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Biomedical subjects

J J McGonigle

Publications and source records attributed to J J McGonigle.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Clomipramine treatment of stereotypic behaviors and self-injury in patients with developmental disabilities.

The authors report an open clinical trial of clomipramine for chronic stereotypic and self-injurious behaviors in 11 consecutive patients with concomitant developmental disorders. Ten patients (91%) had marked decreases in rates of target behaviors. No seizures occurred despite the inclusion of six patients with previous histories of epileptic events, and improvement was evident regardless of level of mental retardation. These findings support both the clinical use of serotonergic medications in this population and the need for further research.

Adolescent↗

Understanding partial hospitalization through a continuity-of-care model.

This paper discusses the role of a partial hospital program for neurologically impaired children and adolescents on a continuum of service delivery. The effectiveness of a partial program in assisting transitions across treatment and community settings is critical in establishing and maintaining treatment gains. This innovative approach and model are reviewed and discussed within the context of an integrated system of care.

Adolescent↗

Abuse and neglect in psychiatrically hospitalized multihandicapped children.

Medical charts of 150 consecutive admissions of multihandicapped children to a psychiatric hospital were examined to determine the extent and characteristics of abuse and neglect. Results indicated that 39% of the sample experienced or had a history that warranted suspicion of past and/or current maltreatment. Physical abuse was the most frequent type of maltreatment, followed by neglect and sexual abuse. Maltreated multihandicapped patients admitted to the psychiatric unit were less likely to receive diagnoses of organic brain syndrome or profound mental retardation than nonmaltreated multihandicapped counterparts on the same unit. Moreover, data indicated that less severely impaired patients were more likely to be maltreated than were the more severely impaired. Particularly striking was the severity of maltreatment in this multihandicapped sample and the relatively high percentage (40%) of sexually abused patients who were assaulted by multiple perpetrators.

Adolescent↗

Multiple treatment interference in the alternating treatments design as a function of the intercomponent interval length.

In experimental designs requiring the administration of more than one treatment to the same subject(s), the effect of one treatment may be influenced by the effect of another treatment (Campbell & Stanley, 1963), a phenomenon known as multiple treatment interference. We conducted two studies in which multiple treatment interference in an alternating treatments design was shown to be a function of the length of the intercomponent interval (ICI) separating treatment conditions. In the first study, we evaluated the effects of four different treatments on the mouthing of a severely retarded boy. Under a 1-min ICI no consistent differential responding to treatment was obtained. Differential responding emerged when the ICI was increased from 1 min to 120 min, thus suggesting multiple treatment interference in the lack of differential responding under a 1-min changeover interval. Functional control of the nondifferential and differential responding as a function of the ICI length was replicated in a reversal phase. In the second study, we compared two treatment procedures for the disruptive noncompliant behavior of a moderately retarded boy. Multiple treatment interference (i.e., the lack of differential responding) occurred with the 1-min intercomponent interval. An increase to a 120-min ICI again resulted in differential responding. A replication of multiple treatment interference by a reversal to a short interval phase was not achieved in the second subject. Results of this study support much of the basic literature on discrimination and multiple treatment interference.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Behavior Therapy↗

Behavioral treatment of chronic aerophagia.

Effects of various behavioral interventions on stereotyped aerophagic responding by a profoundly mentally retarded, 5-year-old girl were assessed. Aerophagic responding was defined as air swallowing with extreme stomach protrusion, followed by breath-holding. Observations of air swallowing, as well as physiologic measurements related to heart rate and respiratory patterns, were recorded across both baseline and treatment phases of the study. Multiple behavioral interventions were assessed within a laboratory setting using an alternating treatment design format, with the most effective treatment systematically extended to additional settings. Results indicated that a behavior modification treatment package was effective in suppressing the high frequency of this rare stereotyped act to near-zero rates.

Aerophagy↗

Visual screening: an alternative method for reducing stereotypic behaviors.

Visual screening, a mildly aversive response suppression procedure, was evaluated across two studies for its effectiveness in reducing topographically similar and dissimilar stereotypic behaviors of four developmentally disabled children. In the first study, a multiple baseline design across subjects and behaviors was used to assess the effectiveness of the procedure as a treatment for reducing the visual and auditory self-stimulatory responses of two 9-yr-old mentally retarded and behaviorally disturbed children. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used in the second study to evaluate the effectiveness of visual screening as a treatment for reducing stereotypic fabric pulling and self-mutilative ear bending, respectively, of two 13-yr-old mentally retarded, autisticlike adolescents. Long-term follow-up data for both studies were reported. The results suggested that visual screening was an easily administered, effective, and exceptionally durable treatment procedure for controlling a variety of stereotypic behaviors commonly associated with the developmentally disabled.

Adolescent↗