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Biomedical subjects

R J Cadoret

Publications and source records attributed to R J Cadoret.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Adoption studies: historical and methodological critique.

The history of adoption studies and their use in separating heredity from environmental influences is reviewed. The adoptee separation paradigm became possible through changing social practices which formalized adoption procedures. In the earlier past of this century, the technique was used principally to investigate the relative importance of heredity and environment in the determination of IQ. It was not until the sixties that the technique was used to study the role of heredity in psychopathology. Genetic factors in alcoholism, criminality, personality disorders, antisocial personality, somatization disorder, affective disorder, hyperactivity and schizophrenia were assessed. The review analyses the potential interactions of confounding variables in such studies and how these can be controlled, and discusses the major methodological criticisms which have been raised. Although the predominant interest has been in the use of the technique to define genetic etiological factors in psychopathology, the paradigm is equally able to delineate precisely the role of environmental factors while controlling for heredity. With about 1 per cent of populations being adopted in Western countries, the further scope for such studies continues to hold promise.

Adoption↗
PubMed1985

Alcoholism and antisocial personality. Interrelationships, genetic and environmental factors.

In a sample of 127 male and 87 female adult adoptees, antisocial personality and alcohol abuse were related to biologic backgrounds and to environmental factors. In the men, alcohol abuse was increased by a background of problem drinking in first-degree biologic relatives and by drinking problems in the adoptive home. Antisocial personality occurred more frequently in men whose first-degree biologic relatives had antisocial behavior problems. In the women, alcohol abuse was increased in adoptees whose first-degree relatives had problem drinking. Increased alcohol abuse in men and women was not predicted by biologic first-degree relatives with antisocial problems, nor did increased frequency of antisocial personality occur in adoptees with biologic relatives with problem drinking. The results suggest specificity of inheritance of antisocial and alcoholic conditions and the importance of environmental factors.

Adoption↗
PubMed1985

Factors associated with suicide attempts in alcohol abusers.

Alcoholics with and without previous suicide attempts were compared on a variety of clinical variables. Drug abuse and major depression especially if accompanied by crying spells, hopelessness, or seeking psychiatric help were found more frequently in the suicide attempter group. Additionally, total psychiatric symptoms were found to be higher in the suicide attempters in various categories including somatic, obsessive-compulsive, and total number of psychiatric symptoms reported on the structured interview. These results indicate that certain psychopathological symptoms are associated with suicide attempts in alcoholics and may be predictive of completed suicide.

Aggression↗
PubMed1985

Genetic and environmental factors in major depression.

A study of 48 individuals with major depression in a sample of 443 adoptees has shown that depression is positively but not significantly correlated with a biologic background of affective disorder. Both primary and secondary depression was positively and significantly correlated with several environmental factors. In males, an adoptive home where another individual had an alcohol problem increased depression; in females, death of an adoptive parent prior to adoptee age 19 and an adoptive family where another individual had a behavior disturbance increased depression. Results suggest that the environmental factors occurring prior to adoptees age 18 predisposed to depression.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

The effect of d-amphetamine and ephedrine on smoking attitude and behavior.

Using a double blind, randomized, latin square design, 17 light smokers and 6 heavy smokers were given three times per day doses of placebo, 5 mg amphetamine sulfate, 7.5 mg amphetamine sulfate, 25 mg ephedrine hydrochloride or 50 mg ephedrine hydrochloride. Compared to placebo, active drug produced a statistically significant drop in feeling of addiction to cigarettes (p = 0.022). Ephedrine was reported to be more effective than amphetamine (p = 0.046). Subjects reported similar changes in feeling of enjoyment of smoking. Active drug produced a statistically significant drop in the actual amount of tobacco smoked in heavy smokers (p = 0.028), but not in light smokers. Only two smokers were able to quit completely during the experiment, and one of those people resumed smoking after she stopped taking medication. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed.

Attitude↗
PubMed1984

Incidence and detection of bulimia in a family practice population.

In a study of a family practice population, 20 percent of the 176 participants, ranging in age from 14 to 42 years, showed abnormal eating concerns and habits as indicated by their responses on a modified version of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT). Clinically these patients had more visits to a physician per year and more complaints per visit, but these differences were not statistically significant. Over 10.9 percent of the sample population appeared to fulfill the criteria for the eating disorder bulimia. These patients were also significantly heavier than patients who did not have abnormal eating concerns and habits.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Anorexia nervosa in a 45-year-old man.

A case of anorexia nervosa diagnosed at age 45 in a man with a 20-year history of eating disorder is described. The reasons why anorexia may go undiagnosed in men are reviewed. The need to consider the possibility of this "unusual" diagnosis in men presenting with weight loss, no matter what their age, is emphasized.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Somatic symptoms. A major feature of depression in a family practice.

