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Biomedical subjects

M M Weissman

Publications and source records attributed to M M Weissman.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Subtypes of depression. Family study perspective.

To address the validity of subtype distinctions within a large family study of major depression, probands (N = 133) were classified into several non-mutually exclusive subcategories, including endogenous (n = 89), melancholic (n = 61), autonomous (n = 50), and delusional (n = 21). Age-corrected lifetime rates of depression and subtypes among first-degree relatives were then compared by the proband's depression subtype. Rates of major depression were highest for the relatives of probands with the autonomous and delusional subtypes, and while lower for the relatives of endogenous and melancholic probands, these rates were still higher than for the relatives of the remaining depressed probands or the relatives of normal controls. The depressed relatives of depressed probands with the endogenous, melancholic, autonomous, or delusional subtypes were more likely to have one of these subtypes than the depressed relatives of either the remaining depressed probands or the normal controls.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Appetite disturbance and excessive guilt in major depression. Use of family study data to define depressive subtypes.

A post hoc analysis of the relationship between depression in first-degree family members (N = 810) and specific patterns of "endogenous" symptoms in 133 probands with nonbipolar major depression revealed that concomitant appetite disturbance and excessive guilt in the depressed probands was associated with increased rates of major depression among family members. The depressed, interviewed relatives of depressed probands with appetite disturbance and excessive guilt were found to be at a 2.5 greater risk for this same subtype compared with the depressed, interviewed relatives of the remaining depressed probands. These findings suggest that this subtype of depression may "breed true" within these families.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Depression and anxiety disorders in parents and children. Results from the Yale family study.

The children (aged 6 to 17 years) of probands with primary major depression, with and without various anxiety disorders, were compared with the children of a matched normal control group. The results from the study of these young children parallel our previous findings among the adult first-degree relatives of these probands. Depression in the proband increased the risk of depression in the children. Depression plus panic disorder or agoraphobia in the proband conferred an additional risk of depression and of an anxiety disorder in the children. Panic disorder in the parents conferred more than a threefold increased risk of separation anxiety in the children. Other factors that increased the risk to children were degree of familial loading for psychiatric illness, parental assortative mating, and parental recurrent depression. The findings suggest a relationship between depression and some of the anxiety disorders, and between adult panic disorder and agoraphobia and transmission of anxiety disorders to children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Lifetime prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders in three sites.

Lifetime rates are presented for 15 DSM-III psychiatric diagnoses evaluated in three large household samples on the basis of lay interviewers' use of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. The most common diagnoses were alcohol abuse and dependence, phobia, major depressive episode, and drug abuse and dependence. Disorders that most clearly predominated in men were antisocial personality and alcohol abuse and dependence. Disorders that most clearly predominated in women were depressive episodes and phobias. The age group with highest rates for most disorders was found to be young adults (aged 25 to 44 years). Correlates with race, education, and urbanization are presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Six-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders in three communities 1980 to 1982.

Six-month prevalence rates for selected DSM-III psychiatric disorders are reported based on community surveys in New Haven, Conn, Baltimore, and St Louis. As part of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area program, data were gathered on more than 9,000 adults, employing the Diagnostic Interview Schedule to collect information to make a diagnosis. The most common disorders found were phobias, alcohol abuse and/or dependence, dysthymia, and major depression. The most common diagnoses for women were phobias and major depression, whereas for men, the most predominant disorder was alcohol abuse and/or dependence. Rates of psychiatric disorders dropped sharply after age 45 years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Onset of major depression in early adulthood. Increased familial loading and specificity.

In a family study of 133 probands with major depression and 82 normal control subjects, and 1,518 of their first-degree relatives, we found a substantial inverse relationship between the age of onset of major depression in the probands and the risk of major depression in their relatives. The relatives of probands whose onset of major depression occurred when they were younger than 20 years of age had the highest risk of major depression, compared with the relatives of probands who had later ages of onset or with the relatives of normal subjects. Probands with an age of onset of 40 years or more had familial loading that was only slightly higher than the families of normal control subjects. Our statistical methods enabled us to examine the relationship of the ages of onset in the probands and their relatives while accounting for possible confounding factors. More studies will be needed to sort out secular changes in the rates of the occurrence of major depression among young persons (cohort effect) from the high familial loading of major depression that has its onset in childhood and adolescence, and to determine whether the specificity of transmission of early-onset depression is the result of a single homogeneous disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

The epidemiology of depression. An update on sex differences in rates.

Data from the New Haven, CT, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, site of the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) study, a multi-site collaborative community survey of psychiatric disorders is presented. The 6-month prevalence rates based on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) interview and the DSM-III found that major depression was more frequent in women than men (2.4:1). The sex ratios for bipolar disorder were about equal. The sex ratios for major depression were fairly consistent at different time periods retrospectively assessed. There appeared to be a birth cohort effect with cohort's born after 1936 having an earlier age of onset and higher rates of major depression but not a change in sex ratios. These findings must be considered in light of the methodologic limitations of retrospective recall.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Vulnerability to depressive and schizophrenic disorders--conference report.

