comprehensively evaluating and understanding the multiple constituents of these behaviors, and for assisting in predicting which individuals might be at high risk for suicide or violence. The present report describes the need for such an instrument and the theoretical models that have guided us in constructing it; one of these is a sequential description of the major classes of variables related to aggression and the other is a two-stage model of countervailing forces. Preliminary reliability data and a description of the structure of the interview are included.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Substance abuse among psychiatric inpatients.

The drug use history was obtained for all patients admitted to the inpatient service of a large municipal hospital during a 1-month period. A total of 104 patients were evaluated. An inverse relationship was found between the frequency of drug use and the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Approximately one third of the patients were found to be polydrug users, that is, individuals who used at least two types of drugs weekly (e.g., alcohol plus cocaine, heroin plus cocaine, etc.) during the 3 months prior to hospitalization. Most of the polydrug users were males. Patients who scored high in drug use tended to be younger, had more seclusions while on the ward, and had less of a history of drug or alcohol treatment. The drug having the highest frequency of daily use was found to be cocaine. It appears that drug use in general and polydrug use in particular is increasing among psychiatric patients.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relationships between psychological mindedness and personality traits and ego functioning: validity studies.

Two studies further investigated the psychometric properties of the self-report Psychological Mindedness Scale (PMS), which has been shown to have good internal consistency and evidence of predictive and divergent validity. Its construct validity was investigated by assessing (1) whether total scores on the PMS of a group of medical students attending a personnel clinic in a psychiatric outpatient setting would be related in theoretically expected ways to their scores on a personality test; and (2) whether total scores on the PMS of a group of regular clinic patients would have the expected theoretical relationships to scores on a measure of ego functions. The findings of both studies provided support for the construct validity of the PMS.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Gender differences in recalled parental childrearing behaviors and adult self-esteem.

A retrospective questionnaire study investigated gender differences in the relations between the self-reported self-esteem of 155 psychiatric adult outpatients and their recalled experience of their parents' behavior toward them as children. There were no significant sex differences in degree of self-esteem. However, it had a higher correlation to parenting variables for the men than for the women, with maternal predictor variables accounting for 36% and paternal predictors accounting for 32% of the variance in the men's self-esteem. Neither combined maternal nor combined paternal variables were significant predictors for women. For men, parental acceptance/ autonomy was significantly and positively related and inconsistency negatively related to self-esteem. Paternal rejection but not maternal rejection was significantly associated with low self-esteem only for the women. The greater amount of variance explained by childrearing variables in the men's self-esteem scores was attributed to the earlier ego development and consequent increased individuation in women.

Adolescent↗