The complaints of depressed patients were investigated in a private, single-physician family practice clinic. Complaints and visits of depressives were compared to those of age- and sex-matched non-depressed controls over a period of 3 years beginning 18 months prior to the diagnosis of depression. Pain, functional and anxiety complaints signalled the onset and paralleled the course of depression. Somatic complaints were a conspicuous mode of presentation in this family practice. These somatic features are not among the usual diagnostic and research criteria for depression (DSM-III, Feighner Criteria and RDC) although they appear to be a major feature in the natural history of depression.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1983

Depression: the great imitator in family practice.

Psychiatric problems, especially depression, are common in primary care and can usually be treated successfully by family physicians if the diagnosis is made. Unfortunately, there is as yet no simple, definitive test for detecting depression. Family physicians must be aware that depression is very often masked by somatic or anxiety complaints. A pattern of increased office visits, with a constellation of varied functional somatic complaints, perhaps accompanied by disturbances in social relationships, often indicates the presence of a developing depression. Although hospitalization or psychiatric referral or both are in order for complex psychiatric diagnoses or for suicidal patients, the morbidity and the mortality of depression can be reduced by the alert family physician who provides both carefully managed antidepressant treatment and supportive therapy early in the course of the illness.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1983

Compliance characteristics of 291 hypertensive patients from a rural midwest area.

Patient compliance with treatment regimens has been a concern of both researchers and clinicians. Research studies on compliance have generally originated in large city clinics and teaching institutions. The results paint a dismal picture. The question is, are the compliance percentages found in the literature applicable to the hypertensive population in the semirural Midwest who receive long-term care from their family physician? This study was carried out in the practices of seven midwestern family physicians. The 291 patients in the study had a mean compliance percentage of 87 percent. By-product data indicate that outcome results were good. Research on compliance traditionally has conceived of the problem in large part as one of defective behavior by both the patient and the health care system. The physician-patient relationship in a family practice should contribute to better medication compliance. In this study semirural patients with hypertension who receive continuing care from their family physician had better compliance than national figures suggest it should have been.

Antihypertensive Agents↗
PubMed1980

Development of alcoholism in adoptees raised apart from alcoholic biologic relatives.

Male adoptees raised apart from alcoholic biologic parents were followed up and compared with adoptees of nonalcoholic biologic parents. Significant associations were found between adoptee alcoholism and an alcoholic biologic background and between childhood conduct disorder and the development of alcoholism as an adult. None of the environmental factors--psychiatric or alcohol problems in adoptive family, socioeconomic status of the adoptive family, or exposure to discontinuous mothering as an infant--predicted adoptee alcoholism. These findings suggest the importance of a genetic factor in alcoholism and are in accord with previous work that failed to show an independent effect of an alcoholic environment in development of adoptee alcoholism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Sex differences in predictors of antisocial behavior in adoptees.

The present study follows up adoptees separated at birth from the biologic parents to assess the importance of genetic and environmental factors in adolescent antisocial behavior. The dependent variable is an antisocial symptom count that tallies antisocial but not necessarily criminal behaviors in adolescence. The independent variables are of two types, genetic and environmental. Genetic variables refer to psychiatric diagnoses of the biologic family. Environmental variables are those identified by previous research as associated with adolescent antisocial behavior. Our results indicate that boys are more vulnerable than girls to the adverse effects of a psychiatrically ill adoptive family member or divorce in the adoptive parents. There is not a significant sex difference in genetic predictors. In the total sample, the genetic variables that predict antisocial behavior are having an antisocial or alcoholic biologic relative. This finding is in agreement with other heritability studies of antisocial behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Somatic complaints -- harbinger of depression in primary care.

The pattern of patient visits and type of complaints relating to depressive illness was investigated in a University family practice clinic. Complaints and visits of depressives were compared to those made by age and sex-matched controls over 6 time periods which spanned a period of 2 years starting 6 months prior to the diagnosis of depression. Functional, pain, anxiety, and social complaints appeared to parallel the course of the depression, rising before the diagnosis of depression and returning to control levels 15-18 months after the depression was diagnosed. Somatic complaints were a prominent part of the depressive presentation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Depression in family practice: some effects on spouses and children.

Medical complaints and office visits of spouses and children of depressed patients were examined and compared to a matched comparison group of spouses and children of nondepressed patients. Both spouses and children of depressed patients showed increased numbers of visits and complaints which returned to control levels one year after the depression was diagnosed and treated. Infection, pain, functional, and anxiety complaints showed significant increases in spouses over controls. Definite diagnoses, infections, pain, and anxiety complaints were significantly increased in children compared to controls. In both spouses and children these complaints returned to control levels by the third period of the study, one year after the depression had been diagnosed (and treatment for depression started). The pain, functional, and anxiety complaints of spouses and children were very similar qualitatively to those of the depressed patients. The results demonstrate the validity of the family as a unit of medical care.

Anxiety↗