A conference was held to foster improved research on vulnerability to psychiatric disorder. By bringing together groups studying vulnerability to depression and those studying vulnerability to schizophrenia, commonalities and differences across these two fields were clarified, and research approaches and problems were shared. Five major areas of particular importance were covered: (1) diagnosis and the assessment of function and intermediate clinical states, (2) statistical analysis and project design, (3) personality and family variables, (4) biochemical and physiological markers, and (5) comparison of vulnerability to schizophrenia and depression: models of causation and possibilities for collaborative research. Potential directions for increasing progress in the important area of vulnerability research were outlined.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1984

Is delusional depression related to bipolar disorder?

In a family study of major depression, the prevalence of bipolar illness was nearly six times as high among the relatives of delusionally depressed probands as among the relatives of nondelusionally depressed probands or of controls.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1983

Panic disorder and major depression. Increased risk of depression, alcoholism, panic, and phobic disorders in families of depressed probands with panic disorder.

In a large, case-control family study of depression, 77 (58%) of 133 depressed probands displayed anxiety symptoms that met DSM-III criteria for agoraphobia, panic disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. In two thirds of these 77 cases, these symptoms were associated with depressive episodes. In a previous study, the lifetime rate of major depression and anxiety disorders among first-degree family members of probands with major depression plus an anxiety disorder was found to be significantly increased regardless of when the anxiety symptoms occurred. In this study we analyzed our data according to the specific anxiety disorders observed. Major depression plus panic disorder in probands was associated with a marked increase in risk in relatives for a number of psychiatric disorders; relatives were more than twice as likely to have major depression, panic disorder, phobia, and/or alcoholism than the relatives of probands with major depression without any anxiety disorder. These results indicate that the relationship between major depression and anxiety disorders requires further study.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Short-term interpersonal psychotherapy in methadone-maintained opiate addicts.

A clinical trial was used to evaluate short-term interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) as treatment for psychiatric disorders in opiate addicts who were also participating in a full-service methadone hydrochloride maintenance program. Seventy-two opiate addicts were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions for six months: (1) IPT, consisting of weekly individual psychotherapy, and (2) low-contact treatment, consisting of one brief meeting per month. Recruitment was a problem, as only 5% of eligible clients agreed to participate and only around half of the subjects completed the study treatment. The outcome was similar for the two study groups. However, in many of the outcome areas, subjects in both treatment conditions attained significant clinical improvement. Several factors limited the generalizability of findings and may have biased against showing a psychotherapy effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Imipramine as treatment for depression in addicts.

This report describes the results of a placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial evaluating imipramine hydrochloride, a tricyclic antidepressant, as treatment for depression in methadone-maintained opiate addicts. Forty-six subjects were assigned randomly to either the imipramine or placebo group for up to eight weeks. All patients also received mandatory once weekly group therapy as part of the methadone program. Outcome measures included attrition, depressive symptoms, global improvement, side effects, social functioning, and urine specimen results positive for illicit drugs. The therapeutic response in the two conditions was similar. Addicts receiving either imipramine or placebo experienced a substantial reduction of depressive symptoms during the eight weeks of the study. These findings are compared with other studies that treat depression in addicts and nonaddicts.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Selecting psychotherapists to participate in psychotherapy outcome studies. Relationship between psychotherapist characteristics and assessment of clinical skills.

The procedures developed for assessing specific psychotherapist skills are described, and the relationships among judges' ratings of these skills and selected therapist characteristics are examined and discussed. Data for 27 therapist applicants indicate a positive relationship between overall ratings of therapist skill and the age and level of experience of the psychotherapist applicants, with older, more experienced therapists being judged as more empathic and having greater potential to function effectively in short term interpersonal psychotherapy. In contrast, psychotherapists' gender and professional degree failed to predict judges' ratings.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Different definitions of alcoholism, I: Impact of seven definitions on prevalence rates in a community survey.

The authors applied seven different sets of diagnostic criteria for alcoholism to data obtained by using the Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS) in a community sample. They found that the different diagnostic schemes for alcoholism are hierarchical in the sense that some definitions identify smaller groups of subjects as alcoholic than do other definitions. This study illustrates a potentially useful empirical approach to comparing diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders in epidemiologic or clinical studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Use of a structured diagnostic interview to identify bipolar disorder in adolescent inpatients: frequency and manifestations of the disorder.

The authors interviewed 17 adolescent inpatients and their mothers with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children and Adolescents, Epidemiological Version (K-SADS-E), a semistructured interview that generates RDC and DSM-III diagnoses for major affective disorders and nonaffective psychoses and DSM-III diagnoses for dysthymic, cyclothymic, and other selected disorders. Five of the patients (29%) satisfied DSM-III criteria for bipolar disorder or atypical bipolar (bipolar II) disorder, although these diagnoses had not been identified in the hospital charts. These data support previous findings that bipolar disorder occurs moderately frequently in adolescent inpatients, although it is often unrecognized. Moreover, the disorder can be readily identified with structured diagnostic methods.

Adolescent↗